Communications
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| The WSDA Service Desk team from left, Khanda Lor, Susie Fry, Nathan Stevens, Kim Bellows, Jeff Painter, Becca Paice, Robin Meiser, and Roger Flourney. |
As our chief technology officer, Yoshi Ouye leads the agency’s IT operations. The 22 staffers who make up the full group are organized into four teams. Keep reading to learn who they are and what they do.
Service Desk
The Service Desk is “the face of IT for the agency,” said Yoshi. As their name implies, this team provides direct service to internal agency customers. They are the first point-of-contact to resolve tech concerns.
While each technician is assigned to a specific division, they are now centralized into one team (see list below) reporting to Susie Fry.
Agencywide, employees request help or report concerns by contacting the Service Desk through the automated ticketing system, operating on software called RemedyForce.
According to Susie, the team has now adopted a tiered service structure. Khanda Lor was recently hired as the new “tier 1” technician. As such, he will monitor service requests and resolve the simpler ones such as password resets, freeing up the others to focus on higher level technical support.
The team:
- Susie Fry – supervisor
- Jeff Painter – Plant Protection
- Robin Meiser – Pesticide Management
- Roger Flourney – Animal Services
- Nathan Stevens – Directors Office, Administrative Services
- Kim Bellows – Food Safety and Consumer Services
- Becca Paice – Commodity Inspection, West
- Khanda Lor – Tier 1 technician
- Kim Gohl – Commodity Inspection, East (Yakima)
- Thomas Owns - Commodity Inspection, East (Yakima)
Network/Security
This two-person team consists of Sheri Hartman and Dwight Moody. They tend to the network – think of it as the tech super highway that keeps us all connected through the ubiquitous internet by which we get to the web, databases and programs like Outlook for our email.
This team is also responsible for assuring that our network system is protected from ever-present cyber threats. As these hacking risks become more frequent and sophisticated, these are safeguards average users may not think about, but can be very grateful for.
Among the many things (sometimes hard to describe in layman’s terms) they do:
- Manage user and administrative access accounts.
- Set up email distribution lists.
- Provide remote Wi-Fi access within agency buildings.
- Run data backups, and plan to restore and recover in a disaster.
- Assure that field staff can connect to the network through mobile devices like laptops and tablets.
Systems Administration
If the network is the connected ribbons of roadway, think of systems as everything that runs on them, allowing functional travel and easy navigation, including our personal workstations (computer, etc.), software and servers.
For instance, this team makes sure WSDA is using only safe and approved software programs, and that we are abiding by the licensing requirements. Why does this matter? A software company can fine our agency extremely high fees for violating its licensing agreement. The systems team monitors and regulates the downloading and licensing of software to keep us out of trouble.
They also have been automating existing processes - such as when staff join or leave the agency - which has saved us money.
Justin Newman, who’s based in Yakima, is staffing this function solo since Bill Castillo left WSDA in March. IT is recruiting to fill this vacancy.
Applications Development
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| The Applications Development team from left, Kevin Campbell, Tim Valdez, Ed Thompson, Ian Kremer, Vichet Hoy, Josh McMeel and Curt Secker. |
This group builds and maintains programs used for specific agency functions, either custom built or purchased off-the-shelf. Examples include applications for food safety, animal tracking, pesticide registration and licensing, Fruit and Vegetable Inspection, and many more.
When a WSDA program requests a technology-based project, this group gathers and analyses business needs, issues Requests for Proposals to solicit bidders, and evaluates vendors to determine who can do the job. Or, they determine that the job can best be done in-house by agency programmers.
For example, the team provided essential support for the Chemical and Hop Laboratory in Yakima to create a new application that replaces the old, unsupported Laboratory Information Management System, or LIMS. The new “LabWorks” system had to meet high scientific standards and will be easier for staff to use while adjusting to changing practices and state laws.
The team:
- Curt Secker – supervisor
- Ed Thompson – lead developer
- Josh McMeel – developer
- Ian Kremer – developer
- Kevin Campbell – Sales Force developer
- Tim Valdez – Webmaster (reports to Communication Office)
- Vichet Hoy - Contractor
In summary: We often take for granted that our ever-present technology just works. We can thank a dedicated team of IT professionals for making that happen.
