Do you work on SCADA, AMI head-end or substation systems?▼
We secure the IT side and the boundary, not the operational systems themselves. SCADA, substation automation, relays and the AMI head-end are the responsibility of your system engineers and their vendors, who understand the protection schemes and reliability requirements. What we do is segment the office network from those systems, manage the IT-side firewall rules, control and log who crosses the boundary, and protect the laptops and accounts engineers use. When a change touches operational equipment, we plan it together with your engineers and document it.
Does NERC CIP apply to our cooperative?▼
Many distribution cooperatives aren't NERC-registered, while some co-ops and generation and transmission cooperatives are, depending on their functions and facilities. Your compliance staff or counsel should confirm where you stand. For registered entities, we support the IT portion of CIP work, such as access records, patch documentation, logging and electronic boundary diagrams. For co-ops outside NERC's scope, we still recommend many of the same practices, because insurers, federal grant programs and your own board increasingly expect them.
Can you work alongside our existing IT person?▼
That's how most of our co-op relationships would look. Your IT staff know the members, the vendors and the quirks of your systems, and that knowledge is valuable. We add depth they can't get alone: security monitoring, a structured patching process, tested backups, help desk overflow and written documentation. We agree on a clear split of responsibilities and share one ticketing view. Support runs during business hours, with after-hours emergency response for active security incidents, so your IT person isn't the only line of defense at midnight.
How do you protect member payment information?▼
Start by knowing every place a card number touches: the online portal, IVR phone payments, counter terminals and any staff workstation that keys payments in. We help map those flows against PCI DSS 4.0 so you know your scope, then reduce it where possible by using hosted payment pages and point-to-point encrypted terminals. Payment workstations get segmented and locked down. We also train member services staff to recognize callers impersonating members to change account details, which is a common route to fraud.
What happens if ransomware hits our billing system?▼
The goal is to make that unlikely through MFA, endpoint detection, allowlisting on key servers and brokered vendor access. If it happens anyway, our engineers begin containment immediately, isolating affected systems while keeping the OMS and operational networks separated. We restore the CIS from immutable backups that were tested ahead of time and coordinate with your vendor on application recovery. Your general manager and counsel decide on member notification and regulatory reporting, and we supply the technical facts they need.
How do you get ready for storm season?▼
Each year before peak storm season, we review the systems that matter most during outages: OMS servers and integrations, the member portal, IVR and phone capacity, network links to field offices and crew devices. We confirm backups and failover work, apply pending updates early so nothing gets patched mid-event, check that dispatcher and crew accounts are current, and make sure tablets have up-to-date maps. During a major event, we keep changes frozen unless something is broken, so IT never becomes part of the problem.
Do you provide Electric Cooperatives IT Services in Houston and nearby areas?▼
Yes. LayerLogix is based in the Greater Houston area and delivers electric cooperatives IT services to businesses across Houston and the surrounding communities, including The Woodlands, Spring, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, Cypress, and Pearland. For most Houston-area clients we can be on-site the same day when something needs hands-on attention, and our help desk is available during business hours, with after-hours emergency support. Call 713-571-2390 to check coverage for your specific address.
What does Electric Cooperatives IT Services cost for a Houston business?▼
Pricing depends on your size and what you need, so we do not publish a one-size-fits-all number — but Houston businesses generally pay a flat, predictable monthly fee rather than surprise hourly bills. We start with a free, no-obligation assessment of your current setup, then give you a clear quote in plain English with no hidden costs. That way you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit.