2023-08-28-minutes-it-study-session

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KITTITAS COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS STAFF REPORT FOR STUDY SESSION Information Technology STUDY SESSION DATE: 8/28/2023 TOPIC: Requesting Approval of Additional IT Staff ACTION REQUESTED: Approval LEAD STAFF: Doug Fessler, Zane Kinney RECOMMENDATION: IT is seeking Board of Commissioners' approval for the addition of a skilled, full-time application developer and a part-time (0.1 FTE)project specialist to serve as a Database Administrator. BRIEFING SUMMARY: • Our IT department manages an extensive inventory of aging, in-house software applications essential for County operations. • IT has a vision of a future in which we are no longer custom coding applications from scratch as a first preference, instead favoring: 1. purchasing third-party, of-the-shelf software, 2. low-code-no-code development, and 3. employing the use of modern application architecture principles and robust application frameworks, allowing for more rapid development cycles and lighter maintenance loads. To achieve this, we must have the resources to develop new systems as we maintain current ones. • The chance to hire Dave Feldman, a part-time database administrator, is a unique opportunity. He will assess our systems, aid in remediation, enhance data security, improve database performance, and transfer invaluable knowledge to our team. BACKGROUND: Recently, the Board sanctioned the IT Assistant Director position, appointing Zane Kinney, the Application Development Manager, as the Assistant Director. Mr. Kinney has since juggled Assistant Director, senior developer, and division manager roles. In addition, we have struggled with the departure of the GIS Coordinator, who was also a skilled developer on our team. Page 1 of 8 Information Technology"Study Session Staff Report",8/28/2023