Jessica Jones and her two Belgian Malinois
JC/AOC staffer, JoAnna P. Deering, recently spoke with Jessica Jones, the Information Technology Operations Manager for the Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts.
Edited and condensed for clarity.
JoAnna Deering: Congratulations, Jessica, on your recent promotion to IT Operations Manager. What was your role prior to this promotion?
Jessica Jones: I served as a Systems Administrator Team Lead.
JoAnna Deering: Can you tell our readers about your career path and what led to your current role as the IT Operations Manager here at the JC/AOC?
Jessica Jones: I began my career in the office of the Gwinnett County Clerk of Court in 2010. I really didn’t know anything about the courts and the judiciary aside from my dad’s job as a law enforcement officer in Gwinnett County. Growing up with a father who was in law enforcement had ingrained in me strong feelings about the importance of our criminal justice system. Admittedly, however, as a young adult, I didn’t really understand how it all worked—I was just looking for a stable career, and I knew that a government job provided good hours and benefits. My initial role was to staff the notary window at the clerk’s office where I would review the paperwork of potential notaries to ensure they met the qualifications and then issue them their notary certifications. During my approximately five-year tenure at the clerk’s office, I worked as a docket clerk for several assigned judges, managed the criminal divisions of State Court and Superior Court, and eventually was promoted to the position of Director of the criminal division of both courts. Although I enjoyed working at the clerk’s office, there came a point when there were no more opportunities for growth, and I began pursuing other job opportunities.
During this period, I was approached by a judicial case management vendor in the private sector who was interested in using my court expertise to assist with the deployment of case management software. I had always had an interest in information technology and began working on installing case management software in Georgia for court partners. Along the way, I started building case management flows for individual courts. This exposed me to a plethora of court professionals and processes and allowed me to observe the different types of struggles faced by our various court partners. Through my work with that private case management vendor which had a contract with the State of Georgia, I also partnered with the AOC and began installing case management software for its courts. When the case management software contract term came to an end, the AOC had a new CTO—Ben Luke. He saw in me the potential to do a lot more with our IT division than just working on one specific application and brought me in as a Systems Administrator about seven years ago to oversee our cloud environment. Over the years, I built a Cloud Ops team that now consists of three employees who I managed prior to my promotion as IT Operations Manager. I am now also responsible for our in-house Helpdesk team and manage six very dedicated, incredible employees.
JoAnna Deering: That is a very interesting story. I never would have imagined how you got from Point A to Point B.
Jessica Jones: Yes, it’s rather atypical. A lot of things happened because I was in the right place at the right time.
JoAnna Deering: And now you’re here moving ahead on your career journey. I can tell that you’re overseeing a lot because when I’m in different Teams channels, I see you constantly monitoring everything that’s happening. I know it must be quite challenging.
Jessica Jones: Yes, it is, but in a good way. I feel uniquely qualified to be in this position at this exact moment as we undertake an enormous statewide case management software development project because I have relevant case management system expertise from the court perspective as well as relevant experience managing such systems from the IT perspective. Also, as a public servant, I enjoy facilitating more efficient and fair justice for all by utilizing technology to streamline processes. I can’t imagine having a job that is a better fit than this one because I love supporting both the applications and the users. Further, I love the fact that every time I solve a problem, I see exactly how the solution helps our state. It makes my work very fulfilling.
JoAnna Deering: It’s evident how much you enjoy doing what you do. That’s wonderful. What are the primary responsibilities you currently face in your role?
Jessica Jones: We are working on a very important case management software project which is basically a full-time job in and of itself, but we also have an application portfolio of legacy software we manage that is critically important to every user of that software. For instance, many people in Georgia have never had to avail themselves of our child support calculator, but for those involved in child support litigation, it is a necessary and crucial tool. My team and I are responsible for making sure that the child support calculator is available 24/7, easy to use, and secure. Sometimes that can be difficult. As software evolves, bad actors continuously target attacks at vulnerabilities. We are therefore always striving for balance between making our systems very secure, yet still easily accessible by the people that need to access them. Patching software can oftentimes introduce a little bit of downtime as well. My responsibilities include managing software maintenance windows in a way that minimally impacts users.
JoAnna Deering: What motivates you in your work and what do you find most rewarding about your position?
Jessica Jones: I love working with my team. We have a very tight-knit IT department. The level of dedication and passion that my colleagues bring to the job really motivates me to always take it to that extra level of engagement. I really enjoy puzzles and trying to figure out solutions drives me forward. Honestly, though, I have been working as a public servant for most of my adult career and it is wonderful to be able to build software that solves real problems for the judiciary and makes us more efficient as we do more with less. We never have an excess of funds. We are never going to be overstaffed. We are always going to have a tremendous workload and must try to do as much as we can with as few people as possible. Technology can really leverage those gaps and help one person do the work of many faster and more efficiently. Those are some of the reasons why I really enjoy this position because I can see what a difference it makes, and I get to work with some amazing IT professionals.
JoAnna Deering: The level of dedication our IT professionals have is indeed phenomenal. You all provide us with an exceptional level of customer service. How do you stay updated with the latest advancements in information technology?
Jessica Jones: I often try to apply technical concepts in a home lab environment. For example, I enjoy building simple applications that are completely unrelated to my work for purposes of learning new technical concepts such as databases and containerization. I also learn a lot from my colleagues. During meetings, we spend time talking about different problems and coming up with different solutions. Invariably, someone will mention a new type of technology or a solution unknown to the rest of us. This provides us with the opportunity to dive deeper and learn more. Again, working with this incredible team—a very diverse group of people—brings to the forefront all kinds of knowledge and different perspectives that help all of us increase our knowledge. One of the things that makes this IT department so wonderful is that we freely share knowledge across the different teams and work very collaboratively. Everyone is eager to share knowledge and help empower others. Having a sense of curiosity and constantly asking questions allows me to learn from other people around me and gain critical knowledge about various topics.
JoAnna Deering: Moving on, what do you like to do for fun outside of work? I heard through the grapevine that you compete athletically.
Jessica Jones: You heard correctly. I participate in a very niche sport called Dryland Mushing. When most people think about mushing, they envision sled dogs on snow. Dryland Mushing is the same concept, but instead of on snow, it’s on dry land. Dryland Mushing involves dogs pulling a three or four- wheeled cart (called a rig), a two-wheeled vehicle (either a mountain bike or what’s called a scooter), or a running person. The latter variation, called Canicross, is the type of Dryland Mushing in which I participate with my two Belgian Malinois dogs. In mid-October I competed on Team USA in the Canicross Division of the Dryland Mushing World Championship held in Minocqua, Wisconsin. It was the first time in the 20 year-history of the International Federation of Sled Dog Sports that the competition was held in the United States and the second time I represented our country in Canicross competition. Besides engaging in this sport and other activities with my dogs, I enjoy spending time outside and curling up with my Kindle to read a book while soaking in a hot bath at the end of a long day.
