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REP 182-12

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ERP Needs Assessment Report

City of Columbia, MONovember 12, 2012

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Contents

1. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Overview and Background .......................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Project Goals and Objectives ...................................................................................................... 4 1.3. Project Scope .............................................................................................................................. 4 1.4. Project Guiding Principles ........................................................................................................... 5 1.5. Approach ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.6. Options Analysis and Costs ........................................................................................................ 7 1.7. Overall Opportunity ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.8. Marketplace Assessment .......................................................................................................... 11

2. ERP System Tactical Assessment ................................................................................................... 15 2.1. Process Area Assessment and Key Decision Points ................................................................ 15 2.2. Core Financials ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.3. Human Resources / Payroll / Time & Attendance .................................................................... 32 2.4. Community Development .......................................................................................................... 38 2.5. Infrastructure Management ....................................................................................................... 44 2.6. Customer Information Systems (CIS) ....................................................................................... 52 2.7. Document Management ............................................................................................................ 54 2.8. Technology ................................................................................................................................ 56 2.9. Other Areas ............................................................................................................................... 58

3. Recommended Next Steps .............................................................................................................. 63 3.1. Project Structure ....................................................................................................................... 63 3.2. Request for Proposal (RFP) Tactics ......................................................................................... 64 3.3. Phasing ..................................................................................................................................... 66 3.4. A Single RFP versus Multiple RFPs ......................................................................................... 67 3.5. Cost Containment Strategies for Implementation ..................................................................... 69 3.6. Staff Backfill .............................................................................................................................. 70 3.7. Data Cleansing / Conversion .................................................................................................... 71 3.8. Interface Development .............................................................................................................. 72 3.9. Report Development ................................................................................................................. 73 3.10. Change Management ............................................................................................................ 74 3.11. Communication Planning ...................................................................................................... 75 3.12. Process Re-Design ............................................................................................................... 76 3.13. ERP System Training ............................................................................................................ 77

Appendices .................................................................................................................. 78

Appendix A: Project Charter ................................................................................................................... 78 Appendix B: Application Inventory and Migration Table ......................................................................... 85 Appendix C: Application Interface Table ................................................................................................ 96 Appendix D: Custom vs. Packaged Software ...................................................................................... 101 Appendix E: Sample Approach for Selection of Major New Technology ............................................. 102 Appendix F: Sample Implementation Approach for Major New Technology ........................................ 103

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1. Executive Summary

1.1. Overview and Background

The City of Columbia is a rapidly growing and vibrant college town of over 113,993 residents located in the heart of central Missouri within Boone County. The City’s FY 2012 budget is currently $413.5 million and the city employs over 1300 permanent employees. Columbia is a full service city providing

administration, planning, code enforcement, public works, transit, water/electric/sewer utility, landfill, airport, parks and recreation, and public safety police and fire services.

A centralized Information Technology (IT) department, in concert with departmental contacts, provides

City support for information systems. The City currently operates the SunGard/HTE system on an IBM AS/400 iSeries that has been in place since 1997 providing the following functions:

Accounting Asset Management Utility Billing Land Management

Purchasing Work Orders Payroll Plan Review

Budgeting Inventory Management Human Resources Code Enforcement

Business License Fleet Management Planning & Engineering Permitting

In addition to SunGard HTE, additional applications have been written to provide functionality not

otherwise included in the base systems. These additional applications plus general expansion in the City business environment has resulted in an application environment that has migrated from a centralized SunGard/HTE environment to a business application environment that has become decentralized

resulting in a lack of integration between the major business applications currently in use.

As a result of the challenges with operating software in such a fragmented and non-integrated environment, the City has chosen to undertake a City-wide initiative to review the current portfolio of

application software to provide a future direction and business case for the City’s Business Systems environment. The name of the project being undertaken by the City is recognized as the Columbia Financial Enterprise Resource System (COFERS).

With assistance from Plante and Moran, the first step of the project was to review core City business processes and supporting business applications with the results compiled into this Needs Assessment Report that contains recommendations and key decision points relative to the possible replacement of the

existing systems. As a result, this report does not necessarily document all of the issues with the existing business application environment or the software needs required by the City in each of the functional areas. The software functionality required by the various business areas has been captured in the

detailed software specifications that have been drafted by Plante & Moran with reviews of those specifications anticipated to occur subsequent to acceptance of this report and a decision to move forward with a software replacement project.

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1.2. Project Goals and Objectives

Although the resulting software Solution to be selected by the City may not result in software from a single vendor, the intent is to implement an integrated Solution to best support City business processes.

The goals that the City intends to achieve with the COFERS project are as follows:

Identify challenges including training needs, processes and technology with current City business processes

Identify opportunities for process improvements without and with new technology

Identify system needs for a new business systems environment

Identify options for the City to consider in moving forward with a new business systems environment

Identify realistic budgetary costs associated with a new business systems environment

Develop a business case for moving forward with a new business systems environment

1.3. Project Scope

“In-Scope” is defined as areas that were studied as part of this Needs Assessment phase of the project

and does not necessarily mean that the City will replace a particular system. This project will impact the business processes that the City employs to accomplish most City functions, whether this is through a new software module or through an interface to a new system. Virtually all City employees will be

affected as current paper-based processes are moved to the new system. The following areas were analyzed:

Processes Included in Needs Assessment Phase

Accounts Payable Facilities Management Misc. Billing and Accounts

Receivable

Asset Management Fixed Assets Payroll

Bank Reconciliation Fleet & Equipment Management Permitting

Budgeting with

Performance Management

General and Technical

Requirements Planning and Engineering

Business License General Ledger Projects & Grant

Accounting

Cash Management Housing Management Purchasing

Cash Receipting Human Resources Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Contract Management Inspections & Code Enforcement Time & Attendance

Debt Management Inventory Management Utility Billing

Document Management Investment Management Work Orders

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Electronic Plan Review Master Address/Land Management

“Out-of-Scope” areas that have not been included as part of the needs assessment included the following:

Most law enforcement processes (CAD and Records Management) Geographic Information System (GIS); however the City’s vision is for the ERP, and specifically

the infrastructure management modules, to be GIS-centic. Court specific processes and systems Parks and Recreation processes and systems

However, interfaces to many of these systems were included as part of the study due to the importance of their function in supporting the related business processes covered within the scope of the project.

1.4. Project Guiding Principles

The City shall adhere to the following principles throughout the planning, design and implementation of the project:

We will embrace process improvement strategies and implementation of new and best business practices

Information is a City asset to the extent that it is not confidential or private.

Establish common processes & practices across the City.

Focus on process and transaction quality; build quality at the source.

Provide relevant, timely, and consistent management information.

Minimize resources allocated to transactional activities; focus more on information to sustain the business.

The Project Steering Committee shall be composed of City leadership staff that is committed to dedicating appropriate staff resources to ensure the success of the project.

The City shall embrace vendor system best practices, wherever possible.

Decisions related to project activities and system implementation shall be developed for the betterment of the entire City.

Department needs shall be given adequate consideration in the development of project policies and activities.

The Project Steering Committee commits to maintaining communication throughout the project

The project shall strive to decentralize operational responsibilities and approvals to the degree reasonable and possible.

The City’s critical IT architecture & standards shall be followed while other City standards may be open to modification.

Investments in technology shall improve capacity, efficiency, and reduce cost.

The City is committed to providing staff training to become proficient in their functions.

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1.5. Approach

The City intends that the project will assess its current Business Systems environment, consider the current state of the marketplace for enterprise application software suites and engage the appropriate

City stakeholders to develop an upgrade/replacement strategy. This project is a City-wide initiative and is sponsored at the highest level of City management.

The Needs Assessment phase used a very participative approach that involved City staff in all

departments interacting with the Plante Moran consultants to assess current City business processes and supporting software systems, identify the strengths and limitations in existing application systems and IT infrastructure, identify process improvements, realistic timelines and staffing impacts. Participation was

obtained through the following activities:

Establishment of a Project Steering Committee to assist in development of the project charter, work with City staff to identify needs and make decisions about the project, and to review and provide feedback on the Needs Assessment report.

Define a City Project Manager to ensure prompt and clear communication to City department staff, manage project activities, ensure project deliverables are reviewed by appropriate City staff, and provide progress updates to City management and other interested stakeholders.

Conducting interviews with all City departments including both process owners and process end-users to evaluate current systems and business processes.

Conducting interviews with City technical staff to assess the City’s current IT infrastructure.

Our findings and observations are derived from the various documents and stakeholder interviews conducted during this project. The following chart illustrates the approach that was taken in performing the Needs Assessment phase of the project:

• Define Project Organizati-onal Structure

• Develop Project Charter• Develop Project Plan• Establish Project

Collaboration Center

1. Initiation

• Review Documentation• Assess financial processes• Conduct Departmental

Interviews• Assess Technology

Environment

2. Systems Assessment • Compile Findings

• Identify Options• Develop Recommendations• Prepare Draft Report• Present Draft Findings

3. Draft Report

• Review Draft Needs Assessment

• Update Draft Report• Finalize and Present Report

4. Report Finalization

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1.6. Options Analysis and Costs

Consistent with project objectives and based on the assessment of the current functional and technology environment, the City has two primary options in regard to the strategic direction of a future business

systems environment:

Option Description

Option 1:

Perform an Upgrade to the current application environment which would entail a full implementation of

SunGard’s One solution system that is based on a non-HTE product.

Option 2:

Replace Current Systems through initiation of a Request for Proposal process for an Integrated ERP solution.

As Option 1 would require the implementation of a new Solution set from SunGard that is based on the Bi-Tech product, Plante Moran is recommending to proceed with Option 2, Replace Current Systems

which would consider SunGard and a variety of other ERP and third-party solutions to be evaluated.

