Fulton County, Georgia, includes the four million people who call Atlanta home. The county employs more than 6,000 people, including a team from the Department of Information Technology that is recognized nationally for excellence. The Center for Digital Government and National Associate of Counties recently honored Fulton County with its top award for information technology applications.

The Challenge: Provide Secure, Easy Remote Access that Employees Will Embrace

Fulton County’s Department of Information Technology provides county government with computer services such as remote access to applications and data for employees. Through remote access from home or the field, employees such as district attorneys and zoning inspectors can increase productivity while the county supports flexible work initiatives. For years, the county utilized a virtual private network (VPN) appliance to enable staff to access the resources of their office PCs from home. However, its complex setup, maintenance and training made remote access a difficult proposition for a typical employee. “The VPN works, but it’s complicated for our users. Unfortunately, a large number of our employees simply weren’t using it, so we were not receiving the benefits we expected from remote access,” said Russell Mobley, assistant director for Information Technology.

Because installing and using the VPN for remote access to an office PC was so complex for users, the IT team needed to spend a lot of time providing setup and support services. When the support team was not available and the employee was not successful doing the task on their own, several days might pass before the issue was resolved. “We don’t have a 24/7 help desk, so if somebody has a problem at night or on weekends, nobody is there to help them. If they needed access over the weekend, they came back to work on Monday very frustrated,” explained Mobley. “We needed an easy-to-use tool that would enable people to access the county’s resources readily from anywhere.” Most importantly, Mobley required a remote access solution that met the county’s tight security policies for access control and data privacy.

Implementing Citrix GoToMyPC Corporate

Fulton County selected Citrix® GoToMyPC® Corporate to simplify remote access for its employees. GoToMyPC Corporate complements the use of the VPN, and is now the preferred remote access method. GoToMyPC Corporate provides the enterprise-class security and control required by the county, including multi-level authentication and encryption to keep county and constituent data private.

Today, more than 500 Fulton County employees in 42 departments rely on GoToMyPC Corporate for easy, reliable, remote access to their office PCs, whether they are working from home or traveling on county business. “Our use of GoToMyPC Corporate covers a broad spectrum of Fulton County government,” said Mobley. “The demand has been extraordinary. Remote access usage is now five times higher than it was with the VPN. We have had an overwhelming response from employees wanting to use GoToMyPC Corporate.”

Timely Service to Constituents through Remote Desktop Access

The mission of the Department of Information Technology is to provide public services to county constituents by leveraging technology, and GoToMyPC Corporate helps the department deliver on that promise. “Through GoToMyPC Corporate we provide not just better service to citizens but much more timely delivery of services,” explained Mobley. GoToMyPC Corporate is used across job descriptions, from assistant district attorneys to county building inspectors.

The wheels of government don’t always stop at 5 p.m. This is especially true for some employees working for the county justice system who need access to time-critical information and resources day and night. “Our judges routinely use GoToMyPC Corporate from home to access email and case management systems,” said Mobley. Because judges often need to be available at all hours, accessing these systems securely, rapidly and easily is crucial. “Without easy remote access, the judge would need to drive to the office after hours. It would affect productivity and service.”

To improve productivity while working remotely, GoToMyPC Corporate provides a secure view of the desktop as if the employee is sitting at work. Mobley recently experienced this firsthand when he couldn’t leave his house due to an injury. “I broke my leg seriously enough that I couldn’t come in to work,” he recalled. “Using GoToMyPC Corporate, I remained productive for two months until I could go back to the office.”

Software Delivered as a Service Helps Government Do More With Less

Like many businesses, city, county and state governments are being asked to deliver additional services with diminishing or stagnating IT budgets. Fulton County is no exception, explained Mobley. “Our budget has been flat for the past five years, and the demands have increased about a hundred percent.”  As a result, the county seeks out cost-effective solutions for its network infrastructure. Because GoToMyPC Corporate is a managed service, there is no hardware to purchase or maintain, and all upgrades are included in the annual subscription, making it cost-effective for tight budgets.

Plus, administration of GoToMyPC Corporate is simple, requiring only a fraction of the time needed to install and maintain the VPN. “The administration is very easy. We have a part-time administrator who dedicates only three or four hours a month to GoToMyPC Corporate,” said Mobley. Ongoing support needs are minimal as well. “When you look at the cost of supporting GoToMyPC Corporate and compare that with other remote access solutions, there’s a major advantage to the Citrix solution.”

County employees’ satisfaction with their remote access solution has never been higher. “We’ve received so many positive responses about GoToMyPC Corporate,” said Mobley. More importantly, citizens of Fulton County receive higher-quality service because employees can be more productive with flexible access. Recently, Mobley’s department received an award from the county for excellence. “GoToMyPC Corporate helped lay the foundation for that excellence,” he explained.

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