Explore how Orange County used monday.com to address staffing challenges, automate workflows, and improve efficiency across government operations.
What does government modernization really look like behind the scenes? For years, government organizations have felt the pressure to digitize and adopt new technologies, but the reality is often far from seamless. Many agencies still struggle with fragmented workflows, relying on endless email chains, scattered spreadsheets, and outdated tools that slow everything down. The result? Missed deadlines, communication breakdowns, and a lack of visibility into crucial projects. Employees waste time hunting down information, manually updating documents, and struggling to collaborate across departments. These outdated processes drain resources and prevent governments from delivering timely services to the public.
Today, IT teams are under immense pressure to support these outdated systems with limited budgets, time, and talent. The demand for transformation is constant, yet there’s simply not enough capacity to meet every request. That’s why the smartest agencies are shifting left—giving departments the tools to digitize their own workflows. With a platform like monday.com, teams can build their own solutions independently while IT retains visibility and governance. This shift not only relieves pressure on IT but also accelerates transformation and enables agencies to work smarter and more efficiently.
In partnership with GovTech, we hosted a webinar to explore how forward-thinking counties are using intuitive platforms like monday.com to streamline operations, reduce manual work, and give teams the real-time visibility they need to collaborate more effectively.
Our panel featured:
- Zulay Millan, Deputy Chief Procurement Official, Orange County, FL
- Jennifer Parker, Sales Director, Public Sector, monday.com
- Paul Clanton, Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government
Together, they shared real stories and strategies for fixing what’s slowing local government down.
1. A wave of retirements is forcing faster modernization
According to the 2023 State and Local Government Workforce Survey, a significant number of state and local government HR leaders reported an increased pace of retirements. This kind of situation is becoming increasingly common in the public sector. It’s part of what experts refer to as the “silver tsunami”—a significant wave of retirements among long-serving public sector employees, taking with them decades of valuable knowledge.
Zulay Millan shared her own experience with this trend during the webinar. When she joined the procurement team, 5 out of 8 staff members were nearing retirement, and most key processes and data were buried in spreadsheets.
With little time to waste, Zulay’s team launched monday.com in just two weeks—starting small, building iteratively, and quickly transitioning critical operations into a centralized workspace. The platform empowered her staff, spanning generations, to automate tasks, manage updates, and create dashboards without ever having to rely on IT. Most importantly, it changed their relationship with data: instead of working for the data, the data began working for them. That rapid shift not only stabilized operations—it turned procurement into a hub of innovation and cross-county collaboration.
“We used to spend time hunting down updates and rebuilding processes from scratch. Now we can move forward instantly—with full visibility and control.” — Zulay Millan
2. IT doesn’t have to carry every modernization effort alone
CIOs across counties are feeling the squeeze. Budgets are tight, headcount is limited, and the demand for digital solutions keeps growing. In fact, as Paul Clanton pointed out during the webinar, “I haven’t seen a county yet that doesn’t think they have limited IT resources.”
This challenge isn’t new—but it is getting harder to ignore. When IT teams are expected to support every department, every tool, and every change request, modernization stalls before it can start.
So what’s the solution? How do we meet demand without burning out IT or slowing teams down?
Jennifer Parker shared how more counties are turning to monday.com to distribute the load. With an intuitive, low-code platform, departments have the ability to build and manage their own workflows—while IT keeps visibility, governance, and compliance intact.
“You don’t have to submit a ticket to IT to change a column in monday.com.” — Jennifer Parker
Paul reinforced that message: the key is to start small, solve a real problem, and adopt low-lift tools that operational teams can use on their own—without waiting in IT’s queue.
“Platforms like monday.com let operational staff build their own solutions. That’s especially important for counties with limited IT support.” — Paul Clanton
By shifting left and giving departments more autonomy, counties aren’t just easing IT’s burden—they’re making modernization faster, more flexible, and more sustainable.
3. When teams love their platform, adoption happens rapidly
One of the biggest barriers to digital transformation is resistance from users. But as Zulay shared, the adoption of monday.com happened naturally—even among a workforce that spanned from new graduates to employees in their 80s.
What made the difference? Simplicity, flexibility, and transparency. With monday.com, teams could see their work in one place, communicate in real-time, and make updates without friction.
4. Procurement became a self-service hub — and a model for the county
In the webinar, Zulay Millan described how her procurement team shifted from a traditionally reactive role to one that now leads by example. With monday.com, her team can independently build dashboards, automate forms, and launch processes—without needing to submit IT tickets or wait in vendor queues. The flexibility and compliance-ready infrastructure of the platform allowed them to move fast while still satisfying technical requirements from the CISO and CIO.
This kind of transformation is exactly what public procurement leaders are being asked to deliver. In 2024, modernizing procurement processes topped the annual priorities list released by the National Association of State Procurement Officials.
Now, other departments are seeing what Zulay is doing and they want to emulate it too. Her procurement team is now seen as a hub for problem-solving and strategic thinking. Their progress is prompting other departments to follow their lead—turning procurement into a model for scalable, compliant modernization in county government.
“People see what we’ve built, and they want to be part of it. monday.com has strengthened our credibility as a procurement agency.”– Zulay Millan
Final thought: Modernization isn’t about speed. It’s about service.
The takeaway from this webinar was clear: government leaders aren’t chasing digital transformation for its own sake—they’re pursuing it to better serve their communities. When outdated systems delay responses, complicate collaboration, or keep teams in the dark, service suffers. But when agencies streamline operations and empower teams with the right tools, they can deliver faster, more reliable outcomes—and build greater trust along the way.
monday.com helps make that shift possible. With intuitive tools, fast implementation, and a flexible platform that evolves with your needs, teams can work more efficiently without overloading IT.
Because in the end, modernization isn’t about speed for speed’s sake. It’s about making government work better—for everyone it serves.
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