The following exhibits summarize the estimated one-time and five year costs for replacement of the existing business systems environment with related assumptions noted. These exhibits do not represent

the costs that will be eliminated with the replacement project. Additionally, these costs will be further refined upon receipt of vendor proposal responses and further analysis of their proposals:

Low-End Tier 2 ERP solution:

o Assumes 36 month implementation for all products

o Represents “best-of-breed” solutions in some areas but more of a trend towards consolidation of functional areas into a single solution

o Assumes predominantly Tier 2 solutions in all areas

o Assumes that certain areas such as Electronic Plan Review (EPR), Treasury Management and other functions will not be acquired

o Maintenance percentage is at 22% of software license fees

o Assumed project contingency of 10%

o Full-time City project manager for three years

High-End Tier 2 ERP solution:

o Assumes 36 month implementation for all products

o Represents “best-of-breed” solutions in all areas (i.e., Financials and HR/Payroll, Time and Attendance, Community Development, Enterprise Asset Management, Document Management, Electronic Plan Review)

o All components identified in the RFP are acquired by the City

o Increase in service fees due to the higher level of integration required

o Increase in third-party implementation management services to ensure proper coordination between all vendors during system implementation

o Maintenance percentage is at 27% of software license fees

o Assumed project contingency of 10%

o Full-time City project manager for three years

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Low-End Project Estimate:

High-End Project Estimate:

Option 2:ERP Low End Replacement Costs Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total 5 Year

Software License Fees -$ Hardware -$ Implementation and Training Services -$ Additional 3rd Party Services $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 -$

Implementation Proj. Mgmt. Services -$ City Project Manager -$

Project Contingency $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 -$ Total One-Time Costs: -$ -$ -$ -$ -$ -$

Vendor Annual Maintenance and Support $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

On-Going System Support Cost: $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Total 5 Year Costs: -$ -$ -$ -$ -$ -$

One-Time Project Costs

On-Going System Support Costs (5 yrs):

Option 2:ERP High End Replacement Costs Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total 5 Year

Software License Fees -$ Hardware -$ Implementation and Training Services -$ Additional 3rd Party Services $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 -$

Implementation Proj. Mgmt. Services -$ Project Backfill -$

Project Contingency $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 -$ Total One-Time Costs: -$ -$ -$ -$ -$ -$

Vendor Annual Maintenance and Support $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

On-Going System Support Cost: $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Total 5 Year Costs: -$ -$ -$ -$ -$ -$

One-Time Project Costs

On-Going System Support Costs (5 yrs):

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1.7. Overall Opportunity

There is a strong awareness at the City of the concept of an “enterprise system” to replace the department systems that have been implemented over the last fifteen years. Staff understands that this

project represents an opportunity for change to streamline existing business practices and that the software solutions the City will be considering will contain government “best practices.”

There is also a strong desire for a new system that is not complex from a usability standpoint. While

there is general sentiment among City staff that the current systems are cumbersome and illogical from a user perspective, often pieced together with a network of secondary or “shadow” systems, the risk with a new system is that end-users may not fully use the new system and may continue to keep shadow

systems to support operations and store information outside of the main system. The opportunity is to select a system that has the following characteristics:

Is scalable

Represents industry best practices

Is user friendly

Is integrated

Provides additional functionality currently not available in existing primary systems

For purposes of the City’s RFP, the result of the Needs Assessment report and the options for selecting and implementing a new ERP solution are depicted in the target diagram on the following page:

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Module Scope Diagram

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1.8. Marketplace Assessment

The purpose of the Marketplace Assessment is to provide the City with an overview of the current municipal software vendor market. Information provided in this marketplace assessment was gathered

from prior project and consulting experience and external research.

Generally, software solutions evolved out of a desire to provide the functionality of two or more systems, such as Financials and Human Resources, into a single integrated software solution in which Financial

and Human Resources are typically characterized as “Core ERP”. Enterprise wide software solutions experienced their first major growth in private sector businesses in manufacturing and supply chain operations. As such, many service providers offer broad solutions designed specifically for the private

sector which are coincidentally characterized as Tier 1 or solutions normally deployed in large-scale organization.

Additionally, there are a set of providers that originated within the public sector and offer specific vertical

solutions designed for the public sector and the fund accounting based concepts which are pervasive. These solutions are typically characterized as Tier 2 or solutions normally deployed in small-medium sized organizations. Additionally over time, there has been an increased focus from vendors towards

developing niche vertical solutions designed specific to the government sector in other areas besides Core ERP to include:

Community Development to include Permitting, Inspections, Code Enforcement, Planning and Engineering

Infrastructure Management to include Fleet Maintenance, Equipment Maintenance, Facilities Maintenance, Pavement Management and others that, to some degree, originated from solutions provided to the private sector

Public Safety systems to include Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Police Records Management and Fire Records Management

These solution sets are available from vendors providing Core ERP solutions as well as from niche providers that only develop, market and implement their solutions within these niche verticals.

Vendor Classification

An organization of the size of the City of Columbia will generally select and implement a Tier 2 solution. The most basic differentiations between Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers lie within the depth of functionality, breadth and complexity of the software. There also exists a third tier of software providers that are

implemented in very small to small organizations and will not be discussed in this report due to the lack of relevance with this project.

The HTE system that the City is currently using is classified as a Tier 2 solution. Users of Tier 2 solutions

often find that these solutions are more prescriptive employing governmental best practices within the application. As a result, they may offer less flexibility and configurability than Tier 1 system but are typically less cumbersome to implement within their organization, because of their native public sector

design and more prescriptive implementation approach. Tier 2 vendors tend to have their origin based in the government sector. Over time, Tier 2 vendors have been improving and updating their software products to offer a greater range of modules and functionality. Unlike Tier 1 solution providers, nearly all

Tier 2 solution providers also implement their own software and do not rely on third party implementers.

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Tier 1.5’s

The software marketplace has seen the emergence of solutions being touted as Tier 1.5’s, or “one and a

half.” These vendors position themselves between the two tiers and often offer enhanced functionality in areas such as HR and Payroll offering modules that are able to scale up to a larger client’s complexity and transaction volume but at a lower cost and time to implement as compared to a Tier 1 provider.

Hosting Options

Another area of consideration is the concept of City-hosted versus Vendor-hosted solutions. A significant majority of the vendor service offerings provide a fully hosted solution in which the client’s software is

hosted off-site versus on-site. Within the hosting environment there are also a broad range of solutions along the spectrum that consider full City-hosted versus full Vendor-hosted options.

Vendor Consolidation

Over the last several years, consolidation among public sector software vendors has occurred resulting in a smaller number of vendors providing customized services to the Public Sector. Organization such as Oracle, SunGard Public Sector, Harris and Tyler Technologies have acquired competing software

offerings over time and, to varying extents, marketed, licensed, implemented and supported each of them. As such, the remaining vendors have a larger installed base per vendor.

Vendor Characteristics

The following table identifies some of the differences between a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 software solution on issues such as support requirements, cost of implementation services, cost for major version upgrades, software support channel and other factors:

Characteristic Tier 1 Vendors Tier 2 Vendors

1. Sample Representative Vendors:

SAP Oracle (PeopleSoft and

Oracle e-Business Suite) CGI Lawson – (1.5) Oracle (JDE 1.5) Others

Harris (e.g. GEMS, Innoprise)

SunGard Public Sector (e.g. ONE Solution)

Tyler Technologies (e.g., MUNIS and Eden)

New World Systems Springbrook Others

2. Design Considerations

Developed product for private sector and later adapted for public sector

Many modules specific to public sector

Larger organizations with greater R&D budgets, offer more robust technology

Robust development tools Scalable to leverage most

robust development and database environments

Primarily designed for public sector

More prescriptive functionality and less conducive to customization without altering source code

Often leverage common municipal technology standards (e.g. MS SQL database)

Environments leverage 3rd party tools (database,

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report writer, etc.)

3. Ongoing Technology Support Resource Requirements

Most require multiple technology FTE to support

Requires fewer technology FTE to support

4. Software Functionality

Core modules have robust functionality

May lack public sector specific features (e.g. encumbrance rollover, GASB 34 reporting, etc.)

License costs per user typically more expensive than Tier 2

Incrementally less robust functionality for core components

HR/Payroll solutions are frequently less robust as compared to Tier 1 offerings

Many vendors offer additional public sector modules, such as fleet management, request for service, etc.

