Guest Column: An IT professional on Plainfield's IT moves

Plainfield's City Council approved a salary ordinance (MC 2009-18) Monday which puts the Robinson-Briggs administration on track to hire an Information Technology (IT) Manager (Level 1) with a salary range of $70,000 - $110,000 (see the state's Civil Service title description here).

Guest blogger for this post is Nat Singleton, a retired IT professional. Nat worked for IBM for twenty years as a telecommunications manager in systems architecture and network development and consulting. For IBM, he worked on assignment in Europe on the establishment of SWIFT, the worldwide financial funds transfer system. After retiring from IBM, Nat spent fifteen years with Unisys, as a manager responsible for risk assessment on projects for several Fortune 500 companies, including PSE&G. Nat is a twenty-five year resident of Plainfield, a member of the board of the Plainfield Area YMCA, and a former commissioner of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority.

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CITY PUTTING ITS IT CART BEFORE ITS HORSE

With the passage of the salary ordinance establishing an Information Technology manager's position, the Robinson-Briggs administration and the City Council are embarking down a path they hope will solve the problems of the city's IT infrastructure.

They are hoping that this new hire will create and manage a new IT infrastructure that will bring the City of Plainfield into the 21st century, technologically speaking.

The problem here is one of putting the cart before the horse.

Let's look at how it seems this will roll out and the possible costs involved.

First, an IT Manager will be hired with a salary of $70-110,000, exclusive of health and pension benefits.

What will this person do?

Let's clear away first what they probably WON'T DO.

The Administration has given no indication whether the new hire will do any of the following --

1. Network design and implementation.
2. Man the Help Desk.
3. Problem solving/troubleshooting hardware and software issues.
4. Teach people how to use the system.

Well, you may ask, what DO they do?

The new hire will manage, which means they will - whoops! - need a staff (according to the Civil Service description, up to ten people)

The new hire (plus any staff that is added) will have to begin by doing what should have been done in the first place, BEFORE anyone was hired: perform a Needs Assessment.

A Needs Assessment is a specific methodology done by trained IT professionals which, when done correctly, should provide an organization a road map of where they are now, where they need to be, and how to get there. Unless the new hire is a seasoned hand with many such Needs Assessments under his or her belt, it is best done by outside professionals.

That will add a cost of $30,000 to $60,000 to the first year's expenses for the assessment.

So, if the manager hires a staff of say three persons and has an outside needs assessment done, we can quickly see the City's financial commitment -- with benefits -- ballooning toward $400-500,000 in the first year alone.

All of this comes with no guarantee of success.

IS THERE A BETTER WAY?

Is there a better way, you might ask? Is there a way of thinking outside of the box where the same thing can be done for less money?

I think so. Nowhere in the Administration's headlong rush to get an IT manager has the phrase ‘shared services’ come up. I can only surmise that the Administration is unaware that Plainfield already has a cost-effective, highly competent and well-thought-of IT organization in place, one that is ALREADY paid for by the taxpayers.

That organization exists at the Plainfield Public Library. Why not be creative for a change, go outside the box, and make the Library the technological hub for the City of Plainfield?

This would provide a logical extension of the Library's expertise and experience, good public relations for both the city and the Library, and allow us to say 'the buck stops here.'

How can we determine if this is feasible?

Easy. Before anything else is done, hire the Library to perform the Needs Assessment.

Based on the results, we will be able to know if the Library can become the City's technology hub and whether it really makes sense for the city to continue going down the path of creating its own independent IT staff.

Finally, Plainfield might even be able to get the state to fund such a project as a pilot for developing a future technology role for libraries in the state of New Jersey.

-- Nat Singleton

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-- Dan Damon

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