HomeMy WebLinkAboutMS IT Roadmap 2014CITY OF Agenda Item No: 4,b
Meeting Date: June 16, 2014
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Management Services
Prepared by: Gus Bush, IT ManagerJ.,,City Manager Approval:
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SUBJECT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) PROJECT ROADMAP FOR 2014
RECOMMENDATION: City Council accept the informational report.
BACKGROUND: The City has historically invested in its information technology (IT)
environment to improve its overall effectiveness and to enable the City to better respond to
community expectations. These improvements in organizational structure and technical
infrastructure, however, were eroded by reductions in both funding and staffing necessitated by
the City's revenue shortfalls during the recent economic recession.
Prior to the recession, IT was made up of 6.5 positions dedicated to the Division's assigned
workload, supplemented at times by temporary seasonal workers and by contractors as needed
for special projects. Outside of the Division, several departments also had specific staff
members who worked closely with IT to provide first-tier information technology support and to
coordinate larger issues. Improvements to the City's information technology infrastructure
included the implementation of server virtualization technology and the adoption of a 4 -year
replacement program (consistent with industry best practices) for its inventory of about 420
desktop level computers.
Today, the IT Division is staffed by only 4.7 employees who are largely responsible for the same
level of workload as in years past (with an average of 2,100-2,300 service requests per year).
Although the IT Division has sought to be as productive as possible, it is not feasible to provide
the same level, quality, and timeliness of services with fewer staff positions. Contractor
personnel (funded about 60% by IT and 40% directly by individual departments) have become a
fixture in IT in order to keep up with priority projects and to handle tasks needing special skill
sets.
With the approximate 15% reduction of staff City-wide in the last few years, departmental
resources that supplemented the IT staff have also been reduced. As a stop -gap measure,
most departments now have multiple individuals who sporadically work with IT, which can lead
to a more fragmented approach and to difficulties in prioritization.
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
File No.
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SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
These staffing and resource reductions led the City to defer significant technology improvement
projects in order to focus on keeping existing IT infrastructure and mission -critical systems
operational. Response times increased for regular service requests and desktop computer
replacements was changed to a six-year plan rather than four years (for an inventory that has
grown to nearly 520 computers). Plus, no major expenditures were made in the last few years
towards newer (faster) network devices while most of the server equipment bought in 2008-09 is
now in need of replacement. The end result is that a backlog of projects has accumulated for
the replacement of both infrastructure items and for application systems that are either obsolete,
incompatible with newer technologies, or no longer supported by their vendors.
In the last year or so, the City's financial situation has begun to improve and departments have
started identifying necessary technology improvements to help attain efficiencies and increase
customer service. IT began a strategic planning process in-house but realized due to
operational and project demands that outside assistance was necessary. In March of 2014,
staff turned to NexLevel Information Technology to lead the development of this plan.
ANALYSIS: Over the last two months, NexLevel led staff through discussions to review the
City's information technology needs and to identify and prioritize a list IT projects that could
potentially be accomplished in the next 12 to 18 months. The process involved interviewing the
key staff in each department to understand their current use of technology as well as their future
needs. At the end of May, NexLevel then held a prioritization workshop with the City's
Technology Committee, which includes representatives from every department. The results of
this process are now being presented to the City Council and will also be documented in an IT
Projects Roadmap document that will serve as the foundation for an Information Technology
Strategic Plan.
The results of the planning process confirm that the City needs to increase its investment in
technology resources in order to better support department's functional requirements.
NexLevel's perspective is that while deferring information technology investments is often
necessary due to revenue constraints, it has the effect of creating a backlog of IT projects and
ultimately service delivery impacts. The key is to take a strategic approach to first rebuild the
foundational infrastructure and then invest in new technology that could transform the way the
City conducts business.
NexLevel first worked with IT and the departments to document a list of major technology
projects that are currently in progress. This includes the following:
• Annual desktop computer replacements using the current 6 -year lifecycle
• Migration of all computers to a new networking environment based on Windows 7
• Major infrastructure upgrades for the Police Department and its partner agencies
• Expansion of network infrastructure and public computing capabilities at the downtown
Library
• Development of functional requirements for a City-wide electronic document
management system
• Planning an integrated voice recognition system for inspections in Community
Development
• Supporting the implementation of a GIS -based work order system for Public Works
All together, these projects represent a large workload that can be expected to keep IT staff and
contract workers very busy through the end of 2014_
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
The key new projects identified in the planning process were consolidated into a list of "Top 10"
projects (Attachment), which were identified and prioritized by the City's Technology Committee,
focusing on those projects that were of high-value to the City and that could potentially be
accomplished in the next 12 to 18 months. This list is divided into two categories: (1)
Infrastructure and Application Projects and (2) Resource, Service Delivery, and Planning
Projects.
At the top of the Infrastructure and Applications part of the list are the following three projects:
1. Technology Infrastructure Improvements. The City must invest in upgrading or replacing
outdated infrastructure components in order to maintain its current capabilities and to lay a
foundation for future enhancements. City Council's recent approval of $270K to upgrade the
City's network storage equipment is a good first step in this direction. Additional expenditures
are required to upgrade the City's email environment, replace aging server computers and
network communication devices, and to bolster network security. A minimum of $150K each
year, above and beyond current budgeted amounts, will be needed to support technology
refresh efforts. This project is foundational in that other projects will not be possible without it.