License costs per user typically less expensive than Tier 1

5. Implementation Services for New Installation

Requirement for multiple full time staff to implement

Requires significantly greater implementation vendor resources than Tier 2 to implement including key staff that are full-time to the project

Software implementers are typically channel partners

Implementation services cost ratio comparison to license fees often many times software cost (frequently 3:1 or higher)

Vendor “Homework” approach has organization responsible for many implementation tasks

Frequently implemented with organization resources not dedicated to the project

Rarely requires full-time vendor staff to implement

Software vendors also implement their own solutions

Implementation services ratio typically closer to 1:1. 2:1 would be more robust services approach

6. Staff required for Implementation

Significantly more than Tier 2 solutions

Less than a Tier 1 solution

7. Ongoing support staff required

More than a Tier 2 solution Less than a Tier 1 solution

8. Cost Model for Major Version Upgrades

Most major upgrades include significant license fee costs

Most major upgrades require significant levels of vendor services to assist

License fees for version upgrades often included with maintenance fees

Most major upgrades require moderate levels of vendor services

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9. Software Support Channel

Mixed, some direct, some though implementer / value added reseller channel

Primarily direct vendor support

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2. ERP System Tactical Assessment

2.1. Process Area Assessment and Key Decision Points

One of the primary reasons for selecting and implementing a new ERP system is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which business processes are executed at the City of Columbia. This includes the ability to more easily access and report on information in order to make informed decisions. A majority of

the Needs Assessment phase of the project focused on the review of existing business operations and the systems that support these operations. Through a series of interview sessions with all City departments, a large number of issues and opportunities with existing processes and supporting systems

were identified. Each opportunity was identified with a resulting decision as to a future course of action by the City. All of the decisions will impact one or more of the following:

People

Policy

Process

Technology

Each of the issues and opportunities defined in the following sections has a decision timeframe associated with it as follows:

Selection: Prior to final vendor selection

Implementation: During implementation of the selected solution

The issues and opportunities within each of the sections should not be viewed as a comprehensive list of

ALL issues that were defined during the needs assessment phase of the project as the current environment has a significant number of issues related to functional challenges, integration challenges and process challenges inherent within the existing systems infrastructure. Likewise, the decisions

highlighted below should not be viewed as a comprehensive list of ALL decisions that will need to be decided during the course of the project as there will be a large number of specific process-related decisions within each functional area that will be reviewed and assessed during the implementation

phase of the project. Rather, the issues, opportunities and decisions highlighted below are those that were noted during the interview sessions as one of a significant nature that will likely require discussion among the City management team. Additionally, certain decisions will need to be made prior to the

implementation phase of the project such that a proper Statement of Work (SOW) with the selected vendor can be established.

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2.2. Core Financials

The issues and opportunities have been organized by module within their line of business. The decisions that were outlined in the previous section are also listed with the associated issue and opportunity.

AP/Purchasing/Contract Management

Issue Opportunity Decision Timing

1. The City Purchasing staff is not always made

aware when a RFP is grant funded and has to be in compliance with grant requirements.

Identifying grant-funded RFP’s can help

guarantee that grant funds are being spent appropriately

Determine what business rules should be

established to identify grant-funded RFP’s. Include these rules in workflows that are built in the new system.

Implementation

2. Not all staff who require bid information have access to Public Purchase (RFP database).

Providing access to Public Purchase or new eProcurement module to all employees who

need access will transparently provide information on what bids the City currently has posted as well as provide one central location

for posting City RFPs.

Identify users who need access to Public Purchase or the new eProcurement module

and provide access.

Implementation

3. The current system does not support a true

three-way matching process requiring a manual process to be used. The manual process offers opportunities for efficiency

improvement and improved controls.

Implement a true three-way matching process. Identify a system that is able to effectively

and efficiently support a three-way process.

Develop and implement appropriate procedures to support the three-way

matching process during system implementation.

Selection

Implementation

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4. The current system does not allow invoices to be entered before staff receives on the PO. Staff is often unable to indicate receipt of

goods until reviewing an invoice which poses a catch-22. There is currently not a consistent process for departments to receive and

process POs. While invoices are intended to be received by finance staff, they are often sent directly to department staff.

Identify a clear, consistent process for receiving and entering invoices that meets both finance and end-user department needs.

Determine clear business rules and City policies for receiving and processing invoices that allows flexibility for defined

exceptions, as necessary.

Implementation

5. The current Accounts Payable software system lacks functionality to ensure timely

and non-duplicate payments.

Develop appropriate checks and balances in the AP process to ensure only appropriate

payments are made.

Leverage enhanced system functionality when developing new procedural controls in

the AP process.

Implementation

6. There is no vendor self-service function for AP

resulting in additional phone calls and correspondence with vendors.

Vendor self-service functionality should reduce

the number of phone calls and increase payment processing efficiency.

Determine level of AP functionality to be

provided through vendor self-service.

Implementation

7. Generating 1099s is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive manual process because the current system generates 1099s for each

unique vendor rather than for each unique TIN. Additionally, there is limited functionality to prevent improperly coded non-taxable

payments requiring staff to analyze the entire year’s transactions to identify and correct issues prior to generating 1099s.

Tracking of 1099 information to a specific TIN and to a transaction level should significantly enhance the efficiently and quality of the 1099

process.

Determine appropriate processes and system configuration to improve the 1099 generation process.

Implementation

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8. The current system provides staff with an incomplete “queue” of pending payments limiting their ability to proactively manage the

payment process.

Identify a system that provides robust payment management and tracking functionality.

Develop internal processes to use increased payment management information to proactively plan for and

allocate resources to the payment process.

Implementation

9. Departments frequently purchase goods with

poorly defined terms regarding shipping. Invoices are often received and approved for these goods that don’t include freight costs

(preventing freight inclusion in inventory costs). On occasion, subsequent freight-only invoices are received and approved after-the-

fact mitigating the City’s ability to proactively manage freight costs and allocate accurate inventory costs.

Develop and reinforce clear procedures

regarding how freight should be defined in PO terms and configure a three-way matching workflow that ensures freight costs are tracked

appropriately when items are received into inventory.

Develop standard terms for addressing

freight on POs and determine how after-the-fact freight-only invoices should be processed.

Implementation

10. OptiView is the central repository for departments to store, search and view

contracts; however, there is not a consistent methodology for indexing contracts which limits accessibility.

Implement an integrated contract management function in a new ERP system with defined

standards.

Determine consistent policies, responsibilities, and standards for tracking

all City contracts.

Implementation

11. The current system provides limited functionality for managing contract

obligations, milestones, and deadlines.

Leverage all available tickler and milestone functions when implementing a new ERP.

Determine if contracts will be configured in new system by process-owner or process-

end user departments.

Implementation

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12. The current approval workflow for contracts is not consistently adhered to which can result in contracts being initiated without all proper

approvals.

Configure a formal contract approval workflow in the new ERP ensuring that all contracts are routed for approval consistently.

Determine all parties that must approve a contract and develop an effective and efficient workflow.

Implementation

13. Version control of contract text during the

approval process is inconsistent. This has resulted in multiple versions of a contract being simultaneously routed and approved

contracts not reflecting all comments.

An improved contract approval workflow will

allow for comments and edits and version control for contract text.

Configure contract approval workflow that

allows all approvers to review the final version of contract text.

Implementation

14. Comments on requisitions are not currently

transferred to POs requiring staff to maintain copies of requisitions with POs for reference (e.g. comment could note that shipping is

included).

Passing all requisition information, including

comments, to the PO.

Identify a system that passes all information

included in a requisition when converted to a PO.

Selection

15. The current system provides limited feedback

to the requestor when a requisition is processed. For example, if a buyer pulls a requisition from the queue, but doesn’t issue a

PO the requester can no longer view the status of the requisition.

Improved access to the status of an item in the

approval workflow.

Identify a system that provides continuous

feedback to requestors and allows the requestor and all workflow approvers to view status of the requisition at any time.

Selection

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16. Staff indicated that the commodity code search in the current system is cumbersome and that only one commodity code can be

assigned to each vendor.

Providing improved search functionality including fuzzy searches, wildcard and auto-suggest functionality and the ability to assign

multiple commodity codes to a vendor will enhance overall vendor management capabilities.

Identify a system with robust commodity code search abilities that allows multiple commodity codes to be assigned to each

vendor.

Selection

17. There is currently limited ability to budget for an estimated amount of a blanket PO that will

be expended.

The ability to control spending on blanket POs will provide for improved encumbering

capabilities.

Identify a system that provides an improved ability to budget for blanket POs.

Selection

18. City departments use “inverted” POs where

the unit cost equals $1 and the quantity equals the total cost. This method is typically used to manage term and supply contracts

that are drawn down over time (staff receive on the number of “units” that equals the amount of each invoice).

Use encumbering contracts within an

integrated contract management system and milestones to manage term and supply contracts.

Identify a system that supports

encumbering contracts and provides functionality to manage contract milestones.

Selection

19. The current system does not allow the requestor (or any approver) to update a

requisition.

The ability to allow requisitions to be edited at any point during the approval workflow (with

appropriate configuration) causing the workflow to restart would provide for improved flexibility in the requisition process.

Identify a system that allows requisitions to be edited (by authorized users) and restarts

the approval workflow.

Selection

20. It is cumbersome for staff to look-up current contract pricing (maintained in a shadow

system) for blanket POs that have dynamic pricing (e.g. bulk materials, fuel).

Having access to contracts that are linked to blanket POs would increase efficiency and

access to information through tighter integration.

Identify a system that allows contracts to be linked to blanket POs to update items with

dynamic costs.

Selection

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21. Staff centrally track non-performing vendors through the City’s intranet site.

Current systems generally provide improved integrated vendor performance management functionality.

Identify a system with robust integrated vendor performance management capability.

Selection

22. Public Purchase is used as a third-party eProcurement solution but is not interfaced to

the current system’s Purchasing module requiring vendor information to be rekeyed.

Integration of the eProcurement module will eliminate the need to rekey information and

providing enhanced information access to vendors.

Determine if the finalist vendor’s eProcurement module will be used and how

it might integrate with Public Purchase.

Selection

23. Staff manually enter the appropriate buyer when submitting a requisition based on the commodity. Because of this, staff often leave

the buyer unassigned if they are not sure or enter the incorrect buyer.

Several current systems allow requisitions to be automatically routed to the appropriate buyer based on the commodity.

Identify a system that allows requisitions to be routed through a workflow that is dependent upon the commodity and

determine whether that feature will be used as part of system implementation.

Selection / Implementation

24. The City is in the process of transitioning from departments entering FPOs to recognize procurement card purchases to using an

interface from Bank of America Works. While the interface includes many of the required fields to post a transaction (e.g. GMBA, work

order number, project number), it does not include the Fleet ID. This is currently preventing Fleet Operations from using the

BOA Works interface.

Interfacing to BOA Works with the Fleet ID will enhance the overall system integration capabilities for Fleet.

