As we formed our partnership, Hurricane Ian was barreling toward Florida, putting our team in the very eye of an unfolding crisis. This immediate immersion allowed us to gain on-the-ground knowledge of how FDEM operates under emergency conditions, unearthing real-time pain points. 

From there, our mission was clear: to build the system to help FDEM modernize, alleviating the Division’s reliance on physical spreadsheets and manual processes. 

During any disaster, FDEM transitions into “gray sky” mode, deploying its external emergency functions for preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Often, in these high-stakes situations, FDEM needs to be able to account for over 100,000 responders, and these extensive operations were increasingly difficult to manage with paper-based forms.  

To streamline and expedite relief to Floridians, we worked together to build the Division of Emergency Management Enterprise Solution (DEMES) on Salesforce. DEMES is a scalable and secure platform that modernizes FDEM’s emergency management operations. 

At its core, DEMES fuels interconnectivity during times of crisis. A few key components of DEMES that are activated during emergencies include:

• Statewide mutual aid to facilitate emergency response—such as urban search and rescue, fire departments, and law enforcement—across jurisdiction lines and oversee the reimbursement of costs resulting from emergency response deployments. 
• Resource management for FDEM to mobilize and demobilize the necessary emergency response teams or equipment needed before and during a disaster. 
• Procurement to view, submit, and track quotes, invoices, and purchase orders.  
• Grant management that provides an end-to-end framework for FDEM to manage agreements, as well as for individuals and communities to apply for grant assistance. 

By conducting its emergency operations through DEMES, the Division is now able to increase the rate at which it responds to the needs of Floridians and the speed at which funds are distributed so that its communities can begin to recover as soon as disaster hits. 

With DEMES in place, we then partnered to establish a robust data platform on Microsoft Azure to centralize, store, process, and manage data from disparate state enterprise systems. Microsoft Power BI dashboards were also created for deeper insights into this data, providing 360-degree visibility into the Division’s ongoing activities.

This secure, accurate analytics platform has enabled FDEM with the tools to perform sophisticated trend analyses, enhancing its preparedness for future emergencies while paving a path for internal efficiencies. 

In fact, while DEMES and the analytics platform are indispensable during times of disaster, they are equally vital during “blue sky” mode, which is how FDEM functions outside emergency situations. By enhancing everyday productivity, these tools directly support the Division’s operational, financial, human resources, information technology, and procurement teams. 

For example, FDEM can now:  

• Measure invoice processing performance with Power BI dashboards, providing visibility into open invoices and increasing the speed at which invoices are paid.
• Facilitate non-disaster-related grants through DEMES.
• Enhance the accuracy of reporting, driving transparency and accountability. 

Streamlining these internal operations allows FDEM to reduce state spending while directly investing in its own people. No longer weighed down by manual processes, employees can stay focused on what truly matters: keeping Florida’s communities safe. As Kevin Guthrie, FDEM's executive director, explains, “We’re making a difference in the way that money is being reimbursed to local and state governments so that they can invest in quality-of-life issues that affect our cities and counties.”

FDEM’s modernization has ushered in a new era of efficiency and resiliency, serving as a best practice for emergency management across the public sector. FDEM remains steadfast in its commitment to innovation, continuing to embrace new technologies like generative AI to further automation. In fact, through FDEM’s initiatives, Florida is one of the first states to use large language models to transform emergency management. 

With each step forward, the Division is not just keeping pace with technology—it’s leading the way.