City of Aurora

Redefining managed services partnerships

With a legacy system that continued to cause outages, nearing its end-of-life, and becoming an overall strain on the city’s technology budget, the City of Aurora (CoA), knew it was time for a complete system update. In 2020, the search began for an integrator to spearhead a city-wide upgrade to better connect the community and utilize smart technology to enhance its public infrastructure. As the second largest city in Illinois, the ‘City of Lights’ quickly became aware that maintaining the original network infrastructure was no longer feasible as the city’s technology needs grew along with an increasing risk of cyberattacks. To ensure a fair and thorough bidding process, the City of Aurora utilized a third-party vendor, Marketplace.city, to simplify, validate, and procure the new technology partner. After nearly a dozen vendor submissions, presentations, and interviews, it was determined Scientel was the best fit for CoA’s immediate and future needs.

Having hundreds of existing network devices of mixed hardware and multiple isolated network infrastructures, a complex challenge was born. The CoA needed an experienced systems integrator who could aggregate its existing networks, upgrade obsolete equipment, and provide a solution that could grow with the city’s development. In June 2021, Scientel Solutions’ proposal proved to be the best solution to support the city’s technology plans. By tackling the project with a managed service provider approach, the CoA found a partner that could bring its smart vision to life.

THE CHALLENGE

Scientel Engineers work to maintain costs while securing & aggregating the COA’s networks without disruption to daily operations.

With any extensive network comes many assumed costs for IT and Operations teams to oversee. However, the CoA’s legacy network became too expensive as ongoing maintenance costs continued to rise. This was largely due to the technology nearing its end-of-life phase and poor cybersecurity capabilities. Scientel’s team had a unique challenge to overcome when implementing this solution. In addition, the team had to work in a methodology that controlled costs and expenditures. The CoA had multiple networks with different hardware for its public safety sectors. Crucial providers of public services, including the fire department, water treatment plant, and police department, were working off different technologies, and needed to be consolidated into one integrated network.

“Our team dynamic came through once again to show that bringing together different skills and perspectives outshines a project’s complexity. They have performed and continue to work as an extension of Aurora’s IT department. We successfully collaborate with various stakeholders throughout the city including the Aurora Police Department, River Edge and Phillips Parks, Water Treatment facilities and Fire Stations.”

 

– Roxana Hoffman, Director of Operations at Scientel Solutions

With complexities that had formed over many years of development, the legacy network & equipment introduced a few challenges during the migration process. Developing a cross-departmental change control process became a critical project milestone. Previously, many of the departments operated independently, impacting networks across the city when a single change was made by any given department. A solution needed to be put into place to bring the network into one cohesive unit.

Another crucial criterion was to complete the transition without causing disruptions to the municipality’s daily operations. To ensure a smooth process, Scientel’s project management team worked closely with the city to determine a plan of execution. As with all challenges, however, the Scientel team rose to the occasion while providing hands-on, around-the-clock support to the city’s internal teams.

SCIENTEL’S SOLUTION

Scientel redefines what it means to be a managed services provider.

Scientel’s solution allowed the CoA’s technology infrastructure to grow to greater heights. The solution proposed addressed the city’s immediate needs and laid the foundation that is helping Aurora reach its ultimate smart vision. By proposing a managed service partnership, the CoA would have a network without vulnerabilities with scalability while keeping costs manageable. Under Scientel’s partner model, new equipment would be provided to the city as a service while Scientel takes responsibility for the current legacy equipment.

“Offering our clients, the managed service model allows for a scalable, proactive, and secure approach that other designs may not offer. Our goal is to reduce the city’s infrastructure costs and ensure our clients have the most advanced, customized solution to best fit both their immediate and future needs“

 

– Nelson Santos, CEO at Scientel Solutions

Leveraging Scientel’s vendor-agnostic relationships, engineers began working on selecting a technology partner. After carefully considering the scale of the project and the goals for the CoA— Fortinet was chosen as the primary technology partner. Fortinet offers an expansive portfolio of enterprise-grade products and has the largest integrated offering to deliver customizable cybersecurity solutions.

Under Scientel’s managed service partnership model, Scientel’s network engineers quickly became an extension to the city’s internal IT teams. Engineers worked closely with Aurora’s IT personnel to ensure a seamless migration from the city’s old equipment. Engineers then took up the mantel of eliminating network vulnerabilities by securing the network and installing some of Fortinet’s advanced technology & equipment.

As economic development continued to rise in the CoA, so did its technology infrastructure. As one of the many gems found in the city, RiverEdge Park required enhanced wireless connectivity and situational awareness. Through the awarded contract, Scientel was able to design, deploy, implement, and manage the park’s technology expansion to support the CoA increasing needs.

It was imperative at the time of migration that the city would not experience any interruption to their daily job function. Working closely with Aurora’s IT teams and Scientel’s project manager, a cadence was developed where Scientel engineers would work overnight and on weekends. In addition, to keep Aurora’s network running smoothly, Scientel’s network engineers continue to provide ongoing monitoring and maintenance 24x7x365 through its Aurora-based Network Operations Center.

THE RESULTS

The City of Aurora saves nearly one million dollars to date in technology and electricity consumption costs.

Since implementing their new network and entering into Scientel’s managed services partnership, the CoA has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on device warranty costs alone. The city has also seen additional savings in reduced electricity costs, amounting to over $150,000. Since partnering, the municipality added additional services to the agreement that allow their IT personnel to continue to focus on network services, daily job functions and other growth areas.

“The Scientel team has truly become part of the City’s IT team.  As new projects arise, Scientel staff work with CoA staff – from IT and departmental staff from all over the city – to design, deploy, implement, and manage ongoing configurations.  In all cases, time and delivery expectations have exceeded.  Scientel staff are fully integrated with the CoA Service Desk and provide 24×7 support to critical City services.  These services are provided at costs lower than the former purchase and maintenance costs of the City’s legacy network components.“

 

– Jeff Anderson, Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Aurora

Over the last three years, Aurora’s network has become significantly more secure from outside threats, making the IT team more available to perform crucial functions for the community, fire department, police department and water treatment facility. With increased network stability, the operations of Aurora’s public safety teams have improved when making critical decisions for its constituents.

“I am proud to say that over the past three years, we’ve successfully reduced costs and saved countless man-hours. Scientel has proven to be more than just a Managed Service partner; they are an integral part of our team. Through their support, we have embraced technology and service innovation, transforming our infrastructure to meet the demands of the future. This modernization effort not only enhances our operational efficiency but also significantly promotes public safety, ensuring our community remains resilient and secure.”

 

– Michael Pegues, Chief Information Officer, City of Aurora

Under Scientel’s managed service partnership, the CoA can continue to push the bounds of innovation throughout the entire city. Aurora’s elected officials have laid the foundation to support the city’s increasing growth. With a seamlessly expandable solution, the CoA has made great strides toward a smarter, more connected community that employees and residents can mutually benefit from, for years to come.
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