Determine if BOA Works can interface to the new system’s Fleet module.

Selection

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25. The current system provides limited functionality to track the date goods acquired through a blanket POs are actually received.

This prevents the City from proactively managing accrual postings for goods received through a blanket PO in a different period than

the invoice.

Current ERP systems provide increased functionality to manage blanket POs and automated accrual postings.

Identify a system that supports a received date for goods acquired through a blanket PO and automatically generates accrual

postings if the invoice is processed in a different period.

Selection

Budgeting/CIP


26. Milestones are key for the maintenance of the

CIP. Currently the correct people do not have access to view the status of the project. This makes it difficult to help with estimating

project expenditures to completion.

Providing access to users who need it can help

with communicating the project status accurately which in turn results in better estimates for project completion.

Identify who needs to have access to the

Budgeting/CIP module. With their input, also review workflow to determine if there is anything else that can be provided in order

to communicate project status clearly.

Implementation

27. The City Manager has expressed an interest

in moving to a biennial budget process.

If a change in the budget cycle is going to

occur, it would be best to implement while migrating to a new financial system.

Determine if the City will be moving to a

biennial process. If so, determine strategy with the selected vendor for implementing the change.

Selection

28. Some departments use workflow for budgeting. However, not all departments use

workflow because the current setup does not meet their department’s unique processes/needs.

Streamlining the budgeting process across the City to allow for the use of workflow can

increase efficiency.

Review existing budgeting processes that the City would like have workflow for.

Identify what is needed to have departments change to allow a workflow to be created and develop an implementation

plan.

Implementation

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Budgeting/CIP


29. At times departments charge expenditures to other department accounts without the other department’s prior approval or knowledge.

This is a control issue that can be corrected with the establishment of business rules/flags within a system.

Determine workflow approval process for expenditures being charged across departments.

Implementation

30. There are no system flags for salary and benefits budget checking prior to processing

batches for paychecks.

System flags and budget checks can help the City identify funding issues upfront.

Identify what types of budget flags the City would like established during the

implementation process.

Implementation

31. The system shows inactivated accounts in the

budgeting module.

Hiding or eliminating inactive accounts from

screens can reduce data entry errors.

Determine whether or not to include

inactivated account information as part of data conversion.

Implementation

32. Users who do not use the system on a regular basis have a slow and challenging start to the budget prep process.

Access to training or job aids upfront can result in a smoother and quicker budget prep process for infrequent users of HTE.

Determine what modules/processes should be topics for additional training as part of the new system implementation. Include

training time as part of annual budget prep process.

Implementation

33. The budgeting system does not tie project numbers (CDBG and HUD) to budget line items to track restrictions related to each type

of funding.

Tying budget line items to grant/project numbers can assist the City in monitoring that grant monies are being used appropriately.

Identify the need to tie grant/project numbers to a budget line item as part of requirements for a new system.

Selection

34. It is difficult and confusing to staff to budget

overtime since only the premium amounts of overtime hit the general ledger overtime account.

A robust payroll system that will capture all

employee overtime costs, including the costs for "regular" hours and the costs for the "overtime" premium, in the general ledger

system as needed for all management purposes will reduce the need for tracking this information in a shadow system.

Make sure to specify the needs for this data

in a new payroll and general ledger system.

Selection

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Budgeting/CIP


35. It is challenging to plan for the labor portion of capital projects and operating budget. The challenge is caused because projects can be

completed with city staff or by contractors. This is not a system limitation.

An integrated system linking payroll, position control, and budgeting data can result in more opportunities for analysis and access to real-

time, integrated data.

Determine whether payroll, CIP, and budgeting modules will be included in the new system. If so, identify what data will

need to be converted in order to fully use system integration between these modules.

Selection

36. The system does not allow budgeting employees time/salary to specific projects. Currently this information is tracked manually.

A robust budgeting and payroll system allowing time to be linked to projects or separate accounts will reduce the need to track this

information manually.

Determine the level of charge-to detail the City needs in a budget and payroll system. Make sure that data needed to use this

function is converted during implementation.

Implementation

Cash Receipting


37. When an account is listed as inactive, the system still allows payments to be posted to

the inactive account through cash receipts.

A system flagging inactive accounts can increase accuracy in posting receivables

Include a requirement where the system would flag payments being posted to an

inactive account during the cash receipting process.

Selection

38. The audit trail between cash receipts, GL, and remote systems is inadequate. If there is no supporting documentation, staff have to go

back to Treasury to obtain additional information. This issue applies to NSF checks, credit card transactions, wires, etc.

A robust treasury management system with drill down capabilities will provide the City with an audit tool for reconciliation.

Determine if the audit trail and cash controls are sufficient in the selected system.

Selection

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Cash Receipting


39. Some departments have their own Cash Receipting modules which do not electronically interface with HTE.

Departments enter cash receipting information into both systems which results in duplicate entry & possible entry error. This has caused

issues in the past between departments and treasury. For instance if a check bounces, background information is not in HTE,

Treasury has to then go back to the original department software.

A robust cash management system with detailed audit trails will eliminate the need for side systems used by other departments.

Determine which separate cash receipting modules are needed and where the integration to General Ledger is needed.

Implementation

40. Some departments take deposits directly to the bank. These departments use a spreadsheet to track cash receipts. Treasury

then has to manually reconcile with HTE reports for cash and coins.

A standardized process for departments who deposit cash directly into the bank can streamline the reconciliation process.

Develop and implement a standardized process for departments who deposit cash directly into the bank. Identify what data

can be entered directly into the system to streamline the reconciliation process.

Implementation

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Fixed Assets


41. The Water & Light Utility Funds require two different Chart of Accounts for tracking financial transactions. One for the City

department division format and another for FERC reporting. The current system is setup for reporting by FERC codes. The City then

has to manually convert data for financial statement reporting for reports department division formats

A system that would be able to accommodate both types of accounting and reporting would reduce the work needed for reporting and

tracking Water and Light Utility revenues and expenditures.

Determine if a system can handle both regular accounting and FERC accounting charts of accounts.

Selection

42. In the current fixed assets module, there is no recognition of different accounting periods.

When running depreciations, the system runs it for everything in the system as of that date. There is no period indicator in the system.

The system does not look at asset acquisition date.

A system that would be able to accommodate multiple accounting periods (including a lapse

period) will produce accurate depreciation amounts and reduce the amount of manual calculations/reconciliations needed.

Determine if the software has the functionality to lapse an accounting period

for calculating depreciation.

Selection

43. The City is not tracking non-capitalized assets such as laptops, radios, and keys through an integrated system.

Consider tracking additional assets that don’t meet the capitalization threshold that are frequently assigned to staff or tracked in the

ERP to leverage integration benefits.

Determine what types of non-capitalized assets should be tracked.

Implementation

44. Crystal Reporting and Excel have to be used

to create GASB 34 reports for multiple views of the capital asset data (i.e., classifications as governmental or business type assets, by

fund, by asset type, etc.).

A system with robust canned reports can

reduce the City’s need to generate Crystal Reports or do manual reports in Excel.

Identify which GASB 34 reports are needed

as standard reports in the system.

Implementation.

27 | P a g e

General Ledger


45. It is difficult to track and monitor who has system access to setup GL accounts. The City needs additional controls over this

process.

Controls will be improved by identifying specific individuals who can add new GL accounts while also enforcing a city-wide process for

requesting new accounts.

Decide who can have system access to setup accounts and what the process is for requesting a new account code be setup.

Implementation

46. Auditors have reported journal entries should

be approved prior to being posted. The current system does not have an approval process. Journal entries must be reviewed

and monitored after they are made and posted.

A review process will establish another control

step for managing journal entries.

Identify what steps should be done and

which individuals should be involved as part of a journal entry review process.

Implementation

47. As is, the current system is a cash basis system that has been modified to accommodate accrual entries. The City only

converts to accruals at year-end. Payroll uses cash accounting.

A system that can accommodate both cash and accrual accounting can eliminate the need for manual workarounds and provide staff with

quick access to real-time data.

Configure system to accommodate both pooled cash and accrual accounting.

Implementation

48. Staff cannot get an account balance (asset, liability, revenue, or expense) for a certain date. Currently, they have to get the balance

by manually totaling transactions for individual accounts.

Point-in-time reporting functionality can eliminate the need for manual calculations for individual GL accounts, thus reducing time and

increasing accuracy.

Identify what types of point in time reports are needed for the GL module.

Selection

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Investment/Cash Management/Debt


49. The City’s cashiering process is not centralized. Not all deposits and originating documents come to central cashiering.

A centralized process is needed to ensure that all cash received by the City is accounted for in one location.

Identify departments and individuals who have separate cash receipting processes outside of central cashiering. Policies

should be defined and departments should be held accountable for not using central cashiering.

Implementation

50. Searching for payments is cumbersome. The City would like the ability to search for

payments by various data fields such as check number, amount, cashier user id, date, etc.

Identify a system that provides robust payment management and tracking functionality.

Identify what types of data fields the City would like to be able to search on for

payments. Ensure that data for those fields are converted as part of data conversion.

Implementation

51. Due to system limitations such as lack of drill down capabilities, the City doesn’t reconcile

their cash back to HTE. Rather they reconcile back to their bank.

A robust treasury management system with drill down capabilities will provide the City with

a tool for reconciliation.

Determine processes to reconcile cash between the bank and the selected software

system.

Implementation

52. HTE has no investment management functionality. Their current system is Bloomberg. Finance does manual

manipulation of Bloomberg reports in order to generate their own reports.

Interfacing the Bloomberg system to the accounting system could alleviate the need for manually created reports.

Determine whether or not to interface the Bloomberg system with the new ERP system.

