Franklin County to Upgrade Technology

Courtesy of Sister Station WLHR

Franklin County Commissioners have received information from Franklin County Manager Beth Thomas on her plan to upgrade the computer technology at the Franklin County Commission offices.

At their work session Tuesday, Thomas told the Board she has developed a long-term plan to upgrade the computers and server, but she said there is an immediate problem that needs to be addressed.

“Currently, we have one server whose hard drive has failed and we will have to put in some investment to get that one up and running,” Thomas told the Board. “We don’t want to risk losing any time of information. It’s not uncommon to have to update technology.”

Thomas said some of the software the county office is using now is from the 1980′s and while it does meet the county needs, she said she has outlined a one to three-year plan to upgrade all of the technology.

Last year, the County invested thousands of dollars for new billing software only to have it removed months later because of major problems.  County Commissioner Jeff Jacques asked for assurances that wouldn’t happen again.

“We need to make sure the software is functional and applicable to us,” Jacques said. “We’ve gone that route before and we found out it wasn’t feasible for our use and transitioned back to the software you’re using.”

“Right, but I think the lesson learned is that cheapest does not always equal better or best,” Thomas replied.

Commissioner David Strickland suggested looking at leasing the computer equipment and using Cloud software to store county information.

Thomas said current Internet connection speeds would make that idea unworkable right now.

“Leasing is definitely and option, especially with a payment plan,” she said. “I don’t think right now going to cloud software is the best method for us to go just because of Internet connection speed. I think at this point having a server on site is better. I’ve looked at both options and I think right now we’re better off with a server on site.”

No vote was taken and Thomas said she would continue to update the Board on her progress.