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In 1998, the Sarasota County, Fla. Clerk of the Circuit Court became one of the first in the nation to provide free online access to public records when it launched http://www.sarasotaclerk.com.
At the time, Internet development tools that allowed non-technical staff to handle content upgrades were in their infancy and financially out of reach for most organizations. All that has since changed, however.
"Our website was very well received by the general public, but after five years it was time for a facelift," says Karen Rushing, Sarasota County's Clerk of Court. "It was also time to take advantage of technological innovations that would let us move content management out of the IT department and into the hands of the subject matter experts -- a move that would reduce costs and speed public accessibility to current information."
The Clerk of the Circuit Court is responsible for providing public records in accordance with Florida's Sunshine and Public Records laws, including ensuring that public information is accessible. As such, the goal of the initial website was to provide access to public records and fixed content, such as court services and contact information.
And while that goal was achieved, Internet technologies have advanced dramatically. "Ultimately, Sarasota County realized they couldn't maintain their position as a leader in merging government services and technology without tapping into the numerous innovations that have taken place," says Michael Morizio, president of Tampa-based E Solutions Corporation, a full-service hosting and application development firm.
After establishing the objectives for their site upgrade -- easy-to-use content management tools; updated user navigation sets; and off-site hosting in a secure facility -- the Clerk's IT department began interviewing vendors. The final selection was based on considerations including years in business, client list and references, access to state-of-the-art data center operations, professionalism and overall presentation.
E Solutions - http://www.esnet.com - was the perfect fit. The company enables clients ranging from global Fortune 100 firms to mid-sized and small businesses, to attain significant return on IT investments. Services performed at the company's Tier One, 15,000-square-foot data center include custom application design and development; colocation and fully managed enterprise-level hosting services; network management and security; web statistical reporting; and streaming video services.
"The E Solutions' staff was willing to take the time to listen and to learn our business," says Tom Kay, the Clerk's IT director. "They were very confident about meeting our requirements and they did so without a stumble."
E Solutions utilized a rapid prototyping approach to accommodate the project's short development cycle, which included daily communications between project managers to work through issues and the approval process. When launched, the upgraded website featured a graphical redesign, powerful yet user-friendly content management tools and a modified search capability to simplify access to public information.
The content management tool alone has reduced costs -- $25,000 per year just in man-hours -- by moving responsibility for site updates from IT to clerical staff.
"The number of information requests processed by a County Clerk's office is staggering, which makes an online information posting and retrieval system quite valuable," says Morizio. "Now, the Sarasota County Clerk's office can deploy its resources to more strategic initiatives rather than dedicating them to the task of handling basic information requests. The public has faster access to information, while the Clerk reduces expenses and frees up technical expertise for more appropriate tasks. It's definitely a win-win."
19.07.2004, Contentmanager
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