Selection

Miscellaneous Billing & AR


53. The system is unable to flag customers who

must pay by cash only.

Identifying cash only customers upfront can

reduce returned check costs for the City.

Determine the process for determining

when a customer will be coded as cash only customer.

Implementation

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Miscellaneous Billing & AR


54. With respect to internal service billings, the process is very cumbersome and results in erroneous accounting entries since the

General Ledger is touched multiple times. AR then has to make changes to transfer cash as well as make reverse entries out of the AR

system.

Stream lined processes in a new ERP system for internal service billing will result in better accuracy and efficiency.

Determine the best way to process internal service billings in a new ERP system.

Implementation

55. The City currently does not charge late fees

for receivables. The City can collect late fees on loans.

Collection of late fees can be a revenue

generator for the City.

The City should review options and

reasoning behind its decision to not charge late fees on miscellaneous receivables.

Implementation

56. Home Energy Loans are handled by AR. AR would like this to be handled by Utility Billing but the system does not allow for the tracking

of these loans through the Utility Billing module.

Having one point of contact for customers with Home Energy Loans improves the customer experience.

Identify whether AR, Utility Billing or Home Management will handle Home Energy Loan administration moving forward.

Selection

57. Customers are discouraged from making pre-payments until they receive a bill. Otherwise, the system applies the pre-paid amount to the

principal balance instead of a future payment.

A system that can accommodate pre-payments can assist with the timely collection of bills which results in more revenue for the City.

Establish prepayment processes and desired business rules that should be configured in the system.

Implementation

Bank Reconciliation


58. Bank Reconciliation is essentially a manual system. Currently the system only tracks

checks.

A new system will allow for additional bank reconciliation functionality.

Identify and redefine existing bank reconciliation processes to ensure that all

necessary data needed, can be captured in a new system.

Selection

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Bank Reconciliation


59. The audit trail between Cash Receipting, GL, and other remote systems are inadequate. If there is no supporting documentation, staff

have to go back to the Treasury Department to research transactions. This issue applies to NSF checks, credit card transactions,

wires, etc.

The ability to attach supporting documentation to transaction records will strengthen the city’s ability to research and provide a clear audit trail

for transactions.

Document existing research and reconciliation process to identify current bottlenecks. Identify what types of

supporting information the city would like to track electronically and include in specification requirements.

Selection

Project & Grant Accounting


60. After the City receives grants, monies are combined into the overall City budget. There

is no clear method to identify how much grant money is available.

Clear identification between grant monies and operating budget monies will improve accuracy

and efficiency of grant administration process.

Review and identify ways the City can separate grant and operating budget

monies.

Implementation

61. The City currently does not have a Grant Specialist position.

Establishing a Grant specialist/manager position in the City will create one point of contact for grant management. This in turn

can help with improving compliance with City processes and Grant requirements.

Determine the need to create a Grant specialist/Manager position who would serve as the main point of contact for all

City grants.

Selection

62. There have been instances when City department staff applied for grants that were accepted and Accounting was not notified,

and no appropriations were made for the related expenditures. Occasionally, grant receipts were deposited using expenditure

account numbers.

An ERP system can allow the City to properly manage these processes electronically using system workflow approvals.

Develop a process for grant application and processing. Use system workflows to ensure that all affected parties are notified

and that proper approvals are received.

Implementation

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63. Many grants don’t run on the City’s fiscal year, therefore reporting and budgeting is challenging due to them crossing fiscal years.

The ability to report on grants on a fiscal year basis or across multiple fiscal years can help reduce the amount of manual reconciling done

currently.

Determine what grant reports can be generated using date ranges (that may cross fiscal years) in the selected system.

Selection

64. Tracking grants is a manual process that

requires the use of additional resources such as excel spreadsheets.

Implement a system with automated grant and

project tracking features such as workflow to reduce the need for manual workarounds.

Identify what types of data the City needs to

track and convert into a grant and project accounting module.

Implementation

65. Several departments indicated that grant purchases are being manually tracked by including a hardcopy of the invoice in a filing

system.

Current ERPs often provide robust grant accounting systems that allows grant purchases to be centrally tracked through the

entire procurement process.

Determine standard method for grants to be configured and tracked.

Implementation

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2.3. Human Resources / Payroll / Time & Attendance

Human Resources


1. There are currently three different ID systems the City uses. It is hard to give employees access to what they need through the security

system as the ID and Security system do not interface well.

Many ERP systems have partnered with ID generation systems and may have a module/product that may work better with the

City’s current security system.

Determine if the City wants to keep or replace its current ID creation system.

Selection

2. Currently the City uses PeopleAdmin for Recruiting and Performance Management. HR is interested in purchasing additional

PeopleAdmin modules which may be redundant work with this system selection.

The City is happy with PeopleAdmin and may want to purchase additional modules. Replacing PeopleAdmin with another system

runs the risk of losing functionality that may already exist within PeopleAdmin.

Determine what to do with PeopleAdmin. Should the PeopleAdmin become the HR system for all HR data (Best of Breed

approach?) Should PeopleAdmin be replaced with the new ERP system?

Selection

3. HR and Payroll don’t feel there is a clear understanding of who handles what duties. City employees also get transferred between

the two.

With an integrated system, HR and Payroll have the opportunity to present itself as one face to the customer which in turn results in an

improved customer service experience.

Review existing HR and Payroll processes, identify where points of clarification are and assign these points to a department.

Consider cross-training opportunities between HR and Payroll with a new system.

Implementation

4. The FMLA process is currently decentralized and managed by departments. The City conducted an audit and the audit

recommendations concluded that FMLA should be handled by central HR.

Centralizing FMLA and having it managed by Central HR is a best practice and will increase the likelihood of compliance.

Determine strategy for centralizing the FMLA process ideally prior to implementation.

Selection

5. The City currently does not use employee or manager self-service resulting in paper-based forms and processes.

Employee and Manager self-service modules can significantly reduce the amount of paper and data entry currently being done by the City

while increasing accuracy since data is only entered into the system one time.

Determine which employee and manager self-service modules will be implemented for the City.

Implementation

33 | P a g e

Human Resources


6. Position attributes are currently tied to a person rather than a job making changes such as supervisory changes difficult to

maintain in the system.

Tying position attributes to a job rather than an employee can increase the accuracy of employee demographic, benefits, and pay data

by keeping attributes separated from an employee demographic record. This in turn makes mass updates or changes simple.

Determine if position attributes can be tied to a job rather than a person with a new system.

Implementation

7. The system does not interface with benefit vendors to enroll and change employee

benefits. Data is entered into HTE and is also entered onto the benefit provider’s website or mailed/faxed to the benefit provider resulting

in dual entry.

A system interface directly to the benefit carrier reduces the time needed to administer

benefits. Carriers also are able to receive information quicker and in an accurate manner.

Determine whether or not to establish benefit carrier feeds with regularly

scheduled transmittals to exchange data to/from benefit providers in lieu of sending paper reports and emails for each employee

benefit change.

Selection

8. The system cannot track employee physical

data and follow up information on physicals.

At a bare minimum a system can be used to

track follow up dates that may be related to a physical or drug test.

Determine what types of employee physical

data should be stored in the system.

Implementation

9. All volunteer applications are currently stored in an Access database separate from Job applications.

Using the same recruiting module for volunteers will reduce the need for additional systems.

Consider using PeopleAdmin recruitment module for volunteer recruitment.

Implementation

Payroll


10. The current pay period closes on Saturday at midnight which has caused issues with accruals and time entry not being accurate.

Moving a pay period to pay in arrears (pay one pay period behind) allows for accruals to be more real-time for the City and reduces the

need for last minute time adjustments.

Determine if the City wants to switch pay period ending dates to pay in arrears.

Implementation

34 | P a g e

Payroll


11. City staff are unable to view their accrual balances in real-time.

Use the employee self-service module to allow employees to electronically view their accrual balances on demand.

Determine what employee-self service functions the City would like to roll out.

Implementation

12. The system cannot handle multiple garnishments per employee. The system has

issues with determining garnishment order/priority, calculations of disposable income, and maximum amounts that can be

deducted.

It is important that rules on garnishments be monitored and enforced accurately in order to

help employees stay in compliance with their payments while providing them with adequate take home pay.

Include system requirements that automate the administration of garnishments

whenever possible. Special attention should be paid to accommodate multiple garnishments per employee, calculations of

disposable income, and maintenance of garnishment tables and calculations.

Selection

13. Overtime for sick leave buyback amounts are calculated by the City using a Crystal report on an annual basis.

A system that can calculate overtime for sick leave buyback will reduce the need for developing custom reports

Include sick leave buyback in system requirements.

Selection

14. Some City employees receive premium pay when they work beyond their standard

schedule. They may or may not receive additional pay based on the system’s FLSA overtime trigger. In order to correctly pay the

employee and not double pay, an offset is processed.

The premium pay calculation and offset can be confusing to employees. A system that can

automate premium pay business rules can increase payroll accuracy and reduce employee confusion. This payment to

employees was modified by city staff and was not provided by the current system. It is currently being processed accurately.

Implementing a new system should eliminate the confusion of this policy.

Include premium pay calculation and business rules and time tracking in system

requirements.

Selection

35 | P a g e

Payroll


15. Not all employees are able to access electronic check stubs online. Some staff have access to GovNow to view electronic

paystubs.

Access to pay stubs electronically from employees can increase efficiency for the Payroll division by reducing the number of

information requests they receive looking for old pay stubs.

Rolling out access to GovNow to the entire City

could also serve as a good change management exercise as staff would gain exposure to some employee self-service

features.

Determine if the City should roll out GovNow to the entire City or select and implement a new employee self-service

portal.

