City of Sumter, SC Moves to the Cloud
Source: Municipal Assocation of South Carolina’s Uptown Publication
Sumter officials have faced the same ongoing budget constraints as many communities because of the weak economy coupled with increased demands for city services. In 2012, Sumter made the strategic decision to move to a private cloud hosted desktop solution for its IT services as one way to meet some of its budget challenges.
“Sumter’s hosted desktop solution has the look and feel of a traditional computer. However, all of the software and data reside on servers located in a secure data center, or ‘in the cloud’, which gives the city a more strategic way to manage its IT resources and associated costs,” explained Larry Mattox, VC3’s government solutions specialist.VC3 is the Municipal Association’s technology partner.
The cloud-based solution has relieved the City of Sumter from having to purchase, install and support IT equipment and applications for many of the city staff. Instead of significant capital expenditures, Sumter officials now budget for a consistent monthly IT charge. The PCs, servers, software licensing fees and other equipment are part of the city’s cloud service.
“As an added benefit, our employees have access to the most up-to-date applications, and our data is housed in multiple VC3 secure data centers,” explained Sumter City Manager Deron McCormick. “This fits in with our overall business continuity plan. In case of a disaster, we will not lose access to our applications or data. With this hosted desktop solution, our city’s data is always available from any location using any device. We will be able to continue to operate and provide city services.”
Unlike many public cloud vendors with shared resources, a private cloud solution provides each municipality with its own dedicated resources to ensure a secure environment with high performance.
About The City of Sumter
Sumter, South Carolina is a growing, diverse community centrally located between the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sumter is proud of its dozens of local parks & playgrounds, two state parks and the world-renowned Swan Lake Iris Gardens, which is home to all eight species of swans — all providing miles of trails for an afternoon stroll or a rigorous hike. The historic Sumter Opera House, built in 1894, still hosts an array of live performances for all ages.
Client
Manager Deron McCormick. City Manager
City of Sumter, South Carolina
In Sumter, we have gotten completely out of the day-to-day IT business. The cloud allows staff to focus on more strategic tasks and spend more time serving our residents.