AEP SmartGate Stands the Test of Time at the City of Lenexa
The city of Lenexa is a 48,000-person bedroom community 15 miles from Kansas City.
Don’t let its small size fool you; it’s no backwater. The City of Lenexa is a step ahead of most local governments in the country when it comes to rolling out innovative technologies. “We’re on the edge technologically,” says Michael Lawrence, CTO and architect of the current network environment at the City of Lenexa.
As such, the City of Lenexa was one of the first local governments to implement a paperless office environment. They distribute ‘paperless packets’ electronically to Council members, the media, and the community. They also scan old paper documents into digital files, making it easier for staff to search and find those documents. Plus, digital files can be secured behind a robust firewall.
A Rose by Any Other Name
Lawrence joined the city’s IT team in 1996. Shortly after he arrived, they implemented Citrix Extranet™, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for remote access to the City of Lenexa’s network. Another example of technology trailblazing, remote access via a VPN was a revolutionary technology a decade ago. With the new VPN in place, City of Lenexa could create encrypted and authenticated vir tual private networks that secured the delivery of data and applications over the Internet.
Employees and Council members used the VPN to securely log on to email and access applications and other data from remote locations. That was just the beginning. The VPN would evolve to support telecommuting staff, Council members and traveling employees. More than ten years on, Lawrence says the VPN set-up still works like a charm for the City of Lenexa.
In 2003, Citrix ended the sales and suppor t of Extranet. Lawrence then decided to convert the VPN licensing over to V-One Corporation. (In 2005, AEP Networks purchased V-One Corporation.) Though the product name has since changed—it’s now called AEP Smar tGate™—Lawrence says the solution and technical suppor t have stood the test of time.
Another reason Smar tGate continues to align with the City of Lenexa’s IT philosophy is because it meets all of the city’s stringent security requirements. AEP Smar tGate’s security cer tifications include Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 and AES encryption—two of the top security certifications in the industry.
Remote Access Isn’t Just About Email
Smar tGate wasn’t implemented just so staff and Council members could occasionally check email from home. It extends the city’s entire network beyond the constraints of a physical location. Currently, more than 61 employees use remote access in a variety of complex scenarios.
The following examples highlight some of the ways secure remote access works to improve efficiency, reduce absenteeism and make communication faster and easier.
More Flexibility for Staff
There are lots of reasons to enable employees to work from home, and AEP Smar tGate is ideal for this scenario. By securely logging on to the network via Smar tGate, City of Lenexa administrators can access all their work data and software applications seamlessly from home. This solution works especially well for employees on maternity leave, recovering from illness, or those who require more flexibility.
Keeping Council Connected
Like administrators working from home, Council members and the mayor also connect to the network remotely via Smar tGate to retrieve email and read materials prior to meetings.
Remote access is especially key for these users because they’re not physically at the City of Lenexa offices every day as they have regular day jobs. If Council members had to be on-site to access sensitive documents or applications, it’s likely they would be less productive and efficient.
By being able to access the network outside of business hours, employees tend to take fewer sick days and can also be productive outside of regular office hours, says Lawrence.
On the Road Again
While the majority of city employees work within the organization’s walls, many spend their days on the road. For example, zoning and building inspectors are out of the office most of the day doing site visits. Rather than spend extra time driving back and for between the office and job sites, inspectors can instantly and securely connect to the city network from their vehicles and file repor ts from the road.
Lawrence runs VPN encryption from the inspectors’ cars back to the city’s secure network, making it virtually impossible for the information to be accessed by unauthorized users.
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