Selection

16. The City offers six types of meal allowances.

Depending on the type of allowance Accounts Payable and Payroll handle meal allowances.

Streamlining who handles meal allowances

can improve finance operations.

Review which allowances each division

handles and consider moving the meal allowance process to one group.

Selection

17. During payroll processing, there are a lot of phone calls made between HR and Payroll reconciling issues and clarifying what each

department will handle.

Cross-training on a new system can help Human Resources and Payroll have one face to the customer and also helps produce

accurate payrolls.

Include cross-training as part of the City’s implementation plan. Also consider including HR in some regular payroll

process activities (e.g. HR could assist with auditing cafeteria plan benefit deduction changes as part of Payroll’s audit process).

Selection/Implementation

18. The manner in which Current system security is configured does not allow HR and Payroll

the ability to access all of the data they feel they need.

A single system with access (both edit and read-only) can help HR and Payroll

troubleshoot quicker and be more proactive. This in turn, can also help HR and Payroll have one face to the employee.

Decide on who gets what type of access to HR and Payroll data

Implementation

36 | P a g e

Time & Attendance


19. Departments have been interpreting Chapter 19 differently which can result in employees being paid differently across City

departments.

Streamlining Chapter 19 can result in effective and more accurate timekeeping city-wide. Setup Chapter 19 in a fashion that is easily

understood and is not subject to interpretation.

Review standard procedures, rules and processes related to Chapter 19 to ensure they further the business objectives of

paying employees accurately and eliminate/modify those which do not add value.

Selection

20. Time is entered into multiple places including but not limited to HTE, Naviline, Accuprint,

and Rectrac. Additionally all departments compile employees time into Excel to send to Payroll to load each pay cycle.

Reducing the number of time entry systems the City maintains can reduce inefficiencies such

as dual entry.

Review all time entry systems being used by the City and determine which systems

will be kept or replaced with the new system. Consider moving as many employees to electronic time entry as

possible to reduce the need for spreadsheets to be sent to Payroll.

Selection / Implementation

21. The current system has some challenges in charging time out to projects such that the ability to charge overtime premium cannot be

selected. This is currently handled manually. The system DOES charge labor costs to different projects. This is done by entering the

project codes on the timesheet.

A system with charge-to capabilities will reduce the need for manual and dual data-entry which will improve payroll accuracy and efficiency.

Determine the level of charge-to detail the City needs in a time system. Ensure that the selected system provides the ability to

designate where overtime premium can be charged.

Selection

22. Time approval process is different for each

department.

A standardized timesheet approval workflow

City-wide can increase accuracy and timeliness of time submissions while also standardizing the timesheet approval process

City-wide.

Identify who needs to be part of the

timesheet approval process and include in workflow discussion with system implementer. Consider adding timesheet

approval process to Chapter 19 ordinance.

Implementation

23. Paper timesheets submitted by staff often

show the wrong codes to implementation of

Electronic timesheets can reduce the number

of time entry errors through the configuration of

Provide additional training on Chapter 19 for

HR Liaisons and Department Timekeepers.

Implementation

37 | P a g e

Time & Attendance


Chapter 19. It takes Payroll staff time to resolve and reconcile issues.

business rules within the system. Consider reviewing Chapter 19 ordinance and existing pay codes to determine if any can be consolidated in a new system.

24. The current system presents challenges in accommodating different FLSA categories the

City needs (e.g. Fire and Police). Manual calculations for pay and accruals are often done. There are a significant number of

custom reports and some software customization that has been performed to catch and resolve errors such that the FLSA

calculations occur correctly.

A system that can accurately accommodate different FLSA categories will improve the

accuracy of overtime payments and eliminate the need for manual calculations which in turn can save the City money and reduce the

number of employee grievances.

Include FLSA requirements as part of the selection process. As part of vendor

demonstrates, verify that the system has robust capabilities related to FLSA.

Selection

25. Some grants require volunteer hours to be

tracked. This is done manually through sign-in sheets.

A system that can track volunteer hours in one

centralized location can assist the City in generating accurate data and reporting.

Determine if volunteer hours should be

tracked in a separate system or be included in the new time and attendance module.

Implementation

38 | P a g e

2.4. Community Development

Planning & Engineering


1. Due to many departments involved with plan and site review, there tends to be a lack of communication, standardization and

coordination so many tasks are performed last minute or missed altogether (i.e. sewer water calculations).

With workflow notifications and transparent integration throughout a new ERP system, better communication and planning should be

accomplished as well as standardizing the process.

Determine new processes and procedures for all departments to follow.

Implementation

2. Many times there are verbal agreements/trades made with contractors

during the planning stages that many are not aware of.

Enter all verbal agreements in the Contracts Managements application & have this

integrated with the Planning and Engineering module

Determine how the communication of verbal agreements will be work flowed through the

system

Implementation

3. There are only two people that review some plans so there tends to be a bottleneck.

Cross train additional staff to become reviewers. With the workflow and notifications that are available in newer software, this

should help plan resources and tasks more efficiently.

Analyze if the bottleneck is still occurring in plan review once new software with workflows are implemented. If they are,

decide on cross training or hiring additional staff.

After Implementation

4. Plan reviews lack feedback during the process.

In the newer ERP systems, comments can be entered and viewed by all.

Determine if the comment/feedback features during plan review is adequate and transparent with the selected vendor.

Selection

5. Developers need access to the plan review process so they can view comments and

make changes electronically.

Online portals are available with newer ERP solutions.

Determine if a training/open house for developers to become acquainted with a

new online portal will be needed.

Implementation

39 | P a g e

Planning & Engineering


6. There is a concern about a “best of breed” solution not having the integration that is needed throughout all of the modules.

“Best of breed” solutions do have more functionality and with newer technology integration is much easier to accomplish than

in the past.

Determine which features are in the “best of breed” solution that lack in the ERP solution. Identify the integration points and

additional costs involved in a “best of breed” solution. Analyze which is the better solution for the City as a whole.

Selection

Inspection / Code Enforcement / Permitting


7. Many departments (besides community development) have inspections.

With the use of inspection type, multiple workflows can be created so that many departments can use the inspection module.

Determine if all departments will be able to use the inspection module.

Selection

8. The system does not provide automatic notifications of regular required (annual, every

3 years, etc.) inspections on properties.

New inspection software should have notifications when an inspection is due based

on the expiration of the permit.

Determine workflow notifications/alerts for all inspections that should be regularly

scheduled.

Implementation

9. Not all code enforcement cases have an

address and in the current system an address must be entered.

Newer technology should have additional

functionality so that an address is not a requirement.

Determine during the demos if cases can be

entered and not require an address.

Selection

10. Not all interested parties are always notified in a code violation case.

More than one contact information is usually allowed in most of the master files of ERP applications.

Ensure that all the interested parties (i.e. heirs, lien holders, guardian for under age heirs, etc.) can be entered into the code

enforcement module.

Selection

40 | P a g e

Inspection / Code Enforcement / Permitting


11. Inspectors have to come back to the office to obtain assignments.

Mobile devices are being integrated with most ERP solutions so that inspectors can enter violations in the field and inquire on new

inspections that have been scheduled / rescheduled.

Determine the type and complexity of mobile device integration for field inspectors.

Selection

12. Sewer Permits are stored in an access database

All permitting should be processed in one database and can be coded as a different type.

Determine if the Sewer Permit activity should be managed in the new ERP system.

Implementation

Business License


13. Customers are not able to apply for new licenses online.

The license application process should be available online.

Determine the application online workflows based on license type.

Implementation

14. It is difficult to determine which licenses can be renewed without an inspection and which ones need inspections and which ones cannot

be renewed (i.e. past violations) based on various license types and time lines.

An inspections and code enforcement module should be able to integrate with the business license module for tracking rules/workflow

based on each type of inspection or license.

Determine the workflow rules for each type of inspection.

Implementation

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Housing Management


15. There is a lack of coordination (of expenditure data) between HUD staff and financial staff due to using two separate systems that do not

integrate.

Replace One Roof and HTE's Housing Loans applications with an integrated ERP solution.

Determine if the ERP vendor’s solution can replace One Roof.

Selection

16. Record retainage: HUD mandates that

records be kept for five years beyond the date of project completion or affordability period which means that many files need to be

retained for 20 years.

With new technology, purging is not needed

like it was in the legacy systems.

Determine if only active One Roof data

should be converted to new ERP system, to a data warehouse, printed on a report or left on the legacy system for inquiries.

Implementation

Master Address


17. County addresses are needed for complaints and code enforcement. In the current system

this isn’t possible because there are duplicate street numbers and name in different cities. Master address synchronization is not need

just for internal city business functions. Some city obligations and support of department needs require use of consistent, accurate

address data in a county-wide scheme. These are already gis centric.

Most current software allows for duplicate street number & names as long as the City

name differs.

Determine if addresses outside of the City limits should be entered into the Master

Address module

Implementation

18. There is no central system where alerts on the

property exists and flows through all the modules (aggressive dog, violent owner, etc.) to ensure safety of City employees.

The Master Address module should have the

ability to set alerts and flow through the property based modules.

Determine which modules allow for alerts

from Master Address to flow through on the property.

Selection

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Master Address


19. Staff indicated that duplicate and non-addressed properties have remained a consistent issue for the City.

Current ERP systems provide functionality to prevent duplicate addresses.

Develop processes and workflows within the new system for address assignments that prevent duplicate addresses.

Implementation

20. The City has created addresses for non-properties to meet system requirements for other modules in the current system such as

utility poles.

ERP systems offer additional functionality to manage non-typical features that require an address in the current system.

Determine business rules for what properties should be assigned addresses (e.g. utility poles, trails, vacant land, parks)

and data cleansing process.

