Government agencies have a lot on their plates, attending to the needs of their constituents while also making sure community infrastructure and services are working optimally. Recent events have made technology even more essential to government as workers have transitioned to working remotely. Government news forum FEDweek just reported detailed guidelines for transitioning government operations from telework back to business as usual.
Working with a managed service provider (MSP) takes routine IT maintenance and management tasks off the shoulders of government agencies, allowing them to focus on government matters. Managed services are an affordable way to ensure that data center, network, telecommunications, and cloud resources are operating securely and reliably and that government technology stays current.
The Challenges of Government Technology
Managing technology is not the government’s core concern, but government agencies need technology to serve their constituents. Technology makes government services accessible, but it can also expose constituent information to risk.
Managing risk is complicated by the fact that government agencies work with tight and fluctuating budgets. They rely on taxpayer funds to update their technology and are forced to spend their budget during the fiscal year or lose it.
Managed services help government agencies optimize their technology and protect sensitive information while staying within budget. Many MSPs charge affordable monthly fees and allow customers to pick and choose which services are needed.
The Other Kind of Networking
Government workers may be good at networking with contacts, but may not have the time or resources to adequately manage their agency’s technology network. Managed networks handle all the security and infrastructure needs of a government agency.
An MSP can offer firewall protection to prevent hackers from breaching the perimeter. Routing, switching, LAN, WAN, and even an upgrade to SD-WAN infrastructure can be provided through managed network.
An exceptional MSP will conduct assessments of your agency’s current network and make suggestions for how to update or optimize your resources.
Get Smart With Security
A government agency may be targeted by cyberterrorists or activists who want to disrupt services and intimidate constituents. Security Operations Center (SOC) as a Service protects government data and systems using 24/7/365 monitoring.
The ideal MSP maintains a state-of-the-art SOC staffed with data and network security experts. The SOC monitors your systems to detect, prevent, and remediate any attempts to attack your infrastructure or network.
The MSP may also offer risk assessments that point out vulnerabilities in your technology, common attack vectors, and ways to mitigate risk.
Why Not the Cloud?
Why shouldn’t government take advantage of the cloud, especially if a managed services provider can ease the transition and make it viable? Almost every business uses the cloud in some capacity. The same should be true of government agencies.
Managed Public or Private Cloud Workloads empower government organizations to use cloud resources appropriately to meet the needs of different types of tasks. Public cloud is ideal for constituent-facing applications and portals that provide vital services. The private cloud is an excellent place to store sensitive information about community members and projects.
An MSP can help with cloud migrations and planning a cloud strategy so your agency can get the most out of its cloud investment.
Managed Services Designed for Government
Government organizations should look for an MSP that is accustomed to working with agencies. To be an effective partner, an MSP must be familiar with the security and management challenges that governments face.
FirstLight is experienced at providing technology solutions and services for the government sector. We specialize in managed network, unified communications, and cloud services for government agencies in the Northeast. These Managed Services include managed edge routing and security offerings that protect the network and critical endpoints.
Explore managed services options for government. Talk to FirstLight about our managed edge routing and security offerings.
