City of Ventnor City, NJ
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James E, Pacanowski II, Network Administrator
GMIS member since 2012
Number of IT Staff: 1 – ME!!
Population: 10,650 year-round, 35,000 during summer (We are a Shore community!)
IT Budget: $65,000 not including salary
What has been a significant technology achievement for you or your organization?
Implementation of a Barracuda Email Archiving system, moving from a hosted web security platform to a Barracuda appliance, adding a Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall, and implementation of Cisco ASA’s throughout my network all at the same time soon after Hurricane Sandy. We were severely hit by it, as we are right on the Jersey Shore.
What future initiatives are you hoping to accomplish in the next year?
The biggest project we have been working on, since our City Hall is under major reconstruction, is to totally re-wire the entire building with Cat6 cabling and fiber. My office/server room has been in the basement, under the men’s room for years, and now we have built a proper server room and an IT office on the second floor. I have had the ability to put wiring where it needs to be with room for growth. We also have an IDF and MDF with fiber connecting them. Lastly, we will be implementing a building-wide Wi-Fi setup that we never had before.
Best advice you could offer your fellow members is ...
Don’t just sit back and think you can do it all by yourself. You have a huge knowledge base at your hands; use it for all it’s worth. If you are just starting to research something or stuck on a problem; reach out to your colleagues. Odds are one or more likely, many of them have gone through the same thing. Their advice and help is priceless. It can also save you so much time and money.
We all know GMIS membership is worth its weight in gold, but what do you feel is the best benefit you get out of GMIS?
The vast knowledge that you are able to tap into is an immense tool that helps in so many ways. When you are stuck or are just starting to look into a project, you have the ability to see how others tackled similar projects and what issues they had with it. You can also use it as a sounding board for issues and projects to see what kinds of advice you can get. I so recommend it to anyone; it has helped me immensely. I even keep a folder of every topic that I may need so I can go back to it as needed.