Implementation

21. There is not a consensus among City departments as to what source is the official

master address file.

Implementing a new system will provide an opportunity to evaluate and discuss what the

master address file should be in the future.

The City must determine whether the GIS or the ERP will be the primary master address

file in the future.

Implementation

22. The City does not have a workflow to manage the multiple tasks that must be completed

following an annexation.

Develop an annexation workflow to prevent required tasks from being missed.

Identify a system that allows an annexation workflow to be configured to manage the

annexation process and ensure all tasks are performed (e.g. addresses updated, zoning completed, business licenses processed,

infrastructure assets created).

Selection

23. Ordinances have conditions and these conditions can be tied to an address/parcel;

however, this data has not been entered into the system.

Attach the conditions of the ordinances to the parcel/address to make everyone aware who

accesses that parcel/address.

Determine if conditions based on ordinances can be entered on an

address/parcel and how they will be maintained.

Selection & Implementation

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM)


24. Many departments are maintaining separate spreadsheets with complaint/request information from citizens.

Have one centralized system where internal and external requests can be entered and viewed with workflow capabilities based on

type of request and citizens can access online.

Determine if the Request for Service module will meet the City’s need for a CRM system.

Selection

25. At times, multiple departments are working on

same issues due to lack of communication and coordination.

With transparency and workflow in the Request

for Service module, more efficient use of staff’s time and effort can be achieved.

Determine processes and workflows per

request/call type.

Implementation

26. A citizen cannot post a complaint/request on the website.

With a Request for Service module, an online application should be available to enter and view the status of any requests entered.

Determine who can enter a request (i.e. anonymous requester, login & password with email address required, etc.).

Implementation

27. Need a way to track records requests. All requests (internal & external) should be entered through the Request for Service

module so that performance measures can be tracked as well.

Determine if performance measures and statistics can be tracked in the ERP request

for service module.

Selection

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2.5. Infrastructure Management

Asset Management


1. Departments are currently using several different infrastructure management systems. Staff acknowledged benefits to using a single,

integrated system within the City; however, they also expressed concerns whether a single system could meet all departments’

needs.

Implement a Citywide comprehensive asset management solution and integrated work order system to meet department needs for

various levels of functionality and simplicity.

Determine whether a single Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution will meet the asset management needs of the various

departments or whether niched solutions will be required to meet specific departmental needs.

Selection

2. There is a need to promote greater cross-

department/division communication and planning with the City regarding asset management. This has resulted in multiple,

simultaneous street closures in close proximity, missed opportunities (e.g. replace aging underground assets during a street

replacement) and potential communication failures (e.g. street striping crew is manually notified after a street is repaved).

Improved Citywide communication and

collaboration through an integrated asset management system.

Determine if the benefits of a centralized

asset management system will outweigh functionality sacrifices if a single system cannot be identified that meets all

departmental needs.

Selection

3. The City is not able to proactively manage all asset lifecycles. For example, while road

marking vinyl has known lifecycle it is being replaced reactively based on inspections.

Managing asset lifecycles will allow the City to better plan for asset replacement costs and

labor resources.

Determine lifecycles for all City assets and related preventative maintenance

schedules.

Implementation

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Asset Management


4. The City is not able to track all useful asset attributes. For example, the reflectivity rating for traffic signs is not being tracked which

prevents the City’s ability to identify which signs would need to be replaced if the required minimum rating was increased.

Tracking all asset attributes ensures the City will fully realize benefits from a comprehensive asset inventory.

Determine all asset attributes required for each asset type and assess the degree to which asset management systems support

specific unique departmental needs.

Selection

5. While the City is tracking many assets, it is not currently tracking all assets. Several

asset types (particularly those that don’t require regular preventative maintenance) are not currently inventoried. For example,

detector loops are not currently tracked; however, an inventory to ensure inspections are performed on a defined basis and to

ensure a record of the asset is maintained during a resurfacing project.

Implementing a centralized asset management system provides an opportunity for all City

departments to comprehensively inventory all City assets.

Develop process to ensure all asset types and individual assets are inventoried.

Implementation

6. The City performs annual inspections for street conditions to plan for capital projects. While each street is assigned a value on a

rating scale, specific comments for repairs are not able to be linked to the asset record.

Robust asset management systems allow detailed condition information to be tracked for each asset.

Identify an asset management system that allows detailed condition comments and defect types to be tracked for each asset.

Selection

7. Staff is currently tracking time and expenses for many capital projects in the current system; however, this information is not being

tracked or related to each individual asset in the asset management system.

An integrated/interfaced asset management system will allow staff to track maintenance costs by asset.

Identify an asset management system that provides functionality to track all related maintenance costs by asset.

Selection

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Asset Management


8. While there are currently multiple asset management systems currently deployed throughout City departments, several

departments are not using any formal asset management system. Departments without a robust system are currently relying on various

templates, clipboards, and spreadsheets to track and manage preventive and reactive maintenance.

Improve asset management processes through the implementation of an enterprise asset management system. Additionally, while

developing a change management plan is always important, it will be critical for departments currently lacking an asset

management system to ensure complete project buy-in.

Develop a committee of staff who perform asset management functions to determine common and unique needs for on-going

asset management activities.

Implementation

Fleet & Equipment Management


9. The current fleet system does not provide access for process end-user departments to access to the service history/costs of vehicles

or status of maintenance in progress. This limits the ability to research vehicle/equipment reliability when making future purchases, plan

for the replacement of vehicles/equipment, and accurately plan for vehicle out-of-service time.

Many fleet systems provide greater access to information and proactive updates to the status of work orders.

Identify a fleet system that can provide greater access to information and proactive updates to the status of work orders.

Selection

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10. The City is experiencing several issues regarding scheduling and prioritizing work to be performed by the central garage. For

example, transit and the fire department both have a maximum number of any given type of vehicle that can be out-of-service at a given

time. The City is dependent upon the experience of central garage supervisors and close coordination between departments to

schedule and prioritize fleet maintenance.

System selection and implementation is a vehicle to evaluate and resolve current process issues.

Identify a system that provides improved work order scheduling and prioritization tools and determine fleet work order

scheduling and prioritization polices.

Selection & Implementation

11. Departments are currently billed actual costs

accrued by the central garage for vehicle maintenance; however, the limited details regarding the fees are often not provided for

several weeks after the work has been performed preventing their ability to track budget performance in real-time. The primary

cause of this is that actual costs for commercial parts (e.g. not stored in inventory) are not known until invoiced.

Provide departments greater access to detailed

fleet work order costs before being billed and potentially encumber or pre-encumber department funds based on estimated fleet

work order cost.

Determine if a new system can provide

functionality to encumber or pre-encumber funds for work orders based on fleet work order cost estimate.

Selection

12. Preventative maintenance schedules are configured in the current system; however,

specific maintenance tasks to be performed at each interval and detailed service history are not stored in the system. A hardcopy vehicle

datasheet is currently maintained to track vehicle service history.

Configure new fleet and equipment management system with detailed preventative

maintenance schedules that automatically generate a centralized service history for each vehicle.

Determine if any modifications to the current preventative schedules should be made.

Implementation

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13. While the current fleet system does provide functionality to track vehicle warranties, it does not currently track warranties for specific

replacement parts. Warranties are currently tracked in a hardcopy binder that is manually updated each time a part is replaced providing

no ability to notify staff when a failed part is under warranty.

Current fleet management systems provide greater functionality to track and manage warranties.

Identify a fleet management system that allows staff to track all vehicle and part warranties.

Selection

Facilities


14. The City currently does not have a robust

system to track space within each facility, which departments/divisions are using each area, and maintenance/repair costs for each

area. There is not a central inventory of all City-owned/managed facilities. Staff is currently tracking time through an Excel

shadow system.

An integrated facilities management module

would allow this City to better manage and track its facilities and support more accurate cost allocation and improved cost tracking

through an integrated work order system. Many integrated systems are also able to automatically post journal entries for

departmental chargebacks for maintenance.

Determine the level of detail to which facility

work orders will be tracked to support cost allocation.

Implementation

15. City-owned facilities are maintained through

one of three methods: Public Works maintained, department maintained, contractually maintained (by department).

There is a need to better track the responsible organization for each type of repair/maintenance by building.

Implement a Facilities Management system to

track the responsible organization for each facility.

Determine if there are opportunities to

further centralize/contract building maintenance to increase efficiency or generate greater cost savings through

economies of scale.

Implementation

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Facilities


16. The current system does not provide functionality to comprehensively track energy costs by facility and/or square foot which limits

the City’s ability to identify potential energy savings and to divide utility costs to each tenant within a facility.

Identify a system that allows energy costs to be tracked and split for multi-tenant facilities.

Determine the level of detail to which energy costs should be tracked for multiple-tenant facilities.

Implementation

17. Departments currently submit maintenance requests through email to an email group.

Many Facilities Management systems allow staff to submit service requests which can be

routed for approval, tracked, and converted to work orders.

Determine service request types and any approval workflows to be configured within

the new system.

Implementation

18. Some departments share facilities with external organizations and need the ability to track maintenance and repair responsibilities

based on the type of equipment and/or cost of repair (e.g. Parks and Recreation is responsible for pool and pumps, but school

district is responsible for HVAC equipment).

Track the owner/custodian for each asset within a shared facility to better delineate maintenance and repair responsibilities.

Determine how and when the estimated cost for facility repairs is calculated to assign the responsible organization for

repairs dependent upon cost.

Implementation

Inventory


19. Several departments are currently tracking inventory through shadow systems and hard-

copy clipboards.

Improve efficiency and access to information by managing inventory in an integrated ERP.

Inventory module.

Identify any additional shadow system inventories to be managed in the new ERP.

