By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
In an effort to zero in on deficiencies and address security concerns, officials in the Town of Waterford Sanitary District No. 1 last week voted to hire an outside consultant to review existing technological infrastructure.
Computer storage and security issues have been a recurring item for discussion on WSD board agendas in recent months.
Last month, the WSD board broached the prospect of contracting with an outside firm to back-up the district’s files, perhaps through a cloud method that would result in off-site storage and eliminate the need for servers and other large infrastructure.
In the past month, WSD Chairman Dan Dickinson began looking into the logistics and discussed the issue with IT professionals.
“When I asked about fixing our aging computer system, (an IT professional) said, ‘I can’t give you a fair and honest opinion,’” Dickinson noted, because there were a lack of details available.
None of WSD’s elected officials or staff have a comprehensive understanding of all of the organization’s infrastructure and its compatibility with modern systems.
For this reason, the board voted unanimously in favor of hiring a professional at a cost not to exceed $600 to perform an audit of all hardware and software. The hired contractor will examine current operating methods alongside existing infrastructure and provide recommendations.
“We need to know what programs and what software we have,” Dickinson said.
WSD staffers Debbie Nelson, who serves as administrator, and Norm Nelson, operations superintendent, weighed in on the current state of the district’s equipment during last week’s discussion.
Debbie Nelson said files are backed up daily on the district’s server, which many officials deem antiquated. She said she has encountered recent problems involving file corruption and similar issues that bring reliability into question.
Norm Nelson said he uses global information system (GIS) data from software that had been created from 1985 to 2001. It is compatible with Windows XP, but might not work with future operating systems.
“The server’s the stumbling block,” Norm Nelson said.
Commissioner Jeff Santaga, who has experience in the IT arena, said a day will arrive when security updates that prevent viruses, malware and other types of attacks will not be available on the Windows XP system.
Santaga said he believes the maximum $600 expenditure to survey all equipment was a wise use of WSD funds.
The district has a professional in mind who quoted $450, but commissioners capped the expense at $600 in their motion in case an unexpected occurrence comes up during the audit.
“It’s fair at the price quoted,” Santaga said.
Further updates are expected at WSD’s next regular meeting in July.
-
-
-
-
-