Breaking Down Silos

How Municipalities Can Optimize Their Tech Needs

Silos can present significant challenges for municipalities, especially when it comes to technology. Many departments have unique needs and purchase specialized software to meet these needs. While some software may be part of a larger suite, others are completely standalone systems. Unfortunately, municipalities often overlook how similar the services delivered by different departments can be. Most government software is designed to facilitate service delivery, which means there are often overlaps in functionality between tools.

The Impact of Silos

Departments frequently operate in isolation, leading to a fragmented technology landscape. Software is purchased to fill perceived gaps without a holistic review of existing resources, and many tools remain underutilized due to insufficient training or the loss of institutional knowledge. Worse yet, additional software may be purchased when the existing tools could meet the need with proper configuration or training.

Conduct a Software Inventory and Assessment

The first step in overcoming silos is to take stock of your software assets. Municipalities should conduct a comprehensive inventory, identifying what software is in use, how it’s being utilized, and whether it meets current needs. This process helps highlight inefficiencies, redundancies, and opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration.

Example: Expanding Dover’s IT Support Framework

In Dover, we recognized the need to strengthen IT support for employees, particularly those who struggled with technology. With a one-person IT department, it was essential to ensure 24/7 access to resources like training documentation, instructions, recordings of live trainings, and an IT ticketing system. Instead of investing in costly new tools, I utilized our existing Google Workspace suite to create an intranet site. This site centralized all training materials and provided a built-in IT ticketing system. By optimizing the tools we already had, we improved accessibility and efficiency without incurring additional costs.

Engage with Department Heads

Once an inventory is complete, IT leaders should meet with department heads to review their missions, needs, and current software usage. This collaboration is critical for breaking down silos and understanding shared challenges across departments.

Example: Sandwich Seasonal Onboarding
In Sandwich, we were onboarding hundreds of seasonal staff using a manual, paper-intensive process. After mapping the process, I discovered that our existing Adobe Acrobat software included web forms. I converted the new hire kit into a web form, streamlining the entire process. This eliminated the need for time- and labor-intensive job fairs where staff had to assist with completing forms. Now, we can send a simple link, and completed and signed forms are automatically returned to the department’s general mailbox.

Map Processes and Align Goals

Creating a process map for each department helps identify overlaps, inefficiencies, and areas where existing software can be better utilized. This step ensures you fully understand each department’s needs and goals before making significant changes.

Example: Cemetery Software in Dover
The cemetery department in Dover relied on outdated software that required manual backups and no longer met their needs. After reviewing the system, I determined that new, specialized software was necessary. However, I ensured the replacement was future-proof by selecting a SaaS solution that would be regularly updated and scalable to meet evolving needs.

Plan for Consolidation or Procurement

Once needs are understood, municipalities can begin planning how to deprecate outdated or unsupported systems, consolidate overlapping tools, and budget for necessary new procurement. Cross-training staff ensures institutional knowledge is retained, and robust systems can be reused across silos.

Example: Strategic Planning with Smartsheets
When tasked with reviewing and procuring software to help the Town Manager and Selectmen codify and present their strategic plan, I selected Smartsheets. This tool was not only robust enough to meet their needs but versatile enough to benefit other departments. For example, we used Smartsheets to capture well reading data in the field and create a public-facing dashboard. This demonstrated how a well-vetted system can support service delivery across silos.

Future-Proof Your Technology

When procuring new tools, prioritize scalability, interoperability, and vendor support. By future-proofing your systems, you can avoid scrambling to replace outdated tools and ensure long-term value.

Efficiency and Collaboration

The above examples demonstrate how thoughtful software planning can transform municipal operations:

Fully leveraging existing tools, as in Dover's IT intranet and ticketing system, saves time and money.
Addressing specific needs with future-proofed solutions, like cemetery software, ensures sustainability.
Streamlining processes with existing tools, like Sandwich’s onboarding system, improves efficiency.
Selecting versatile tools, like Smartsheets, enables cross-departmental collaboration and innovation.

Breaking down silos requires a holistic view of your municipality's needs, collaboration across departments, and careful planning. By optimizing software use and procurement, municipalities can deliver better services, save resources, and foster a more cohesive government operation.

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