Sarasota County is committed to creating a new standard of citizen value through intensive intergovernmental technological collaboration. There is no reason why numerous governmental entities need to buy and maintain their own IT software and hardware when collaborative solutions are readily available. In a world in which fiscal resources supporting local government are being pinched, a more collaborative system has been put in place, one that uses the power of information technology, while adding value to tax-paying citizens in multiple jurisdictions. Sarasota County has extended the use of GovMax to other local government and nonprofit agencies by openly sharing this application and supporting technology through low cost-sharing agreements. For a small annual fee, other agencies can have access to a state-of-the-art system with absolutely no upfront costs. This means no software or hardware to purchase and no need for additional database administrators to manage the system. The application resides in Sarasota County's Suncoast Technology Center. This facility provides a collaborative, shared technology infrastructure for government and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. Equipped with the latest technology, the STC is maintained by our expert network engineers to ensure maximum security, reliability and performance for our hosted infrastructure. We use passcards to restrict access to our data center and only our highly trained technicians are allowed to enter the controlled environment.