Town officials are asking information technology experts in Cranford to chime in on the best way to upgrade the township's decade-old computer systems.

Mayor Mark Smith identified upgrading the actual infrastructure of the network as the biggest priority. Other focuses will include additional back-up services, securing a data center and disaster recovery.

The approximate cost for the network upgrade based on an assessment from Miles Technologies is $133,000. The back-up services and the data center would cost an additional $33,000 and $9,000 respectively.

The consensus of the committee was to get some more IT experts to examine and verify the results of the assessment.

"We welcome comments from people in the IT field to give us your input," Smith said at Tuesday's township meeting. "Contact the adminstration building and we'll give you a copy [of the assessment]."

Smith said he hopes for some action on the assessment to take place at the next workshop meeting in order to expedite the process in regards to the annual budget.

The funds would not come from the township operating budget, but from capital improvement. This allows the township to bond for a longer period of time as the "useful life" of the upgrades would likely be 10 years, alleviating the impact on Cranford taxpayers.

Smith said while the comprehensive assessment listed prices, other offers would be yielded if and when the project(s) go out to bid.

He also believed the recommendations could be addressed incrementally, but believes the infrastructure should be the priority.

"You don't have to take everything at once. We can prioritize the purchasing based on the budget," he said. "The infrastructure is an immediate pressing need."

The recommendations also included upgrades for the Cranford Library, which prompted members of the committee to express a desire to explore the possibility of the library providing funds for the project.

Due to a miscommunication, Smith said, the Cranford Police Department was not included in the assessment, but believes any upgrades would leave both infrastructures compatible with one another.

The police department's IT is believed to be in much better shape than that of the township's, he added.

Miles Technologies assured the committee that the network upgrades were "robust and capable of handling" the needs of the township now and in the future.