Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) deals with various operations needed for the government of the state. It is in charge of human resource management, administration, retirement, and health benefits, etc. It is a powerful organization that works for more than a million consumers. DMS cooperates with numerous state agencies, educational facilities, state and local employees and retirees.
Except for that, the government received assistance from this organization. At the end of the 20th century, DMS created a large information systems network. It provided an opportunity to connect government agencies from different locations to one data center (Stallings, 2011). Taking into consideration the fact that DMS works with a large number of organizations and operates with an enormous amount of information that should not be disclosed, it requires a decent security mechanism. It is needed to protect the company from both the users who access the system with the help of the Internet and personnel.
The organization requires virtual private networks (VPN) and IP security to protect itself. The first one refers to encryption and special protocols to ensure security for the users of the public networks. Mobile employees will have an access path to enter corporate systems from different sites. The state employees will need to use their work credentials. They will refer to the VPN to enter the DMS network.
IP security will allow ensuring security across LAN, WAN, and the Internet. It allows utilizing various approaches, which is rather beneficial. Secure branch office connectivity can be used for online users. It may be more advantageous to use extranet and intranet connectivity because it presupposes protection from state employees and public network users. The organization can able to refer to SSL certificates, HTTP, and HTTPS.
The transition process that was recently utilized by the DMS is rather advantageous as it provides an opportunity to use the application for about 6000 users with no complications. From the very beginning, the system was based on the Systems Network Architecture (SNA), and its network control processors (NCPs) were connected to a communications controller with the help of T-1 and T-3 lines. It could be found on a token ring LAN that is in the data center.
Still, such type of backbone was considered to be not efficient enough and the decision to start using a router network was made. Routers were implemented at each site, connected and linked to a central-site router, the Cisco 7000 that was placed at the data center. Both the installation and startup of a new network were maintained decently with no critical issues faced. Such transition required the initial existence of the network infrastructure. DACS are connected, which provides an opportunity to make a mesh for IP traffic. As a result, each DACS can be linked to the Cisco 7000. The alteration allowed us to make a mesh for IP traffic and link each site to the Cisco 7000 easily.
To improve the maintenance of the operations conducted by DMS, I would recommend two alternatives. First of all, I believe that the organization could benefit if it designs the network infrastructure maintenance strategy. It should be used as soon as the network infrastructure is integrated. It requires the accomplishment of such activities as upgrading operating systems and applications, assessing performance, and troubleshooting main problems.
Except for that, it should be mentioned that the organization could use asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) instead of IP infrastructure. Being based on the utilization of filtering mechanisms, it provides an opportunity to “prevent unauthorized management access”, and with the help of “manual configuration of network connection policies via PVCs and PVPs provides reasonable isolation of flows between hosts or private networks” (Tarman & Witzke, 2002, p. 61).
Among the main services that can be found on the DMS, the website is HRM. It designs policies and strategies for the State Personnel System are used to store the information about 100,000 state employees, who are on the mainframe. HRM is its administrator. It ensures that the person provides services and performs functions that respond to the needs of the organization. It deals with technical assistance, the establishment of HR programs and their improvement, analysis of statistical data, etc. HRM is targeted at the creation of an efficient HR system for the public sector by the identification and implementation of the best practices in the sphere.
Agency administration should also be discussed. It provides an opportunity to communicate the most appropriate information about the agencies. As a result, the representatives of the general public can interact with the state government, and cooperating companies can get to know what services are required by the population (Florida Department of Management Services, 2016). The organization can also pay attention to 401(k). This plan focuses on retirement savings, which are relevant for DMS. Organizations that are using the services provided by DMS are likely to consider such addition to be advantageous, as the plan should improve their relations with the personnel and provide a decent guideline for sponsoring.
References
Florida Department of Management Services. (2016). Communications. Web.
Stallings, W. (2011). Wireless communications & networks. New York, NY: Pearson Education. Web.
Tarman, T., & Witzke, E. (2002). Implementing security for ATM networks. Boston, MA: Artech House. Web.