• Administration 
  • Director
  • Administrative functions
  • Purchasing all computer hardware and software
  • I-Series - Supports administrative application software for finance, fixed assets, purchase orders, accounts payable, and human resources
  • GIS - Implements and maintains the geographic information which is information that has a coordinate, address, or spatial relationship to other things and places. It can be maps, databases, aerial photos, and many other things
  • Address Coordinator - Assigns and maintains city and county addresses and road names
    
    
• Customer Service/Infrastructure
  • Maintains the wide area network
  • Responsible for a four year re-cycle of all desktop PCs.
  • Helpdesk – takes all problems and request for services
  • Training– Provides a wide area of training

Our History: In this age of information, many smaller governments struggle to keep up with the pace and cost of computer technologies. In the City of Helena and Lewis and Clark County, Montana, as recently as 1998, basic office technologies lagged critically behind the standard of practice due to the high cost and rapid change of systems and the limited capacity of the local governments. By combining efforts in an independent Information Technology and Services Department both the city and county leapt forward in standard tools, and collaborated on ambitious technology initiatives. The model for pooling information technology services addresses capacity problems that are common to small governments. The innovation has had far-reaching impacts on collaboration, efficiency, capacity, and cost.

In July of 1999, the City of Helena and Lewis and Clark County established the Information Technology and Services Department with an inter-local agreement and bylaws. This independent enterprise constitutes a model for intergovernmental collaboration that may be replicated by small communities to address information technology (IT). The central recommendation of the Information Technology Strategic Plan (June 1999) stated:

“The City and County jointly control the direction of technology and responsibility for its success.  This recommendation requires that the City and County implement a single technology governance structure and a single technology organization providing services to the Enterprise.“

The formation of an Information Technology and Services (IT&S) department as a separate enterprise was a significant step. The Enterprise, including all information technology infrastructure and human resources, was organizationally removed from both the city and county management structures and placed under the direction of a five member board with representation from the city and county, with a fifth seat for a member of the community with skills in IT.

IT&S has assumed the responsibility for implementing and managing all technology projects across a broad spectrum of functional areas, which are managed in the following centers:

• Administrative systems (accounting, personnel, and payroll systems)
• Networking infrastructure (servers, communication facilities, and wide-area networking)
• Strategic initiatives (imaging, geographic information systems (GIS), and work-flow solutions)
• Customer support services (technology training and help-desk functions)
• Web Outreach services (design, development and implementation)
• City and County addressing services
• City and County telecommunications
• Specialized training (standard and specialized applications)