2. Acquire Document Management System. Once staff identifies a list of functional
requirements for an enterprise document management system (EDMS), the next steps are to
solicit proposals, select a system and implementation vendor, and negotiate an initial
implementation contract. A budget of $50-75K is recommended to obtain EDMS
implementation assistance to lead the City through this process. This project is also
foundational in that other projects will either not be possible or will be less effective without it.
3. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Upgrade Analysis. The City's current ERP system
(Tyler Eden), which is used as the City's primary financial software (financial transaction
processing and reporting), is showing its age in system performance and is also limited in
functionality. Staff recommends we consider options for maximizing the use of Eden in the
short-term, possibly by enhancing it with additional modules or third -party products as needed to
meet established reporting requirements. Once IT infrastructure improvements and EDMS
implementation are well underway, staff will be able to turn its focus on the extensive effort
required to implement the longer-term goal of replacing its ERP system. The initial analysis can
be expected to cost approximately $20-35K.
The rest of the Infrastructure and Applications part of the list is made up of the following four
projects:
4. Improving community engagement and relationship management through the acquisition and
implementation of software or other tools that would enable the City to readily author and
publish content to the public web -page or numerous other outlets used by the community and to
receive, direct, and track service requests from the public.
5. Developing a plan to improve and expand mobile computing capabilities.
6. Enabling inter -department collaboration through access to shared electronic documents.
7. Studying City-wide geographic information system (GIS) business requirements to improve
the utilization of the existing GIS system.
On the Resource, Service Delivery, and Planning part of the "Top 10" list are the following three
projects:
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 4
1. Analyze IT Service Delivery Capabilities. A review is required of the internal workings of the
IT Division, how work is accomplished and who performs that work. IT has already begun this
process by hiring a process consultant to improve on its help desk operations. Further changes
may require adding additional assistance on a continuing basis. Establishing service level
standards with departments, to help determine the resources required to meet those
agreements, is a likely place to focus in the coming months. A budget of $20-35K plus
appropriate staff time is needed to support this analysis.
2. City-wide Staff Training. This area must be included in every ongoing and future project in
order to ensure a solid return on investment. With significant reductions in training budgets,
staff is not getting the most out of existing systems such as Microsoft Office, the Shoretel phone
system, and GIS. A base budget of $35-40K for an ongoing technology training program would
go a long way to filling the gap.
3. Develop Strategic Plan. The next step in continuing with the City's strategic approach to
technology planning is to develop a comprehensive document covering projects and resources
for the next 3-5 years. This document will provide a foundation for identifying, prioritizing,
assigning resources, and scheduling in order to ensure technology is in place to help meet the
City's business goals. This planning effort will most likely take 4-6 months and cost an
estimated $50-75K to complete.
To some extent, these three projects should be able to run concurrently with the seven
Infrastructure and Applications Projects. But, of course, there will be some interdependencies
that may require the completion of Resource, Service Delivery, and Planning projects prior to
embarking on specific Infrastructure and Application project tasks.
Staff will incorporate any direction from the City Council at tonight's meeting, and then work with
NexLevel to finalize the formal IT Projects Roadmap document.
FISCAL IMPACT: Over the course of the next two fiscal years, NexLevel and IT estimate that
the "Top 10" projects identified in the IT Projects Roadmap will require at least $520-705K to
complete. Some of these cost estimates, however, only include the initial planning phase for
much larger projects such as EDMS acquisition, ERP upgrade analysis, and improving IT
service delivery; additional analysis is required to determine specific project scopes and the
exact approaches to be used in follow-on phases.
IT has submitted budget requests of $420K in FY 2014-15 and $285K in FY 2015-16 to cover
the initial cost estimates for the "Top 10" projects. The Finance Department has considered
these numbers in its preparation of the FY 2014-15 budget and will make recommendations to
the City Council as part of its presentation. Further financial resource needs will be presented
to the Council once their costs are known and their respective timeframes for implementation
have been determined. Finance is working closely with IT on this effort and is planning for the
upcoming larger expenditures so that the funds are available when needed.
OPTIONS:
1. Accept the IT Project Roadmap report as delivered.
2. Direct staff to modify its approach to IT project planning.
ACTION REQUIRED: City Council accept the report on the IT Projects Roadmap.
Attachment: City-wide Highest Priority Projects
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CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
ROUTING SLIP / APPROVAL FORM
INSTRUCTIONS: USE THIS FORM WITH EACH SUBMITTAL OF A CONTRACT, AGREEMENT,
ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION BEFORE APPROVAL BY COUNCIL / AGENCY.
SRRA / SRCC AGENDA ITEM NO. iL U
DATE OF MEETING: 06/16/14
FROM: Gus Bush
DEPARTMENT: MS
DATE: June 10, 2014
TITLE OF DOCUMENT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) PROJECT ROADMAP FOR 2014.
(LOWER HALF OF FORM FOR APPROVALS ONLY)
APPROVED AS COUNCIL / AGENCY APPROVED AS TO FORM:
AGSOA ITEN�j
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Cita, Manpger (sin ' ure) City Attorney (signature
NOT APPROVED
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