Client Spotlight: Newton, KS

The city of Newton, Kansas, is home to a community of more than 18,000. Newton utilizes Tyler’s ERP Pro software to execute day-to-day business functions across departments with efficiency and ease. As a Tyler client for more than 20 years, Newton experiences high productivity, collaboration, and responsiveness — even when something goes wrong.

The Crash

On December 7, 2016, Newton’s internal systems crashed unexpectedly. Each of their five critical servers, along with all backup units, failed without warning. In an instant, all their information was lost.

Brenda Ternes, Newton’s IT Director, still isn’t sure what caused the crash, but she remembers the days that followed. “I was constantly sick to my stomach and just felt so guilty, though it wasn’t anyone’s fault. The technology just glitched. But because of that one glitch, we’d lost everything. I was prepared to go in and do manual entry myself. I was thinking about our citizens and I figured we needed to at least start to bring users back to where they were,” said Ternes.

Good News

At the time, Ternes didn’t know Newton’s contract with Tyler included Tyler Disaster Recovery Services. With this service, critical information and records are securely stored off-site at a Tyler location. Upon initial software implementation, Tyler works with clients to identify critical processes and users, then creates recovery procedures and an overall response plan. Using an efficient “sync” process, client information is transferred each night within minutes. In the event of a disaster, a client’s stored information and live database are loaded into the appropriate product environment on a server in a Tyler data center. Critical users are then able to access this server from any computer with internet access.

Newton experienced the benefits of Tyler Disaster Recovery Services firsthand. After their systems crashed, Tyler support contacted Newton to inquire why their servers were no longer submitting data to be stored, concerned there might be problems on their end. Upon returning their call, Ternes learned about Tyler Disaster Recovery. “When I got that phone call saying, ‘We have all your data up until the day of the crash. We can spin up servers and you can work in our environment until you get your servers back online...then we can restore all your data.’ Well, it was just amazing, I was so grateful,” said Ternes.

Getting Back on Track

Over the following weeks, Newton worked to completely rebuild their system. During this time, Tyler’s server provided a secure, accessible platform for both work and storage. By working through this server, Newton was able to maintain work flow. Although Newton was ultimately unable to recover the information from the original servers, Tyler’s off-site units were able to do a final download and restore their information. “Tyler was there to help us with the transition and copy all of our data back down to our new servers, with minimal downtime. Essentially, we were able to pick back up to the day before the crash in December,” explained Ternes.

Tyler Disaster Recovery provides peace of mind and protection during times when it’s needed most. Data encryption and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are used to transmit all necessary data, so clients never have to worry about the security of their information. Tyler Disaster Recovery Services do the work, so client IT personnel can focus on other strategic initiatives and maintain productivity. “When Tyler called, they said they would work with us, and they really did. It ended up being my lifesaver,” said Ternes. “Was it worth it? Definitely.”