In Woodbury, Minnesota, the city’s 11-person IT department faced a difficult decision. The cybersecurity hardware and software they adopted three years ago was up for renewal, and the new price was more than they wanted to pay.
For a CrowdStrike antivirus solution, the city had a 15% discount for the first year through a Center for Internet Security, or CIS, program. The city paid $51 for each of its 400 devices, “so our cost initially was $20,400 for the year,” said Robert James, Woodbury’s information and communications technology director. “When the renewal came around, it was without the initial discount, so it was $24,000 for the year.”
But the Minnesota Whole-of-State Cybersecurity Plan offered a way forward. Developed by the Minnesota Information Technology Services’ Cybersecurity Task Force, the plan offers managed detection and response capabilities through a whole-of-state cybersecurity plan.
They decided to move forward with it…
Woodbury was one of the first localities to sign on.
“Through the Minnesota whole-of-state program, the cost will be $46 per device when the grant program runs out” in July 2027, James said. “We will save more than $14 per device and get more security deployment than with our deployment through CIS. Since we have added more devices in total, this will add up to almost $7,000 in savings for the city every year.”
About 125 Minnesota entities, including Woodbury, have been using the setup since February. Another 80 are coming online soon.