A fast-growing county, and an IT department built for a smaller one.
Founded in 1842 and located southeast of Charlotte, Union County has remained among North Carolina's ten fastest-growing counties since 2010. Its IT function had not been restructured to match.
Growth does not break a technology function all at once. It just makes yesterday's structure quietly wrong.
As the county grew and its economy expanded, county managers and the executive team recognized the urgency of efficiency in operations — and that their IT department had been organized for an earlier scale.
Then the pandemic arrived, and a workforce that had never worked remotely needed to, immediately.
Avèro delivered an IT Infrastructure and Staffing Assessment, then stayed on to implement the recommendations rather than handing over a document.
The deliverables.
Remote workforce protocols
Adjustments to staffing, tools, and process so county employees could work remotely in response to the pandemic — delivered against a deadline nobody chose.
Enterprise software audits
Audits of the county's current enterprise business systems to establish what is genuinely in use, what is needed next, and whether the incumbent systems are still the right ones. The audit precedes the buying decision, not the reverse.
Self-service for vendors and HR
The absence of self-service portals for vendor and human resource management left cumbersome manual processes consuming staff time. Introducing them removes cost measured in hours, not licences.
Restructuring the IT department
A new organizational structure developed through restructuring sessions with county staff, with roles and responsibilities redefined against what the county now needs.
Policies and service levels
Documenting existing IT policy and establishing a new policy and procedure manual alongside Service Level Agreements, so the department's obligations are written down and measurable.
Implementation support
Following the assessment, Avèro moved forward with the county on implementing the strategic recommendations — the phase most assessments never reach.
Status and outlook.
Where it stands
The assessment was completed and Avèro continued into implementation of the recommendations, including the departmental restructure.
Why it matters
An assessment that ends at delivery is a document. This one carried through to a restructured department with written service levels.
In their words
“Avèro is an excellent resource in the IT governance space. They assisted with implementing project management into our IT department and gave us an understanding of responsibility delineation and vendor management.” — Christopher Liersaph, Deputy CIO
Related engagements.
Every engagement is reference-available. Ask us to connect you with the people who hired us.
Thirty minutes.
No pitch.
Tell us where you are. We'll say honestly whether we can help. If we can't, we'll point you to someone who can.