cityofboston.gov - Official Web Site of the City of Boston - Thomas M. Menino, Mayor

The Administration and Finance unit is responsible for managing a variety of tasks for the department such as:

• overseeing all aspects related to department personnel, payroll management, budget preparation and management, purchasing implementation and accounts payable, fixed asset inventory management and other issues as they arise;

• working in conjunction with the City’s Administration and Finance Cabinet and Budget Management Office under the direction of the department’s Administration and Finance Manager.
  

This division develops and supports a number of in-house built applications by:

• configuring and supporting many Enterprise Applications/Systems used by the City;

• providing Business Analysis, System Administration, and GIS integration services including the IT Project Managers responsible to deliver business solutions.
  

BAIS is responsible for the management, modification, and maintenance of the PeopleSoft ERP software used for city-wide financial systems, payroll and human resource support functions. BAIS Staff:

• assist departments in identifying opportunities to improve administrative processes through the utilization of automated administrative systems.
  

This unit:

• prepares the department’s next fiscal year’s budget request;

• monitors expenditures related to the adopted budget to ensure compliance;

• identifies cost saving opportunities;

• performs analysis on proposed projects for fiscal viability;

• manages the Department’s Boston About Results (BAR) performance management results.
  

The Cable Office negotiates and oversees the cable licenses of Comcast, RCN and other telecommunications companies on behalf of the Mayor, the local franchising authority.  In addition, the office:

• mediates constituent complaints on cable service;

• works with city agencies to ensure proper protections for city streets and public ways;

• programs “Boston City TV,”  the City’s government news and public affairs service on Comcast Channel 24 & RCN Channel 13;

• programs the Boston Kids & Family TV partnership channel with WGBH-Boston, on Comcast Channel 22 & RCN Channel 3;

• funds, contracts and collaborates with Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN-TV), the community access television;

• videotapes, edits and produces C-SPAN style ENG(electronic news gathering)for city events and activities;

• provides video stream and manages related content for the city website and others;

• acquires the City’s Fiber Network infrastructure from Comcast and RCN as  city network resources and manages those relationships.
  

The Computer Room unit:

• runs incremental backups and mount backup cartridges;

• monitors UPS systems for equipment housed in the data center;

• checks for space and jobs on mainframe; 

• assists the Network group by using Spectrum to monitor the network.
  

The Constituent Relationship Management / Work Order Management team’s work efforts are being executed in phases which include:

• project management;

• reconstruction and expansion of a new call center for the Mayor’s 24 Hour Hot Line including the procurement and installation of a new ACD telephone system;

• procurement and configuration of a new CRM/WOM application to be used citywide by all non-emergency departments as well as a constituent facing self service capability;

• acquisition of new hardware and virtual server and disk space technology;

• business process analysis & reengineering - initially for pilot departments (Public Works, Transportation, Parks) – which will then be repeated for all citywide non-emergency departments;

• enhanced data driven operations analysis and reporting; technical and end user training.
  

The unit provides E-Government services and transactions to residents, business and visitors though the flagship website www.cityofboston.gov. It is responsible for:

• managing content on city website portal;

• working with web liaisons from city departments to keep the site’s information current and up to date;

• providing content support for the mobile website platform.
  

The GIS unit develops an organization-wide GIS approach using standards and consistent methodologies that address the needs of all units of the organization to:

• support the GIS and mapping needs of citywide units which currently do not have that capacity;

• migrate existing GIS applications and data to current GIS technology;

• integrate GIS data and services with other information systems within the organization as part of an overall enterprise information systems approach;

• promote and market the concept of GIS throughout the organization;

• provide training to staff in departments new to GIS in the effective use of GIS specific to their business needs.
  

This group manages the IBM System Z platform by:

• maintaining all system software from both IBM and 3rd party vendors;

• integrating and customizing all products;

• updating software versions as they become available;

• troubleshooting system and application issues;

• recording statistics on all types of system utilization which can be used for management reporting, capacity planning, etc.;

• providing all proper levels of security needed by all types of end-users;

• providing all encrypted transmissions to financial institutions as needed for related transactions.
  

This unit provides technical support and services to the 200+ users at the Inspectional Services Department through:

• supporting all hardware: servers, clients, printers, field devices, copiers, fax, telecommunications and networking as well as the myriad of software applications necessary for ISD to conduct daily business, i.e. Hansen, TPX, Online Permitting, and Infotrieve.
  

The DoIT Mainframe Applications group’s responsibilities include:

• processing legacy, batch and online transactions for the City of Boston which includes customers from the Assessing, Treasury Collecting, Births, Deaths and Marriage, Elections, City Councilors, Police and Fire Departments;

• applying business logic and data flows to develop our systems which are coded in Cobol or CICS, with Java, C++, DB2 and SQL capabilities as well;

• working with IBM utilities, TSO editors, CA Abend Aid, Syncsort, Pitney Bowes, CICS, DB2 and other products;

• converting all of our code to a new Enterprise Cobol compiler to build on new IBM product releases to modernize code to Open Source methodologies, like CICS Web Services, XML transport, and calls to other platforms and languages, to work across platforms;

• providing support to people interested in developing their technical skills in any of the products mentioned.
  

