Case Study: City of Lake Forest

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Lake Forest finds the best path to a new GIS system and more, thanks to Synoptek.

The City of Lake Forest needed more than just technology. They needed a partner who understood their unique requirements.

The City of Lake Forest is located in the heart of South Orange County, California, southeast of Irvine. Incorporated as a city in 1991, it's named for the eucalyptus trees planted here in the early 1900s as a source of lumber. With nearby El Toro Marine Base and its position at the juncture of the Interstate 5 and 405 freeways, Lake Forest has seen steady growth both in its residential and business populations and is home to companies from Del Taco's corporate offices to Black & Decker.

Growth outstrips current IT capabilities.

This growth has challenged the city in many ways, not the least of which was a need to enhance its IT systems and services to incorporate a new permitting system, integrate and enhance the application of its GIS systems, and implement a new Agenda Management & Disaster Recovery Solution.

The City of Lake Forest needed more than just technology. They needed a partner who understood the unique requirements of municipal governments as well as one that understood the integrated nature of business processes, information systems and IT infrastructure. They also needed a partner with strong project management skills and methodologies that promised a fast, smooth and successful implementation.

A partnership from the top down.

The City of Lake Forest chose Synoptek due in part to its track record of successes with other municipalities and its industry-specific resources from specialists in local government to an extensive library of state-of-the-art local government applications. In fact, Lake Forest was the fifth Orange County city to tap Synoptek for its expertise.

Synoptek evaluated the company's needs and requirements for success, and recommended involvement at all levels of the organization. At the highest level, Synoptek provided IT leadership, planning and CTO services. Synoptek also analyzed the city's existing processes and systems to help the city strategize the best way to incorporate the enhancements into its existing structure.

Once the implementation began, Synoptek provided project planning and management services to keep things on track and provide reporting. It also provided the systems and network engineers to conduct the actual integration of GIS systems, and provided outsourced services for systems and network administration and unlimited service desk support.

On the road to smoother operations.

The city's Director of Management Services was very pleased with the implementation and services provided by Synoptek. Thanks to the partnership, the city now has a permitting system, GIS system and Agenda Management & Disaster Recovery Solution that meet its needs today and can accommodate growth in the future.