Board members said Tazewell County's outsourced hardware support does not extend to software implementation, leaving departments to source vendors and payment processors independently and prompting discussion of hiring or contracting expertise to guide rollouts and consolidate payment processing.

One speaker said the county contracts hardware support to a vendor called Hart for general Microsoft product support, “but they're not there, though, to help guide us implementing software,” and recommended considering a position or consultant to guide software implementations across departments.

Members described a patchwork of department-level software and payment vendors; one board member noted that departments had “just kind of done it on their own” and that there was little centralized knowledge about which payment processors different offices use. The board discussed opportunities to negotiate better rates and coordinated solutions that would support card readers and website payment integration.

The group also discussed grant software as a tool to track applications and reporting; speakers said software can help but that personnel are required to complete applications and compliance work. No formal decision on hiring IT staff or consolidating payment processing was recorded during the discussion.

Next steps described in the discussion included evaluating whether to create a county position for software implementation guidance or to contract that expertise, and to inventory current department-level payment processors to identify consolidation opportunities.