How Watertown, Connecticut Transformed IT Operations With Co-Managed Services

The Town of Watertown, Connecticut is a mid-sized New England municipality with roughly 140 users spread across 10 sites—from Town Hall and the Police Department to a golf course, baseball fields, and an animal shelter. Like many municipalities, Watertown depends on reliable technology to serve its residents and manage public safety, financial records, and compliance obligations.

But when its experienced IT staff began retiring, the town faced a pivotal question: How do you maintain and modernize a complex municipal IT environment when institutional knowledge walks out the door?

Retiring IT Staff and Growing Risk Left Watertown Without a Clear Technology Plan 

For years, Watertown’s IT operations were managed by a small, experienced internal team. That team knew the town’s systems inside and out. But as key members began retiring, the town quickly realized that their informal, undocumented approach to IT would not survive the transition. Plus, the town’s infrastructure had grown far beyond what any single remaining staff member could reasonably manage, and no one had a clear picture of what technology the town actually owned, what condition it was in, or what would happen if something broke.

The town’s remaining IT staff member—a very capable IT support specialist—was doing his best, but he simply lacked the bandwidth and deep infrastructure expertise to handle everything. With responsibilities spanning 10 sites, the scope of IT needs far exceeded what one person could address alone.

Watertown also faced a challenge common to municipalities: the risk of cyber threats. Neighboring towns had experienced cybersecurity incidents, and while IT had talked about the issue internally, a clear accounting of what protections were in place or what gaps remained had never occurred.

Complicating matters further, Town Manager Mark Raimo found himself responsible for the IT budget without a reliable source of guidance. Budgeting is a big task for Raimo. Prior IT spending had grown year over year without clear justification, and he had no way to project future needs or communicate a technology roadmap to the town council.

Why Watertown Chose VC3

Watertown issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) and evaluated several IT providers. Immediately, VC3 stood out for the depth of its team and the breadth of its capabilities. Raimo was drawn to the idea of a large, well-resourced organization—especially one that could offer more than any single hire could. And as a long-time partner in IT services with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, VC3 was also a trusted vendor associated with the state’s municipal league, which added to VC3’s credibility.

In April 2025, Watertown signed on with VC3 for co-managed IT services. What set VC3 apart wasn't a single feature or a lower price—it was organizational depth. Raimo felt reassured about the deep bench of expertise behind the relationship. Instead of hiring one or two local technicians who could leave at any time, VC3 provided a stable, consistent team with specialists across infrastructure, cybersecurity, compliance, and strategy who could grow with the town's needs.

How a Co-Managed IT Model Gave Watertown Full IT Support Without Replacing Staff 

VC3 proposed a co-managed IT model that combined the town’s dedicated onsite IT support specialist with VC3's full managed services infrastructure and 24/7 support behind the scenes. This way, Watertown would keep the in-person feel their staff expected while also having the resources of a full IT department backing every decision.

With its co-managed IT services, VC3 shares a service board with Watertown’s IT support specialist while providing infrastructure-level support, escalation coverage, and access to a wide range of technical specialists. When the town’s IT support specialist is unavailable—whether on vacation or overwhelmed by competing priorities—VC3 ensures that urgent tickets are identified and addressed without interruption.

While understandably wary at first, their IT support specialist has come to appreciate VC3’s support. And town staff still receive immediate, responsive, in-person IT help—the kind that comes from a person who knows the building, knows the people, and picks up the phone. VC3’s team serves as an extension of Watertown’s internal capacity, providing a consistent point of accountability that the town previously lacked.

In other words, it’s the best of both worlds.

VC3’s work with Watertown has also spanned several other areas:

• Security and Compliance: Watertown’s co-managed agreement includes VC3 Protect Shield, which provides a layered cybersecurity foundation that addresses the risk of cyber incidents that commonly affect municipalities. VC3 also supports compliance obligations including CJIS and PCI DSS requirements.

• Strategic Budgeting and Technology Roadmapping: One of VC3’s most significant contributions has been helping Raimo take control of the town’s IT budget. VC3 has worked extensively with Raimo to prepare a clear, concise presentation that he can bring to the town council. The result is a multi-year technology roadmap showing planned investments, refresh cycles, and projected cost reductions over a three-to-five-year horizon. Raimo said, “I was able to tell the town council that we not only stayed within the same budget numbers from last year but also accomplished a great deal more work compared to previous years—allowing me to make more confident budget requests and projections over the next three to five years.”

