Warren County Board Of Developmental Disabilities Case Study

The Warren County Board Of Developmental Disabilities Credits GO Concepts For Providing The Remote IT Access & Up-To-Date Hardware They Desperately Needed!

The Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities in Lebanon, Ohio is a team of more than 130 dedicated people serving more than 1,800 individuals with developmental disabilities. Operating out of five locations, many of their employees work out in the field to provide needed services to the community. Their mission is “supporting people with disabilities and their families to achieve what is important to them.”

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THEIR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES

The staff was frustrated and unhappy with the IT support they had in place, as they felt they were not responsive to their concerns. The PC’s being utilized and the IT solutions in place were outdated and not allowing them to effectively do their jobs. One of the most limiting factors was not having reliable and secure remote access to their network and work-related software packages for their staff members in the field.

Megan Manuel, Superintendent of The Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities, explained it this way:

“With the problems we were having, we knew we needed a different IT provider. The County’s data processing center oversaw our IT, as they did for or a lot of agencies in the County. We were not a priority for them, and always had to wait to get the service we needed. Therefore, problems went unresolved.

Not being able to connect remotely hurt productivity for the employees out in the field. We desperately needed to access our files when we were out of the office. With many workers in the field, this was a priority. We went to the County with our concerns and convinced them to let us bring in GO Concepts.”

OUR STRATEGY

Our team at GO Concepts specializes in IT Service & Support for County Boards of Developmental Disabilities and DD-related organizations throughout Ohio. We got right to work to improve their situation and found several issues that needed immediate attention:

• Although they were under the impression security updates were being installed on their computers, we found every computer was missing critical security updates. During the onboarding, every available patch was installed on every computer in order to meet HIPAA compliance. This process saw over 70,000 total patches completed.
• We provided a help desk with a team of skilled, Microsoft-certified and HIPAA security trained technicians for them to speak with whenever they had an issue. This provided a quick response to their information technology needs.
• Their computer and network hardware were outdated, so we worked with them on a plan to begin updating all their IT-related equipment.
• They were not following best practices and did not have written IT policies, so we worked with them to begin implementing those immediately. We provided, and continue to provide, assistance with their audits and surveys for HIPAA compliance.
• To address their lack of remote access, we implemented a reliable and secure remote desktop solution, along with remote access to their industry-specific software.
• We migrated them to our Private Cloud. This provided access to current hardware and software systems, which allowed them expanded capabilities for utilizing and securely accessing their network and data, as well as a reliable back-up and disaster recovery solution.
• Their mobile devices were not secure, so they now have Mobile Device Management to ensure the security of data on their mobile devices. If a tablet or smartphone is lost or stolen, we can remotely wipe all confidential data from the device.

THE OUTCOME

Their County Board now has everything they need to operate efficiently, securely, and productively as they work to achieve their mission including:

• Significant increase to employee productivity and efficiency due to reliable computer systems, responsive support, and remote connectivity solutions.
• Full Managed IT services, so they no longer worrying about IT. Their risks have been all but eliminated. Things work as they should and are both reliable and secure.
• Up-to-date computer, mobile, and server hardware. They always know exactly what IT assets they have.
• Redundancy and proactive systems management resulting in high availability and reliability.
• Expert support team that is accountable to immediately react and appropriately respond to all IT needs.
• Reliable and secure remote access to work-related software packages providing staff more options to be able to perform their job, which allows for better culture and morale.
• Virtual Private Servers via a reliable and secure private cloud with current and highly available server hardware.
• Information technology that’s secure and aligned with best practices.
• Assistance with audits and surveys for security and HIPAA compliance.
• Much less need for daily IT assistance due to extensive proactive systems management and the breadth of services being performed on the backend.
• Reliable Hosted Exchange email with encryption and archiving capabilities
• On staff IT Manager can focus on implementing technology to drive the organization instead of reacting to technology problems.
• New technology solutions including electronic signatures, electronic faxing, electronic document management, voice transcription software, and voice over IP to improve overall employee productivity.

Now they can focus on what matters most in their operations due to having the level of information technology that helps drive their organization.

WHERE THEY ARE TODAY

Megan Manuel, who is the Superintendent of Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities and its former CFO, has nearly 17 years of experience there. She knows the needs and challenges organizations in the DD community face, and she understands the best solutions to address them. Here’s how she explains where Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities is today:

“GO Concepts is wonderful! They oversee all our servers, help desk needs, equipment upgrades and procurement for hardware and software solutions.

I didn’t realize how much was needed to get us up to standard. They were there working nights and weekends getting us set up. They wanted to get the conversion set up as soon and as seamlessly as possible. They did a fantastic job!

We are all more up to date on things. Even our cell phones have been updated. Before we couldn’t access our information unless we were in the office. Now we can connect remotely, I can work from home and print documents in the office, and they are there waiting for me the next morning!

I am always happy to recommend GO Concepts to other DD Boards in Ohio. They are helping other counties, who are also very happy with them.

We have an IT Manager who GO Concepts works closely with, and who focuses on how they fit into our organization and the policies around this.

Since we’ve been using GO Concepts as our outsourced IT Department, our staff is much more productive and can handle their workload more efficiently. They now have the ability to get things done when they’re out in the field. This is a huge asset!”

For more information about how we can assist you and ensure you “Don’t worry about IT,” contact the experts at GO Concepts… The Premier Information Technology Solutions Provider for Agencies, Independent Providers, and County Boards of DD.

In the meantime, stay up-to-date on technology and how it can improve your IT processes. Check out the “Insights“ section on our website, ITforDD.com, which is specifically for county boards of developmental disabilities and related entities. Here are a few articles to get you going:

Addressing The State of Ohio Critical Security Controls Compliance (HIPAA)

Whether you call it a review, audit, or evaluation, any time you conduct a serious assessment of the state of your network and data security, along with your related policies and procedures, it’s a good and valuable process.

For the State of Ohio Critical Security Controls Compliance, we like the description given by Michelle Burk, CIO/Deputy Director of DoDD: ” It’s an evaluation of security and privacy safeguards of your systems and organization to demonstrate and document ongoing compliance.”

Does Your Internet Router Contain Vulnerable Code?

New Study Shows that 83% of Top Name Brand Routers Contain Weak Code. A new report released this week by the American Consumer Institute on router safety identified five name brand routers that are known to contain vulnerabilities. Routers have become the latest security threat for companies and consumers.

What Developmental Disabilities Boards Need to Know Before Outsourcing Your IT Infrastructure

Maintaining the IT infrastructure at your developmental disability organization can be a challenge. IT management at DD boards is torn in different directions; beset on all sides with requests for confusing compliance reporting as well as strict security procedures.