NYPD union modernizes its office with managed IT services

The project

One of the New York Police Department’s unions was running aging software on aging computers, and the technology was getting in the way of serving members. The union didn’t need a full-time IT person, but it definitely needed IT help: a company that could provide strategic direction, handle day-to-day issues on call, and act as a single point of contact for hardware and software purchasing. Security and budget both mattered, and neither could give way to the other.

The challenges

• Aging hardware and software. Outdated systems were hindering productivity and making it difficult for staff to properly serve members.
• No in-house IT. The union needed strategic direction for a new IT infrastructure without hiring a full-time technologist.
• Day-to-day support. Routine issues needed on-call attention so small problems didn’t pile up into big ones.
• Procurement sprawl. Buying hardware and software from many vendors wasted time; the union wanted one-stop shopping.
• An office move. A new office location needed its technical infrastructure designed, built out, and migrated.

The solution

Winmill’s Managed IT Services fit the union’s needs exactly. Winmill evaluated the existing infrastructure and made both tactical and strategic recommendations, then deployed new software and cloud services where they made sense. When the union moved, Winmill designed the technical infrastructure for the new office and provided complete build-out services. And for everything the office buys, Winmill provides one-stop, one-call smart procurement for hardware and software.

The results

• A modern working environment. The union went from struggling with aging technology to operating in a contemporary, highly effective technical environment. Office staff works more efficiently and serves members faster.
• Lower risk, lower cost. Moving selected services to the cloud reduced both the risk of system failure and the cost of maintaining on-premises installations.
• Fast response. About 90 percent of day-to-day issues are resolved remotely, and for anything else Winmill can typically be onsite within the hour anywhere in the New York Metro area.
• A trusted partner. The union treats Winmill like a member of its own team for everything related to technology, small or large, tactical or strategic.

The office is one chapter in a longer relationship between Winmill and New York’s police unions and benefit funds. On the software side, Winmill’s eMembership platform consolidated the benefit fund databases of three NYPD-based organizations, the LBA, CEA, and SOC, onto a single cloud-based system. Read that story on the eMembership site.