Good morning! Given your size, it makes sense that you might look at outsourcing. I worked as an IT director for a small state agency, 74people, but we really relied on our IT to manage our programs. We used a mix of in-house and outsourced. I think this could help you because having a person dedicated to managing the outsourced work who is also technical and a part of your staff strikes a good balance between advocacy and cost effectiveness. The issues you mentioned could be your hardware, your network, your bandwidth, your computers OR it could be the fault of the outsourced IT group. There are many variables in that equation and that's why it is hard for you to know what is happening. I know it is expensive, but in my experience there is no substitute for having some technical expertise on your staff. Additionally, it feels like we absolutely need a big IT focus to meet the needs of our constituents, regardless of community size and I think you can argue that technology is the one tool that lets your community play BIG without being big. Also, if you choose to have one IT person, consider recruiting for someone that understands their role as advisor, especially so that you can make improvements across the whole city IT effort. Taking an enterprise view will help you save money and time in the long run. Hope this helps!
