The Challenge

Local governments have specific challenges many other organizations do not: interconnected systems used by city employees, emergency service, utilities, and the public simultaneously; and an annual budget process that can begin more than six months in advance, with growing pressure to do more with less.

The City of New Haven, Indiana, serves as a prime example to the specific challenges local governments face. Its tech challenges were unique, but its former IT service was not. After a series of acquisitions, the IT firm supporting New Haven was now part of a larger conglomerate and disconnected from the city’s leadership and technology goals. The day-to-day ticket busting was impersonal, and the price no longer reflected the quality of work.

The Process

The drive to improve New Haven’s technology didn’t begin when something broke but with a conversation among employees about what could be improved and how their experiences could be different. The City’s openness to change set the tone for something new; a true partnership.

Our first step with the City was to sit down and listen to their team’s challenges, what worked, and what they wanted to achieve. Before making any transitions or implementing new systems, we spent time onsite to access the current environment and ensure that the foundation was solid. When it was time to take over full management, we documented, tested, and validated every detail to allow for a smooth transition of services and support..

With the technical transition complete, we work with the client to start looking forward to investment planning, process improvement and sharing best practice we’ve found from around the state. Our embedded resource creates personal relationships to inspire confidence and excitement in engaging IT for innovating and improving their work and their support of the constituents they serve.

The Results

EXOS IT has a decade of experience working with municipal clients and understands their needs, tech intricacies, and, more importantly, how to proactively address challenges and plan for future needs. EXOS IT also has experience transitioning clients from other providers to its systems, including New Haven’s, and has perfected the process. EXOS provided a smooth transition and assuaged concerns by outlining the process, providing thorough documentation, and communicating throughout the transition.

Critically, EXOS reintroduced a human element to the city’s IT team by embedding a full-time Service Desk Technician at New Haven’s city office. Rather than a break-fix, reactive ticket submission process, EXOS IT’s on-site tech gets to personally know the local team. They can begin to anticipate needs and survey internal users and constituents about where improvements could be made.

Behind that on-site technician, EXOS IT employs more than a dozen IT professionals on the local government team who understand the real work people are doing with municipal technologies. EXOS isn’t just an IT company asking what’s broken, but one that asks, “How can we integrate systems to reduce time spent on tasks?” If challenges do arise, the full team can reference other successful solutions they have implemented and advise the on-site technician.

The Value

At a northeast Indiana regional meeting, New Haven Mayor Steve McMichael said,

“We trust EXOS with the City’s IT needs and cybersecurity. They’ve updated our cybersecurity processes and posture to give my administration the peace of mind to focus on caring for the New Haven Community. Their embedded resource is responsive and engaged and truly has become part of our team. We don’t have to wonder about what’s getting fixed or improved because he tells us and works with us on meeting the challenges we face so that challenges become opportunities…”

In 2024, EXOS IT received a 100% satisfaction rating from New Haven employees who rated their experience. Many complimented the on-site EXOS technician, noting he “is always fast, courteous and helpful with any and all service tickets,” “quick and efficient,” and “continues to do an outstanding job.”

Of EXOS as a whole, feedback includes: “Amazing customer service. They always go above and beyond to make sure the issue is resolved,” and “Efficient and correctly done the first time asked, as usual! Very happy with Exos IT.”