The following is a reprint from an article done on Turcotte Data & Designs for the website ProjectManagerPlanet.com by Amy Zuckerman of A-Z International.

The Cops

Laurie Lyons, systems manager for the Gardner, Mass. Police Department, faced a tricky deployment recently when she had to change firewalls for the department's security system. What would be a minor project for a company with minimal security needs and a 9 to 5 operating window was magnified by the need for the system to be running 24/7 and with maximum data security.

Working with Jason Turcotte, principal of Turcotte Data & Designs of Easthampton, Mass., Lyons spent many hours in preparation for the switchover, which involved changing from a leased firewall to ownership for the department. She relied on Turcotte to develop the necessary technology integration and coordinate with the leasing company while she worked hard to communicate to all affected employees the dates and times of the switchover.

Lyons credits all this advanced preparation for a seamless transition that "went so smoothly we didn't realized it was taking place. We were able to negotiate with the leasing company to be there at the same time as Jason so all was coordinated precisely," she said, adding that "pre-planning is really necessary to keep an operation going in a 24/7 situation along with communication to the right people."

Turcotte has a long history of working with tech deployments for public safety agencies like Gardner's that require heightened data security measures and little or no lag time, whether that's a police department, hospital emergency room or even an accounting firm or bank. "When dealing with projects like this it is almost as important to take a look at the whole security configuration of the systems involved. It is often much easier to implement multiple security changes when you identify one possible weakness," he explained

And again, Turcotte sings the planning mantra.

Over the 10 days in planning this project, it was critical to make sure all the pieces are in place before anyone pulls a plug. Through proper planning, notification and implementation we were able to reduce downtime in Gardner to less than 30 minutes."

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