Commissioners agree to pursue 3-node server and cloud migration for public-safety systems

Camden County commissioners moved to keep funding for a public-safety server refresh and to pursue a migration toward a 3-node/cloud setup after a technical briefing on May 28.

Lisa, the county finance staff, summarized capital requests and the funding gap before IT staff explained the county’s current five-node system was at end of life and running roughly 40 virtual servers. The IT staff said a new five-node on-premises system would cost about $451,000 while a 3-node configuration combined with cloud migration would be “right at 272,000,” and that the county’s total node-related cost across patrol, jail and 911 totaled about $665,000. “If we put a 3 node system in, I've got to move the public safety software servers to the cloud,” the IT staff said.

Commissioners weighed the price against operational risk. The IT staff warned a catastrophic failure of the aging system could disable mapping and CAD functions used in patrol and dispatch, slowing response and creating potential liability: “Dispatch can't give them turn by turn instructions off their map because they don't have that anymore,” the staff said. Several commissioners said that risk—and long lead times for replacement hardware—made the cloud migration the preferred option despite its cost.

The discussion did not produce a formal vote. Instead, the board reached consensus to retain the node migration on the capital list and to task staff with preparing final numbers for the proposed budget advertisement. Staff estimated full migration and configuration would take roughly nine to 12 months to complete if approved.

Background: commissioners were balancing the 3-node option against a larger set of capital requests that total about $2.4 million, while available capital funds were around $563,000. The county’s next steps are to finalize numbers for the public notice scheduled for June 4, a public hearing June 11, and a final adoption meeting on June 23.