TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
David N. Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
Leilani Emnace, Information Systems Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Information Systems Master Plan
APPROVE
Line
_____________________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and approve the Information Systems Master Plan, and direct staff to prepare a funding plan for consideration during the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget deliberations.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Information Systems Master Plan (ISMP) identifies the City's technology priorities for the coming 3-5 years. In terms of funding needs, the assessment identified a range of total costs of $1.76 million to $2.99 million in project priorities over the coming five years. Pending City Council's approval, staff will develop a funding plan for the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget.
In addition, several recommendations on an operational level will be included in the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget, which are estimated to cost $109,060. These include training, system redundancies, professional services, licensing, etc.
BACKGROUND:
Toward the goal of improved service deliver and better customer satisfaction, the City has developed a new Information Systems Master Plan. Planning for and implementing best management practices for IS comes with technical, managerial, and political concerns. Proposals come from all quarters - employees, vendors, elected officials, and citizens. Complicating the landscape is the fact that what works for one jurisdiction may not work for another, if for no other reason than the level of resources and support varies from government to government. Estimating cost is tricky, too. Implementation, training, and maintenance costs must be considered, which can result in reduced service levels.
During the July 2012 Strategic Planning meeting, the City Council directed staff to develop a new Information Systems Master Plan, and suggested that staff consider utilizing an outside resource that would provide a broad and fresh perspective to augment that of City staff. A Request for Proposal was issued to prospective consultants to develop a plan, which is presented for review and consideration this evening.
At the November 20, 2012 meeting, the City Council approved a contract with NexLevel Information Technology, Inc. (for an amount not to exceed $63,260) to perform the assessment of the City's existing technologies, and to provide the comprehensive Information Systems Master Plan (ISMP) for the coming 3-5 years. The attached reports are the results of that engagement.
DISCUSSION:
The City's Information Systems Master Plan serves as the strategic road map for development, implementation and utilization of technology in a coordinated effort Citywide. It serves as an important planning document that helps focus IS resources in a logical, orderly manner in concert with broader organizational objectives.
The ISMP was developed and prepared with the following goals:
1. Create a comprehensive assessment of existing technologies and IS staffing that will highlight current strengths and weaknesses.
2. Focus on maximizing the City's information systems investment.
3. Align IS planning activity with City and department objectives.
4. Develop an implementation plan that can be incorporated into the annual budget.
5. Recommend projects and priorities, as well as cost savings and efficiencies with respect to available partnerships and collaboration strategies.
6. Provide cost estimates.
7. Identify resources required to support IS and the implementation of the Master Plan.
In summary, the goal of the plan was the development of an IS Master Plan that will guide the organization over the next five years in planning, procuring, implementing and managing current and future investments and resources.
NexLevel Reports
Two reports are included as attachments to this staff report: the Information Systems Master Plan (ISMP), and the Information Systems Assessment (ISA).
The ISMP (Attachment 1) addresses the key technology issues facing the City. It describes the technology projects necessary to address the issues, as well as the IS Division's organizational changes and hardware lifecycle management approach that will provide for the successful technology operation for the next three to five years. The ISMP also includes a project timeline, which addresses project priorities by fiscal year budget cycles.
An important step in the creation of the ISMP is the IS Assessment (ISA) (Attachment #2). The assessment focuses on the effectiveness of the City's current technology service delivery in supporting the City's day-to-day operations. More specifically, the assessment focuses on how the City is leveraging technology to attain its mission and vision.
The ISA, which is the foundation of the overall ISMP, provides an objective review of the City's current technology environment. It provides recommendations pertinent to the existing technical environment (e.g. infrastructure, network, applications, technical standards and policies) and IS Division needs. The ISA provides two types of recommendations: 1) projects or initiatives that are included in the ISMP and the overall project prioritization process; and 2) tactical initiatives that can be implemented at a division or department level that are not included in the ISMP project listing (these include training, system redundancies, professional services, licensing, etc.).
Funding
Upon approval of the ISMP, a funding plan for projects will be developed and presented as part of the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget. The ISMP includes a current cost range by fiscal year as follows:
Fiscal Year & Project Cost Range
2013-2014: $985,000 - $1,650,000
2014-2015: $100,000 - $410,000
2015-2016: $0 - $25,000
2016-2017: $50,000 - $100,000
2017-2018: $525,000 - $800,000
It is important to note that these costs are in today's dollars and as technology evolves, the cost at time of project initiation, particularly in the out years, may vary significantly from these estimates. Further, as the ISMP is reviewed and updated annually, additional projects may be added that result in updated estimates.
While the actual funding plan will depend on the City Council's directives this evening, staff believes that sufficient funding will be available from a number of sources (CIP Fund balance, Information Systems Fund balance, etc.).
CONCLUSION:
The Information Systems Master Plan (and associated Information Systems Assessment) provides a clear view of the City's current state of technology as well as a roadmap to the City's future needs. It includes estimated project costs of $1.76 million to $2.99 million over the next five years.
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and approve the plan, and direct staff to prepare a funding plan for consideration during the fiscal year 2013-2014 budget deliberations.
Attachment:
1. Information Systems Master Plan - April 2013
2. Information Systems Assessment - March 2013