This group is responsible for the Department’s network infrastructure as well as:

• maintaining all network equipment, network engineering, Wireless deployment, Monitoring of all sites: internal and remote from layer1 to layer 7 DHCP responsibilities, Site Build outs, upgrade Firewalls and VPN configuration and Maintenance;

• working as the project lead in Fiber rollout and City Wide Equipment recommendations;

• working with applications for smooth transitions, remote access, routing protocols, and troubleshooting for all departments;

• providing resources to all departments;

• supporting the city wide network.
  

Operations Support is responsible for:

• managing all removable media;

• scheduling production work on the IBM mainframe;

• insuring that payroll files are transmitted and received by outside entities;

• backup/cover for IBM computer operators;

• offsite storage and tracking of tape backups;

• inventory control of paper and supplies used by the IBM’s Xerox printer while working in coordination with the IBM and LAN groups.
  

The Program Management Office (PMO) provides leadership for the improvement and expansion of project management processes across all City of Boston agencies.  The office centralizes, oversees and coordinates the development and implementation of a common project management methodology. It establishes a consistent, repeatable approach to managing projects that focuses on operational efficiencies and provides a common language for City of Boston agencies through services including:

• project management orientation, support, development and meeting facilitation, scheduling assistance, and cost estimate assistance;

The Public Safety division:

• directs and coordinates Information Technology initiatives across the Cities’ Public Safety Organizations;

• manages Public Safety Capital Projects;

• drives the interoperability strategy for the City agencies;

• coordinates technical issues for the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region;

• performs as a subject matter expert for all public safety agencies in the areas of communications, wireless, telecommunications and information technology;

• helps align enterprise initiatives across the City and the Public Safety Departments;

• drives the initiatives of the City Public Safety Agencies at regional, state and national working groups.
  

The IT Security Team is responsible for mitigating risks to the City’s Information Technology infrastructure.  Founded in 2009 when the Department of Innovation & Technology’s first Manager of Security position was created, this team has been making significant strides in closing security gaps and reducing vulnerabilities to protect the City’s technology assets and employees from cyber threats. Some of the areas that the IT Security Team oversees:

• Communicating IT Security policies and introducing new or revised policies where there are gaps;
• Promoting employee Cybersecurity Awareness;
• Conducting risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and where to make future investments;
• Setting policies within security products and utilities, such as the web filter and anti-virus software;
• Physical security of the DoIT Data Center;
• Administration of digital certificates to facilitate secure web browsing sessions;
• Spam reduction through user education and leveraging email gateway features such as DKIM;
• Proper handling (chain of custody) of digital evidence; and
• Reporting/Monitoring of IT security related metrics and suspicious cyber activity.
  

You can contact the City of Boston’s IT Security Team at ITSecurityTeam@CityofBoston.Gov

The Server group is responsible for all aspects of server administration along with 2nd tier support for the Desktop Support Group including:

• managing Active Directory, Antivirus/Ironmail, Exchange/Outlook, Rightfax, EMC data storage , Symantec backup and restore, Citrix, VM, Internet monitoring, support of domain accounts and privileges, Wyse, NetIQ, Data Domain, and software distribution.
  

The DoIT Service Desk is the primary point of contact for all IT service requests.  The Desktop Support team, who staff the Help Desk, are the front-line technicians to aid City users by:

• resolving issues related to COB’s IT infrastructure;

• answering commonly asked IT questions and/or providing required technical solutions;

• following up with problems by phone or e-mail;

• installing and maintaining the majority of the City’s desktop hardware and software;

• working cooperatively with other IT infrastructure support groups such as LAN, Network, IBM390, Telecom, Apps/SQL, etc.;

• administering tickets and providing management reports for MIS, BPD, BFD, and HUB.
  

This group coordinates citywide communications services and network infrastructure. It is responsible for the overall effective planning, management, design, specification, procurement, implementation and maintenance of all voice, data, radio and wireless communications for the City of Boston, including the oversight of contracting (RFPs & Bids) and of a centralized billing and chargeback system.

Some of the technologies for which Telecom is responsible include, but are not limited to:

• Infrastructure – WAN network connectivity, a 7 node City-run fiber installation, in-building connectivity;

• Voice – PBXs, Centrex, Emergency Notification, ACD;

• Data – WAN, LAN & Fiber Connectivity; Infrastructure Cabling & Leased Services: ISDN, T1s, Frame relay & ATM;

• Radio – Network Infrastructure, Handhelds, Mobile Units & MDTs;

• Video – Video Conferencing & Remote Monitoring Equipment;

• Wireless – Traditional Cellular, Blackberries, Wireless Data, Satellite & Cellular GPS.
  

The Technical Training Team is responsible for:

• developing and delivering training to City of Boston employees in Microsoft Office applications and BAIS Financial and BAIS HCM, as well as many enterprise applications, including Clarity and CRM.