“We’re here to serve” is Benny Yazdanpanahi’s motto as CIO for City of Tyler located in Texas. Supporting a population of approximately 107,000, Yazdanpanahi’s vision for his city relies on the use of data to deliver exceptional services to citizens, today and into the future.
Since joining the city nearly 19 years ago, Yazdanpanahi has continually challenged himself and his small IT team to stay agile and to keep the needs of the city’s citizens at the forefront. Today, Yazdanpanahi and his team use IT systems to make more informed decisions, enhance community services, and improve public safety.
“Our citizens, and especially the younger generation, want immediate access to information and online services,” said Yazdanpanahi. “We want to keep pace with the latest technologies, not only for citizens but also to make our city employees more effective and efficient.”
But Yazdanpanahi knows that a highly secure IT environment is essential to their continued success. “Many US cities have been hacked, so security is on top of everyone’s mind. As a city, we want to provide great services, but we have to provide them in a highly secure manner.”
To accomplish those security goals with limited resources and staff, Tyler’s leaders have been collaborating with Trend Micro for several years. The cybersecurity giant has brought a hands-on approach and an ability to stay ahead of the threats. Their adaptability to the threat landscape strengthens the city’s security posture and empowers the IT team to focus on serving the community.
The city has been able to stay secure without additional staff and resources. City employees don’t spend time resolving IT issues and improve their productivity to focus on things that mater for the city.
“If you don’t collaborate with a partner that’s highly experienced in the security field, you can easily get blindsided,” said Yazdanpanahi. “We need someone there, day in and out, focused on security. Trend Micro knows how to protect cities like us. They provide the kind of north, south, east, and west protection that makes my job easier and allows us to use our data to accomplish new, exciting things for our city.”
Read more about Benny’s journey to securing the city:
https://www.trendmicro.com/en_ca/about/customer-stories/city-of-tyler.html
