Whether it’s a printer gone awry, a user-unfriendly computer application or a need for a new laptop, there’s one person to whom Bedford’s many departments turn for help: Brian Davis, the town’s information manager.

In between troubleshooting and managing the continual challenges of budgeting for new devices, Davis took some time to tell us how the town’s technology needs have changed over the years, why GPS has become an essential tool for multiple departments and which town employee is demonstrating a particular reluctance to upgrade to a smartphone.

Here’s part of the conversation:

Q: What are your main responsibilities as the town’s information manager?

A: I’m responsible for planning, budgeting, installing and maintaining all aspects of the town’s network and infrastructure. This includes desktops, laptops, servers, networking hardware such as switches and routers, as well as new smartphones and all the software used on those systems.

Q: How long have you held this position?

A: I’ve been with the town for 10 years.

Q: What does a typical day in your job look like?

A: It generally starts with a coffee and server monitoring to ensure the health of our primary servers. After that, it’s more coffee and a check on the previous night’s backup. Once the daily tasks are completed, it’s help desk support for an end user that might be having application trouble or a printing issue, working on a project such as our new email system being rolled out this month and lots of reading about new technologies – and more coffee.

Q: Do you have a staff to assist you in your duties?

A: Aside from myself for day-to-day operation, the town utilizes a couple of third-party technology partners to assist with larger projects and planning. The Fire Department also has a very tech-savvy staff member who assists with projects related to the Fire Department and their systems.

Q: About how many devices does the average department have?

A: Because our departments range between one employee and 40, it’s tough to break them out by department. Townwide, there are 82 desktops, 28 laptops, eight servers and more than a dozen smartphones.

Q: Which department has the most complicated system to maintain?

A: Because of the nature of their business, the police and fire departments require systems that are always on. More and more, the critical, day-to-day operation of these departments require the technology be there to support them. This dependency adds a level of complexity not found with other town departments. Both police and fire use remote terminals such as iPads and mobile data terminals in the police cruisers to have immediate access to important data related to an event, whether it’s a license plate check or a map showing the nearest hydrant to use when en route to a reported fire.

Q: How often do you have to upgrade to new technologies? What’s the average lifespan of a piece of equipment?

A: With today’s emerging technologies such as virtualization, both for the servers and desktops, the lifespan is growing for hardware. Currently, desktops and laptops are on a three-year replacement program, with servers being scheduled every five years. If we were to virtualize the desktops, providing them as a service rather than hardware dependent, not only will the cost of hardware go down, but the life of that hardware could double.

Q: How do you budget to allow for these new technologies and upgrades?

A: Budgeting for IT, creating a long-term plan, is one of the most challenging aspects of my job. I have to plan for and maintain a flexible network, built on industry-accepted and widely used technologies in both municipal and private-sector business. This approach supports the town’s current needs but also provides the best opportunity to leverage new technologies. I utilize Microsoft software on the desktop and servers and HP or Dell business-class hardware devices. Most new technologies are designed to work in this kind of environment, and I’m confident I can apply something new with minimal changes if the need arises for the town.

Q: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the town’s IT needs over the years?

A: Since I’m still waiting for Fire Chief Scott Wiggin to throw the pocket calendar he affectionately calls his palm pilot in the trash in exchange for a smartphone, I would have to say dependency. As with our personal lives, the dependency we all have with computers or any kind of technology has changed tremendously in the past 10 years. The impact the town feels when just one system goes down is larger than ever.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve come up against?

A: Communication. Because all the various departments each have their own needs, it’s difficult to understand each and plan to accommodate all. I’ve made some changes in the recent past, such as starting a user group monthly meeting to facilitate better communication. Not only has this provided the departments with an understanding of other department needs, but allows me to better plan for all departments as well as keep them informed of what IT is doing.

Q: What are some ways in which the town uses information services that residents might not be aware of?

A: In the past few years, GPS and geographic mapping tools have really matured. In the near future, the police dispatch center will visually know where every cruiser is in town via GPS tracking. In Public Works, a map of every asset, such as catch basins and water works, can be seen visually on a map. As mentioned earlier, the Fire Department can find the nearest hydrant while en route to a reported fire.

Q: Does the town have any big information services projects coming up? How will they impact the community?

A: I expect we’ll see more citizen self-service tools in place in the near future. There are opportunities in the building permitting department to provide Web services that allow a builder to get up-to-the-minute information on their permit status. The town plans to accept credit card payments online and in the office. But what I’m most excited about is the virtualization. I hope to deploy a user’s desktop as a service on any device anywhere they have a network connection, in a town building or on the Internet. This should result in a savings in hardware costs, lower cost of replacement and easier management. This savings can then be reapplied to emerging technologies sooner, pushing Bedford to the cutting edge and providing the best service we can to the residents.