Public safety technology is evolving fast.
Those futuristic movies have arrived, right? Body-worn cameras, in-car video, rugged computers, software, AI-powered reporting, connectivity, and other mission-critical technologies are continually improving… But for agencies, that creates a challenge that goes far beyond selecting the right equipment.
How do you invest in the technology you need today without locking your agency into technology that may be outdated tomorrow?
According to Frank Furfari, Subject Matter Expert in Technology Orchestration, the answer requires changing the way agencies think about financing altogether.
“I call it technology orchestration because, in today’s environment, it’s not about pure capital… It’s all about lifecycle management.”
Watch his thought leader interview above.
Financing Is Only One Part of the Technology Lifecycle
Traditional financing tends to focus on a relatively simple equation: purchase price, financing terms, and payment.
Frank says public safety requires a much broader approach.
Technology orchestration considers the entire lifecycle of the agency’s investment — from the initial acquisition through deployment, upgrades, technology refreshes, asset returns, and eventually the next generation of technology.
It also requires coordination among the agency, reseller, OEM, and financing partner.
Rather than treating the transaction as complete once equipment is delivered, Frank describes the role as ongoing portfolio and client management.
That becomes especially important as an agency’s technology needs change during a contract.
Public Safety Technology Is Different
There are two factors Frank says distinguish public safety technology from many traditional commercial equipment purchases.
First, these are mission-critical assets.
Technology used in the field can play an important role in protecting officers and serving the public. Reliability, availability, and the ability to keep technology current matter.
Second, public agencies operate within defined budgets and fiscal-year requirements.
A financing strategy therefore needs to work within an agency’s appropriated funding rather than simply providing access to capital.
That understanding of the public-sector budgeting process is an important component of building a technology strategy agencies can realistically sustain.
One Technology Project. One Contract.
Another advantage of approaching technology as a complete solution is the ability to look beyond the physical device.
Frank explains that an APL Credit technology solution can incorporate the components associated with an entire project, including:
- Hardware
- Software
- Services
- Implementation
- Project management
Rather than separating each component, the project can be bundled into a single contract.
For agencies deploying body-worn cameras, in-car video, rugged computing, or another technology ecosystem, that can create a much simpler path from acquisition through implementation.
Why Consider an Annual Rental Model?
One model Frank discussed is a five-year annual rental structure.
In simple terms, the total cost of the technology project is determined and then spread across a five-year annual term, allowing the agency to acquire the assets it needs today without absorbing the entire project cost upfront.
That leads to one of the most important questions agencies should consider when evaluating CapEx versus OpEx.
As Frank puts it:
“Why would an agency put a huge cash outlay and a capital expense on a depreciating asset?”
Technology begins aging the moment it is deployed.
Meanwhile, innovation continues.
The issue becomes particularly important when agencies know the technology they purchase today may need to be upgraded before the end of its useful lifecycle.
The Technology Refresh Changes the Conversation
This is where technology orchestration becomes particularly powerful.
Frank explains that an agency doesn’t necessarily have to wait until the end of its contract to adopt newer technology.
Assets can be added during the contract, and agencies can potentially complete a partial or full technology refresh depending on their needs.
Consider AI report writing.
An agency could be partway through an existing technology contract when a new AI capability becomes operationally valuable. Under the model Frank describes, additional assets can be incorporated and structured to run coterminously with the original agreement.
An agency may also elect to refresh existing assets.
The existing equipment can be returned, value from those assets credited back to the agency, and newer technology incorporated into a rewritten agreement with the goal of keeping the agency’s payment flat.
Frank says this isn’t an unusual request.
With technology advancing rapidly, he estimates that 80–90% of the agencies APL Credit works with request some form of technology refresh during their contract.
That could mean an entire fleet refresh or only the assets that need to change.
The point is flexibility.
Pay for the Technology You’re Using Today
Frank uses the evolution of cell phones as a simple analogy.
Consumers understand that a smartphone purchased today won’t remain state-of-the-art indefinitely. Battery performance changes. Storage needs grow. New capabilities emerge. Eventually, another large purchase may be required.
As a result, many consumers have moved toward payment and upgrade programs rather than repeatedly making large upfront purchases.
The scale is dramatically different in public safety, but the technology lifecycle challenge is similar.
When an agency is managing dozens or hundreds of mission-critical devices, the question becomes:
Is ownership itself the objective — or is having access to the right technology when it’s needed more important?
Look Beyond the First-Year Payment
Frank also offers an important warning for agencies evaluating technology proposals: understand the full cost across the entire term.
A proposal may begin with an attractive annual payment, but incremental expenses can dramatically change the actual cost over time.
Frank has seen situations where an agency believed it was committing to approximately $10,000 annually, only to find its annual expense had escalated significantly by year five because of incremental costs.
Under APL Credit’s model, he says the goal is straightforward: if the annual payment is $10,000, it remains $10,000 throughout the term unless the agency chooses to make changes.
That transparency matters when public agencies are building multiyear budgets.
Future-Proofing Requires More Than Better Hardware
For police chiefs, city administrators, procurement leaders, IT teams, and other public-sector decision-makers evaluating their next technology investment, the takeaway is simple:
Don’t evaluate only the equipment. Evaluate its entire lifecycle.
Ask what happens when technology changes.
Ask whether equipment can be refreshed.
Understand what happens to existing assets.
Determine whether hardware, software, implementation, and services can be incorporated into the same strategy.
And most importantly, understand what the investment will actually cost throughout the entire term — not simply in year one.
That’s the difference between financing a technology purchase and orchestrating a technology lifecycle.
For Frank, it ultimately comes down to one more principle: ease of doing business.
“We have a process in place that makes it simple, easy, straightforward and transparent.”
As public safety technology continues evolving, agencies need more than access to capital.
They need a strategy that can evolve with the technology.
That is technology orchestration.
If your agency is evaluating its next technology investment, book a time with Darin White to explore the right solution for your organization.