4 ms·

I'm not sure what your first paragraph is about. Windows hasn't worked like that in a very long time, a user's default storage locations (Desktop, Documents, et

I'm not sure what your first paragraph is about. Windows hasn't worked like that in a very long time, a user's default storage locations (Desktop, Documents, etc) are all held centrally and it is completely transparent to the user. This is handled by Folder Redirection and a GPO policy. So no user education, desktop administration, or specific policies are required. You just need not to alter the defaults and you'll get a centrally managed set of user files perfectly suited to regular backups. The only thing that remains a challenge is offsite users/traveling. But an edge case isn't a justification for why you wouldn't use folder redirection within a monolithic organization like a local government. > That, and due to legal restrictions, local governments are rarely empowered to hire the right IT staff capable of making it happen. What "legal restrictions" stop government from hiring IT Staff?

klodolph 7y ago
> Windows hasn't worked like that in a very long time, a user's default storage locations (Desktop, Documents, etc) are all held centrally and it is completely transparent to the user. This has to be set up and configured, it is not default by any means. That and most places I have seen a mix of macOS and Windows, and people use their personal devices all the time, or put something in DropBox / Google Drive etc to share things, etc. This is not a button to press. > What "legal restrictions" stop government from hiring IT Staff? Have you seen IT budgets in local government? That, and salary guidelines set by law. It's not a simple question of whether or not it's possible to hire IT staff, but a question of whether you can pay enough to attract the talent you need, whether you can afford the opex+capex for the level of service you think is standard, etc. When I've worked at larger organizations like universities, things were usually handled very well with everything set up the way you describe, automated, and hands-off. But there's a lot of variation when it comes to things like city governments.
- Someone1234 7y ago
  > This has to be set up and configured, it is not default by any means. If you use the GPO templates it absolutely is the default. You have to go out of your way to turn it off (and some people do for both good and bad reasons). > whether you can pay enough to attract the talent you need, whether you can afford the opex+capex for the level of service you think is standard, etc. Luckily a 3-2-1 backup strategy doesn't require top tier talent. It is mostly policy, costs, and time. You could literally have an intern do it if the business took the time to set a policy and buy the prerequisites. The difficult part has always been getting business/government buy-in because they'd prefer to be apathetic until something goes wrong or under-spend on something that won't pay dividend immediately. Talk to government IT some time. I've worked in that environment. There's no lack of talent, there's a lack of funds for things like backups and nobody in management (political appointed or otherwise) wants to make actual decisions/do any managing. I had colleagues "borrow" a spare HDD, copy the data off onto it, then take it home with them because that was the only backup an entire County had (because nothing else was funded/authorized). You can try to bike-shed/excuse this issue away, but at its core it is managerial incompetence/apathy. If they wanted the money for it, they'd find it, if they wanted the time to produce policy they'd find it, and if there was real consequences to their incompetence you can bet they would have already.
  - mcny 7y ago
    Exactly! Our local police departments have SWAT teams like a "town" the size of Olathe, Kansas needs one but we can't afford a team of sysadmins...
    - clintonb 7y ago
      Write your congressperson. The SWAT team probably gets funding from the Department of Homeland Security to “combat terrorism”. Clearly the terrorists have moved online, so perhaps some security funding should go there, too.

klodolph 7y ago

> Windows hasn't worked like that in a very long time, a user's default storage locations (Desktop, Documents, etc) are all held centrally and it is completely transparent to the user. This has to be set up and configured, it is not default by any means. That and most places I have seen a mix of macOS and Windows, and people use their personal devices all the time, or put something in DropBox / Google Drive etc to share things, etc. This is not a button to press. > What "legal restrictions" stop government from hiring IT Staff? Have you seen IT budgets in local government? That, and salary guidelines set by law. It's not a simple question of whether or not it's possible to hire IT staff, but a question of whether you can pay enough to attract the talent you need, whether you can afford the opex+capex for the level of service you think is standard, etc. When I've worked at larger organizations like universities, things were usually handled very well with everything set up the way you describe, automated, and hands-off. But there's a lot of variation when it comes to things like city governments.

Someone1234 7y ago
> This has to be set up and configured, it is not default by any means. If you use the GPO templates it absolutely is the default. You have to go out of your way to turn it off (and some people do for both good and bad reasons). > whether you can pay enough to attract the talent you need, whether you can afford the opex+capex for the level of service you think is standard, etc. Luckily a 3-2-1 backup strategy doesn't require top tier talent. It is mostly policy, costs, and time. You could literally have an intern do it if the business took the time to set a policy and buy the prerequisites. The difficult part has always been getting business/government buy-in because they'd prefer to be apathetic until something goes wrong or under-spend on something that won't pay dividend immediately. Talk to government IT some time. I've worked in that environment. There's no lack of talent, there's a lack of funds for things like backups and nobody in management (political appointed or otherwise) wants to make actual decisions/do any managing. I had colleagues "borrow" a spare HDD, copy the data off onto it, then take it home with them because that was the only backup an entire County had (because nothing else was funded/authorized). You can try to bike-shed/excuse this issue away, but at its core it is managerial incompetence/apathy. If they wanted the money for it, they'd find it, if they wanted the time to produce policy they'd find it, and if there was real consequences to their incompetence you can bet they would have already.
- mcny 7y ago
  Exactly! Our local police departments have SWAT teams like a "town" the size of Olathe, Kansas needs one but we can't afford a team of sysadmins...
  - clintonb 7y ago
    Write your congressperson. The SWAT team probably gets funding from the Department of Homeland Security to “combat terrorism”. Clearly the terrorists have moved online, so perhaps some security funding should go there, too.