York County, Pa.'s employees, located in 40 satellite areas and five main facilities, rely on the county's computer network for around-the-clock access to information and applications. In addition, many employees — including youth, mental health, senior care and corrections personnel — need to access the network remotely.

With so many access points to the network and the sensitive information within, however, security concerns are high. “We needed a good way to protect everything and provide secure remote access to real-time data,” says Thomas Williams Jr., assistant director of technology in the Department of Information Services. “The on-call county employee has to have access to all kinds of information, but it's safer if the data is not carried around on a laptop.”

To improve IT security this year, the county implemented a Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network using equipment by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix Systems. With the new configuration, county employees use their computers to access real-time data on servers through a secure connection.

And, mobile users can work directly with applications and information, but no data resides on the laptop; keystrokes, mouse clicks and on-screen changes are compressed and transmitted securely to the information stored on the server. “The user first connects to the Internet, then initiates a secure VPN [virtual private network] connection by just clicking on an icon,” Williams says. “The data remains safely on the server, and the county's information and assets are safe, even if a laptop is stolen.”

The county began rolling out the new network connection to the police department this year, and another rollout is planned in the next few months for on-call probation officers and other county employees. Williams says that putting a precise dollar amount on the county's savings as a direct result of the application delivery system can be difficult, but the county saves money because software changes and services can be made on the server instead of on each employee's computer. “This solution allows us to extend the life of our hardware. Because we can leverage software licensing, we have almost a three-to-one thin client cost efficiency versus standard equipment,” Williams says. “We can then reinvest that money into servers and network infrastructure.”

Project: Secure computer networking

Jurisdiction: York County, Pa.

Agency: Department of Information Services

Vendor: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix Systems

Date: June 2007