Serving nearly 60,000 residents, the City of West Allis, Wisconsin, is responsible for delivering essential services—from police and fire response to water, permitting, and public works—all underpinned by technology.
As cyber threats grew more sophisticated and security-related expectations rose, The City of West Allis knew it was time to strengthen its defenses to keep critical services safe, stable, and resilient.
For the City of West Allis, even a single breach could disrupt the services citizens rely on most, while potentially exposing sensitive data and eroding public trust.
“A cyber hack isn’t going to stop us from plowing the streets,” said Tony Warkoczewski, IT Director for the city, “but it could absolutely impact how we serve our citizens.”
Although the city had core protections like multifactor authentication, endpoint protection, and firewalls in place, threats were evolving faster than these tools could keep up. At the same time, auditors were tightening expectations, requiring stronger, continuous monitoring and better proof of resilience.
Even the city’s insurer was signaling a shift. As Tony noted, “Our insurer hinted that municipalities with more robust cybersecurity in place might see lower premiums in the future.”
When the State of Wisconsin distributed federal cybersecurity grants to local governments, West Allis seized the opportunity to accelerate its investment in stronger, more modern defense. The team knew that the right Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution could provide the 24/7 monitoring, deeper visibility, and expert support they needed.
When evaluating MDR solutions, the City of West Allis prioritized value and fit. As a mid-sized municipality, the team wanted to maximize the impact of their grant with a solution that delivered broad protection—without enterprise-level complexity or cost.
Equally important was finding a partner that understood municipal challenges.
“We didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle,” said Warkoczewski. “Field Effect hit the sweet spot—the right size, the right focus, and a team that actually listens.”
Field Effect’s MDR solution delivered exactly what West Allis needed: complete protection across endpoints, networks, and users, without the hidden costs or upgrade traps typical of other vendors. The unified platform simplified operations and was backed by experts who understood the realities of running IT for local government.
Field Effect proved its value almost immediately after deployment. Onboarding was fast and straightforward, and the team gained greater visibility into their network, endpoints, and user activity than ever before. The unified view helped them see what was happening across departments and made it easier to focus on the alerts that truly mattered.
Field Effect’s 24/7 monitoring gave the team confidence that someone was always watching their environment—extending their small staff’s reach without adding headcount.
Then, the value became truly undeniable. Not long after deployment, Field Effect detected an “impossible travel” event—a user account logging in from two locations at once. In this case, one local location and one overseas. The system automatically locked the account before any damage could occur, preventing potential compromise.
For the City of West Allis, this was clear proof that the solution worked exactly as promised—providing real-time detection, automated response, and round-the-clock peace of mind.
“Field Effect MDR did exactly what we were hoping it would do,” said Warkoczewski. “I’m 100% convinced that if we hadn’t had Field Effect, things would have been a lot worse for us that day.”