Rusk County

Willis Marlin is a public-sector technology leader recognized for delivering large-scale IT modernization under tight budget constraints. He led the second-largest virtual desktop deployment in a U.S. school district, introduced wireless connectivity across a 100-year-old district with concrete infrastructure, and accelerated a one-to-one Chromebook rollout two years ahead of schedule. His work continues to strengthen secure connectivity, digital access and infrastructure resilience across county government systems.

Building High-Performance IT Teams in Government

Most IT budgets within public-sector organizations such as school districts, city governments and county governments are often the first to face cuts because leadership does not always fully recognize the operational importance of IT. They turn on the PC it works! They answer the phone, it works! There is always an expectation that “IT can fix that” or “call IT, something’s wrong.” I am well known for getting the most bang for the buck!

To be able do that, one needs to be able to create partnerships with vendors. My vendors will never tell you that I am cheap. What they will tell you is that I have expectations, and to meet those expectations I drive a hard bargain. Just because Company A has what you need at one-million-dollar price tag does not mean select the buy it now options. Do your research, dig into your knowledge and experiences, know what you and your team are capable of doing and go for it. One of the most difficult and challenging aspects of leading government IT teams is hiring the right people. Know your own strengths and trust in your abilities to hire the right people that will compliment your own abilities. Treat the team as family, sometimes you are in the trenches together longer than they are with their own families. Respect the team’s opinions, learn from their experiences, absorb their knowledge, it makes you a better leader when you can be open to learn from your staff.

“Treat the team as family, sometimes you are in the trenches together longer than they are with their own families. Respect the team’s opinions, learn from their experiences, absorb their knowledge, it makes you a better leader when you can be open to learn from your staff.”

The Three Ps as a Cybersecurity Foundation

I call it the 3 P’s, it is important to create processes, policies and procedures within every organization. Standardization of those 3 P’s is very important. In most cases departments need to understand that for IT to be able to provide a level of needed support, maintenance and security, that all technology purchases need to be approved by the IT department. Staff have no idea what will or won’t work in our environment. When the policy, process and procedure are met, I then investigate the security risks. Who’s doing what within my infrastructure? Who is accessing our data? What type of cyber security insurance do they carry, if any? All these and many more need to be addressed prior to rushing out and purchasing something because someone went to a conference and saw a cool app turn an iPhone into a robot.

The Human Cost of Automated IT Support

I see the role of IT moving way to quickly into the everevolving world of AI. Very soon there will not be a human technician to answer the phone or come into your office. The days of boots on the ground are becoming very limited. Staff member will suddenly become their own technician. Calling the IT department will immerse you into a world of frustrations as all you want to do as a user is print a document. Before you can do that though the AI bot needs to learn from you in detail what the issue is, before it can talk you through the process of how to fix it yourself. Humans need human interaction. Gone will be the days of staff calling an IT Technician and saying I can’t print, can you pop up to the third floor and take a look. The caller is and will become the technician, waiting to follow the AI bot’s instruction to try to fix it themselves. I believe that unfortunately the AI bot has no empathy and people will become frustrated more and more as they take over. It will not surprise me when the AI bot will replace the human altogether and talk to itself.

Key Advice for Aspiring Leaders

The most important advice I could give to anyone entering the public sector is to understand that public sector technology positions, weather you’re a computer technician, a network administrator, a system administrator, a database administrator or an IT director, would be to always bring your ‘A’ game to the table. Come to work each day knowing that you are going to make a difference in someone’s life. It could be as simple as a smile, a hello, or a good morning. Come to work each day with a renewed desire to be the best at what you do regardless of how often you get knocked down, it will happen, what you learn from it and how you move forward is what will make you who you become. Knowledge is free, take it as it is delivered, it comes to you in many different forms, knowledge is power, use it wisely. The people that work in the public sector are normal humans that are dedicated to serving the public.