2002-06-26 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ ~ ~ Best Practices Review Summary #02-09a ---, rtJlIPI OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR STATE OF MiNNESOTA Managing Local Government Computer Systems: A Best Practices Review April 30, 2002 Local governments may manage their computer systems in-house, by outside vendors, by an intergovernmental computer collaboration, or by a combination of these three approaches. This report recommends that counties, cities, and school districts adopt certain best practices as they consider how they want to manage their computer systems. Local governments should evaluate how well each option for managing computers addressl:S security, stafimg, and control policies. Recommended Best Practices: . Before deciding how to manage their computer systems, local governments should make sure that: information technology has the support of top officials, staff have the capacity to estimate total costs and manage contracts, jurisdictions identify the services that should be automated, staff plan for computer system replacements, and jurisdictions know where information technology fits within their organizations. . Local governments should judge a management option based on whether it has complete inventories of equipment, sets standards for computer hardware and software, follows a clearly documented program to control the day-to-day operations of the computer system, communicates computer system policies and procedures to people using the system, and monitors co,?pliance with the policies. . Local governments should also. ensure that the computer systems are managed by staff who have sufficient expertise, receive ongoing training, and provide training and support to computer users. . Finally, local governments should look for management options that use trained professionals to assess the computer system's security risks, develop security policies based on the risks, manage user accounts and employee access to the system, install and mouitor firewalls and antivirus software, develop backup procedures and disaster recovery plans, and test security procedures. In addition to these recommendations, the review found that: . All of Minnesota's counties, school districts, and large cities use personal computers and have computer networks, but 27 percent of cities with 500 or fewer residents do not use any personal computers. . Nearly all of Minnesota's local governments use their own staff to manage some part of their computer systems, but most also rely on computer vendors or intergovernmental computer collaborations to maintain parts of their hardware or to support software applications. Room 140,658 Cedar Stred, 51. Paul, MN 55155 -- Telephone: 651-2964708 -. Fax: 651.296-4712 -. E.mail: anditor.state.mn.us L____