• Infrastructure Projects: VC3 completed two notable projects ahead of Watertown's new fiscal year. The first was an IQS system conversion for the town, which required deploying a new virtual environment and configuring Windows Server and SQL Server to meet a firm go-live deadline—ensuring the continuity of a resident-facing system without disruption. The second was a firewall upgrade at Watertown's Senior Center, replacing aging network security infrastructure and strengthening the site's perimeter defenses. Both projects also surfaced communication and escalation lessons that VC3 and Watertown have since built into their project delivery process going forward. 

Measurable Improvements in IT Support, Cybersecurity, and Budget Planning

While results didn't happen overnight, the impact over a year has been real and compounding. In less than a year of partnership, VC3 has helped Watertown move from reactive, undocumented IT operations to a more structured, proactive environment. 

• Stabilized day-to-day support: The day-to-day experience of IT support has changed noticeably. Raimo’s chief of police—who used to require frequent IT meetings to stay on top of issues—now barely needs to engage. Regular check-ins have given leadership confidence that VC3 is handling issues in the background before they escalate.

• Cyber risks reduced and communicated: Watertown can now clearly articulate to its council what protections are in place to combat the types of cybersecurity incidents that have affected neighboring towns. Rather than vague assurances, there is now a documented, visible security posture backed by VC3 Protect Shield and other critical tools.

• Modernized infrastructure: Watertown has moved from reactive, break-fix hardware replacement to a planned refresh cycle. Expired hardware is now identified well in advance, budgeted proactively, and replaced on schedule—eliminating the disruption and unplanned cost that comes with waiting for things to fail. With several host server upgrades and additional end-of-life replacements queued for the upcoming fiscal year, the town's infrastructure is on a forward-looking trajectory for the first time.

• Predictable budgeting: One of the most meaningful shifts within the town has been financial visibility into IT. Where IT costs once felt unpredictable and reactive, Watertown now operates with a clear three-to-five-year technology roadmap. Raimo can walk into a council meeting and show exactly what was spent, what was accomplished, and what's planned—with confidence.

• Easier conversations with council: Raimo came into the VC3 relationship without an IT background and no reliable way to explain technology decisions to the town council. Now, with a clear technology roadmap, documented security posture, and a trusted advisor in his corner, Raimo can now walk into council meetings prepared—answering questions about cybersecurity risk, justifying budget requests, and projecting costs years in advance.

• A real IT partnership: Over time, the relationship between Raimo and VC3 evolved from vendor-client to something closer to a trusted IT director. Regular communication, shared accountability, and a genuine investment in Watertown's outcomes by VC3 made the difference. The VC3 team has built genuine trust with Raimo and the town’s IT support specialist.

• Greater IT capability and confidence: Having access to VC3’s full team of engineers and specialists gives Watertown a level of capability that no single hire could provide. Raimo said, “The IT landscape changes so rapidly. It’s very difficult for any one person to stay on top of it. Knowing you have that deep bench—that somebody at VC3 may have the answer where we would normally be stuck—brings real comfort.” 

Results at a Glance: Before and After Co-Managed IT

Before VC3	After VC3
Aging hardware with no documented replacement plan	Structured hardware refresh roadmap
IT knowledge walking out the door as staff retired	Documented systems and built-in continuity
Uncertain cybersecurity posture	Strengthened cybersecurity defenses and ongoing threat monitoring
Unpredictable budget and reactive spending	3–5-year roadmap with predictable budgeting
Difficulty communicating IT priorities and risk to council	Confident, evidence-based council reporting
Overwhelmed IT staff	Onsite IT support specialist + full VC3 bench of engineers behind the scenes

Why the Co-Managed IT Model Works for Municipalities

“If I was asked for a recommendation, I would completely recommend venturing out and using a company like VC3. You have to work at the relationship—but as you see the effort VC3 puts in, it really changes your understanding and your feelings about the whole thing.”

— Mark Raimo, Town Manager, Town of Watertown, CT

Watertown's story is not unique. Across Connecticut and beyond, municipalities face a version of the same challenge: internal IT teams that are too small, too stretched, or in transition while the cyber threat landscape grows more complex and residents' expectations for digital services keep rising.

A co-managed model meets municipalities where they are. It doesn't replace the institutional relationships that town staff depend upon. Instead, it builds a professional, scalable IT operation around them. And for Raimo and the Town of Watertown, co-managed IT services prevented a slow-building crisis and turned IT into a stable, secure, and predictable engine that forms the backbone of the town’s operations and resident services.

Interested in learning how co-managed IT could work for your municipality? Contact VC3 today.