IT Directors at municipalities face significant challenges managing and securing the technology required to run a complex municipal network. Learn how SecureWon helps the City of Taunton, Massachusetts support their substantial networking and IT infrastructure.
The City of Taunton is located about 40 miles south of Boston in Bristol County. Situated on the Taunton River, the city has a total population of approximately 55,000 citizens. Their network environment includes 16 buildings, five distinct networks, including municipal operations, public safety, schools, parks, recreation, senior center, water and sewer, and an airport.
CHALLENGESPaul Arikian is the Director of Technology and manages the municipal network, including all of the networks, communications systems, and software for city operations, including GIS and SCADA operations for the Water and Sewer Departments. Paul leads a team of three who handle all municipal IT needs, not including public safety and the school department.
The municipal network consists of 16 buildings and services approximately 300 employees. Taunton is a traditional municipality with multiple departments, including the Mayor’s office, Office of Economic Development, health services, water and sewer department, and airport. “We handle everything IT, including networking, hardware, software, GIS, and SCADA systems,” Arikian said. “Essentially anything with a blinking light.” While the municipal IT team provides first-line networking administration and an IT help desk, they often look to outside vendors for additional support.
“We also encounter special situations,” Arikian said. “For instance, we extended the network to a convenience center to enforce trash compliance. In another instance, the Park and Recreation department came to us to accept online payments at our spring and fall outdoor festivals. We worked with several vendors to install point-of-sale systems.
Network and physical security is at the top of Taunton’s IT team’s priority list. Some of the projects included installing BitLocker to encrypt laptops, and initiating multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all municipal employees.
SOLUTIONSSecureWon has worked for the City of Taunton for the past ten years. They provide a full range of managed services, including networking administration, cybersecurity services, and vendor management. “With 300 users, their internal team is quite busy,” Said Wayne Audette, Founder and CEO of SecureWon. “We conducted a full cybersecurity assessment last year, and we’ve been working through the remediation list.”
Physical security is also high on Arikian’s list of improvements. SecureWon has extensive experience assessing and installing video cameras, monitoring software, and door security systems.
SecureWon plays an important role for the City of Taunton by helping the IT team with vendor management. “We will assess vendors, test and evaluate hardware and software,” Audette said. “We will make purchasing recommendations, “When the vendors are selected, we’ll assist with onboarding if needed.”
SecureWon is more than a run-of-the-mill vendor. They are a valuable partner when it comes to implementing cybersecurity initiatives. For instance, SecureWon is working with the city to implement an incident response plan (IRP), “We were excited to help Taunton secure a $50,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to develop the IRP,” Audette said.
Having knowledge of how municipalities work is important. The municipal market is quite different from the corporate or educational markets. “SecureWon understands how municipalities work,” Arikian said. “It allows them to easily service our needs, and their support has been outstanding. You call them, they’re on the phone.”
“SecureWon understands how municipalities work. It allows them to easily service our needs, and their support has been outstanding. You call them, they’re on the phone.”
Phil Arikian
Director of Technology
City of Taunton, Massachusetts
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