TO: United Fire Company, President Lea Landrus
FROM: Adam P. Howell
DATE: November 29, 2013
SUBJECT: Report Creation Time Reduction and Secured Access to Data
THE PROBLEM:
Report Creation Time and Secured Access to Fire Company Data
Currently, we use volunteers to create not only the reports required by city, state, and federal regulations, but also the reports for the tax status of volunteer fire fighters here at United Fire Company. There are two major problems with this. The first, and most important, is that these reports are late 40 percent of the time. The second is that the format of the reports is inconsistent and occasionally wrong. Additionally, the 15 office computers at the fire house are connected directly to the internet, which poses a security risk for the fire house data.
THE SOLUTION:
Study Servers for Report Automation and Data Access Protocols
I would like to first study the capabilities of a Windows® server. Currently, our 15 computers are connected directly to the internet, these computers pose 15 separate security risks. In addition, these computers have external hard drives that contain all the relative data for our station reports. Which is poorly guarded from malicious attacks. Through a server we can securely control access to the data storage from malicious attempts in 1 location versus 15.
Secondly, I would like to research report automation for government required reports and volunteer status reports. The required government reports are due in a timely manner, and report automation is a prime solution. Occasionally, these reports take several weeks to compile and format. Additionally, in order for the volunteers to receive a report of their current Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) status, they have to request the report from the LOSAP Chairperson. The turnaround time for this type of report is
