Small Florida town embraces outsourcing to tackle IT talent shortage
FLORIDA, UNITED STATES — Small towns across the United States are increasingly adopting outsourcing and hybrid work models to address the IT talent gap.
In Naples, Florida, Andrew Hunter, the city’s CIO and IT Director, exemplified this trend by integrating local hiring with partnerships with managed service providers (MSPs). This strategy enabled Naples to maintain a robust IT infrastructure despite challenges in attracting top-tier talent.
Hunter acknowledged the difficulties in recruiting locally due to non-competitive government salaries and a limited talent pool in Southwest Florida.
“Local government salaries have not caught up with high-end talent in the IT area,” he noted. To bridge this gap, Naples employed an MSP to continuously monitor its IT operations. The MSP acts as a network operations center (NOC), providing specialized skills for specific projects and ensuring operational efficiency.
The benefits of IT outsourcing for local governments
Alan Shark, Executive Director of the Public Technology Institute, supports Naples’ strategy and advocates for more local governments to consider outsourcing.
“There are too many small local governments in today’s world that shouldn’t be running their own systems,” Shark argued. He emphasized that outsourcing can help small towns manage threats and leverage economies of scale, similar to how they consolidate emergency services.
Despite these advantages, Shark advised maintaining at least one key IT administrator within the public sector to ensure that outsourced services align with local needs.
“When you outsource everything, you lose touch with the requirements of all of the staff,” he warned.
Hybrid work: Boosting productivity and satisfaction
In addition to outsourcing, Naples leveraged hybrid work arrangements to enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Hunter highlights the use of Microsoft Teams for collaboration, allowing staff to balance personal commitments while maintaining high work standards.
“We’re happy to provide some remote work flexibility,” Hunter stated, noting that this flexibility often results in increased work hours and quality.
A Cisco survey supports this approach, revealing that 82% of respondents feel as productive or more productive working remotely. Moreover, 88% expressed satisfaction with their remote work arrangements, underscoring the appeal of hybrid models in government settings.
Overcoming IT hiring challenges in small towns
The challenge of attracting IT talent is not unique to Naples. Across the U.S., about 30,000 small government units face similar hurdles, often relying on minimal IT staff.
Shark pointed out that many small communities have only one to three IT staffers, which limits growth opportunities and complicates succession planning.
To overcome these barriers, small towns can emphasize quality-of-life benefits and streamline bureaucratic processes. Cities like Pittsfield, Illinois, successfully outsource all IT operations while promoting their low cost of living and pastoral settings as attractive features for potential hires.
By adopting flexible work models and strategic outsourcing partnerships, small towns can effectively manage their IT needs despite limited resources and competitive pressures from the private sector.