Implementation

50 | P a g e

Inventory


20. Due to limitations with the current system configuration and the Bank of America Works interface, procurement card purchases cannot

currently be received as inventory.

A new system will provide an opportunity to evaluate if improved functionality and interfaces can meet the City’s needs.

Identify a system that will allow procurement card purchases to be received into inventory.

Selection

21. Because of the current system configuration,

inventory is currently processed on cash accounting basis rather than accrual.

New ERP systems generally provide

functionality to support accrual accounting through most modules.

Identify a system that will provide greater

functionality to automatically account for inventory on an accrual basis.

Selection

22. Several departments acknowledged that their lack of proactive inventory management has caused several issues including not having

enough material on-hand to meet the current need and being required to drive to multiple warehouses to determine if specific inventory

items are available.

Proactive inventory management will ultimately increase efficiency and save the City costs.

Determine new business process and workflows to manage inventory in departments not using a current system.

Implementation

23. Colt Transload is currently using a best-of-

breed warehouse/storage/inventory management system, Roll & Hold, to manage specialized inventory management

requirements. While the best-of-breed application meets the majority of their functional requirements, staff noted that it

posed a significant on-going cost and lacked integration to the current ERP.

Colt Transload may realize higher benefits

using an integrated inventory management system if it can meet its functional requirements.

Determine if a new ERP will meet the

functional requirements for Colt Transload allowing the current best-of-breed inventory system to be replaced.

Selection

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Inventory


24. When evaluating a new ERP system, there are opportunities to use a centralized ERP system while “best-of-breed” asset

management solutions also have embedded inventory capabilities as well.

The City will have the ability to use one or more inventory systems as part of their new inventory environment depending on the needs

of the departments involved and the level of integration desired.

Determine how inventory management processes will be supported either with a centralized inventory system or embedded

inventory capabilities inherent within asset management solutions.

Selection

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2.6. Customer Information Systems (CIS)

Utility Billing


1. There are many unique requirements when it comes to utility services and billing due to the size and complexity of the City’s operations.

Reach out to both the ERP vendors and best of breed vendors to solicit proposal responses.

Determine if a Best of Breed vendor (with less integration but satisfies more requirements) or an ERP vendor (with better

integration but less functionality) would be best for the City’s utility billing solution.

Selection

2. Solid Waste is billing for commercial construction dumpster accounts in WasteWORKS which the system was not

designed to perform.

Move the billing of all dumpster accounts to the Utility Billing or Miscellaneous Billing & AR system so that it is integrated with GL.

Determine if the City can bill for the dumpster accounts in the Utility Billing or Miscellaneous Billing & AR module.

Selection

3. Donor information is kept in three different

systems.

Have one integrated system where the donor

and contribution information can be viewed.

Determine if the Utility Billing system can

replace the three other systems where donor information currently resides.

Selection

4. Currently, the City cannot put a lien on a customer’s property when an energy efficient loan goes delinquent.

Manage the energy efficient loans in the new ERP Housing Management system and have integration to Utility Billing system when an

energy efficient loan goes delinquent for lien processing to be initiated on the customer’s account.

Determine if integration from the Housing Loan module to the Utility Billing module is cost effective.

Selection

5. Currently there are many modifications that have been done to the HTE system regarding

extraction and manipulation of data for producing letters.

With more robust ERP systems, modifications should not be needed for producing

customized letters.

Determine if the Utility Billing module has the functionality to pull the information for

the various letters without any customizations needed.

Selection

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Utility Billing


6. Currently there have been modifications done to create a customized bill and many would like additional changes made but were told

there isn’t any room on the bill for any additional information.

Many Utility Billing Systems allow for a customized bill as part of the implementation. Additionally, they provide flexibility through the

use of tools to modify the bill when future needs arise.

Determine a new bill format that will support all City utility services. Determine if someone at the City needs to be trained on

the use of the bill creation tool such that the City can maintain the bill format going forward.

Implementation

7. There seems to be much IT intervention that is needed in order to print or email bills.

IT should not have to get involved with manipulating the billing file before sending it to

a third party for printing or emailing it directly to the customer.

Determine the process and workflow for bill generation and printing within the Finance

department.

Implementation

8. Both Finance and Solid waste are keeping spreadsheets on the voucher trash and recycling bag process and currently have a

third party contractor handling this as well.

The new Utility Billing system could help manage the trash and recycling bag voucher process better than the current system possibly

reducing the need of a third party contractor.

Determine if the trash and recycling bag process could be handled within the Utility Billing system and if a third party contractor

is still needed.

Implementation

9. Certain trash and solid waste billing is done in

Accounts Receivable while certain billing is done in Utility Billing.

There is an opportunity to move all the trash

and solid waste billing to the Utility Billing system (including the contract with the university).

Determine if the WasteWORKS system is

still needed with an interface to the new ERP system, or if the scales could interface directly to the new Utility Billing system

(replacing WasteWORKS).

Selection

10. With the current process for meter installation,

some customer’s meters were installed and operating but not billed.

With an integrated ERP system, the workflow

across modules should prevent any meters to be turned on and not billed.

Determine the workflow needed so that all

parties involved are notified and/or have to approve when a new meter is installed.

Implementation

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2.7. Document Management

Document Management


1. The current document management system is not tightly integrated with all modules within the current ERP system.

Currently available document management systems can be integrated to an ERP system depending on the needs of the client.

Determine if the City will continue to use OptiView or if a new document management system will be implemented.

Identify interfaces that must be maintained and/or developed.

Selection

2. The Missouri Sunshine law requires that closed records are maintained separately from open records.

Currently available document management systems provide for greater integration to the core ERP modules such that separation of

records can be maintained.

Identify a system that meets Missouri Sunshine Law requirements for storing open records separate from closed records.

Selection

3. The City is manually removing files based on

records retention requirements because the document management system is not calculating destruction dates properly.

Currently available document management

systems provide improved retention management functionality.

Determine if a new document management

system can support the City’s records retention requirements.

Selection

4. It is often not clear what menus in the current

system have links to the records in the current document management system. Additional issues are imposed because departments are

not using consistent indexing methods.

Establishment of clear standards for indexing

documents will enhance the consistency of links to records through all menus of the ERP.

Determine enterprise-wide document

indexing standards and identify all modules/menus in the new system where records in the document management

system should be linked.

Implementation

55 | P a g e

Document Management


5. Several departments indicated the desire for a single enterprise content management system allowing documents to be shared and

workflows to be configured across departmental boundaries. Particular opportunities for increased efficiency and

collaboration were noted in the justice departments.

Implement a single document management system to be used by all City departments.

Determine if a single document management system can meet all of the City’s functional requirements and be used

by all City departments.

Selection

6. The City is currently using a meeting agenda management solution, Granicus; however, it is not interfaced with the current ERP. Staff is

manually rekeying a significant amount of information that could potentially be interfaced.

Improve agenda creation process through an interface between the City’s agenda management solution and ERP.

Identify specific opportunities for the new ERP to interface with Granicus to support agenda creation during SOW discussion

(e.g. contract management, document management, etc.).

Selection

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2.8. Technology

Infrastructure


1. Active Directory is not used as a primary means for authentication and therefore is not available for the application’s authentication.

Additionally, some vendor application’s security models could be affected if it is not implemented.

There are plans to have Active Directory in place and operational by the time the new ERP system is implemented.

Monitor the IT project plan and make sure that AD is complete in time for Software installation.

Implementation

2. IT reports that there is only 56 terabytes available on the current SAN. If more servers

are required to be brought in for the chosen solution, there may be an issue of available disk space.

Continue to monitor Disk availability and determine the best course of action after the

exact specification is developed.

Monitor what the needs are going to be once a solution is chosen and make

decisions based on that information.

Selection

3. Windows servers account for more than 40% of our production environment. We currently

have 50 Windows servers in production. We do have a fairly decent skill set, but would not turn down training. Novell Netware will be out

of service by July 31, 2013. We also run IBM AIX and IBM system. Given that a solution more than likely will include Windows Server,

it is important that the City develop a deep competency in Windows for the greatest chance of success.

There is an opportunity for City staff to deepen their skillsets into the Windows or selected

Vendor technical environment.

Once the Solution is selected, determine what technical gaps exist based on current

IT staff skillsets and ensure that training is provided for these staff to fill these gaps.

Implementation

57 | P a g e

Infrastructure


4. There are only two primary RPG software engineers. There are two others that do have minimal RPG responsibilities. Since the

solution that will be chosen will not be customized, plans will need to be made to transition the support staff to other roles.

There is an opportunity to re-tool existing employees that know the organization into a new role in supporting the selected solution.

Identify what programming skills with be needed and who will be providing application support in the new system.

Training will need to be obtained to transition these staff into their new roles.

Implementation

5. The City does not yet have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place. The

functionality that is being put into production relies on many facets of the infrastructure to function properly. In the absence of pieces of

the infrastructure, core parts of the application would likely be affected.

Take the opportunity to develop a DR plan that is all encompassing so that the City has

adequate protections in place for all of its critical systems, not just the ERP system.

Decide whether a disaster recovery plan is essential in the environment. The time to

recover from a loss of the large piece of infrastructure needs to be determined and compared to the tolerance level for an

outage that the business has. If there is a disparity in those times, then a plan that shortens the window needs to be

developed.

Implementation

6. A number of varying technologies exist within

the City that make for a complex IT environment. This results in IT staff requiring an understanding and working knowledge of

each technology. Additionally, while this is not an absolute issue, the complexity can create challenges in identifying the root cause

of technical issues that may occur.

The implementation of a new ERP solution

may present opportunities to simplify the configuration of the current technical environment.

Consider factoring in the technical

environment of the vendor’s solution as part of the evaluation process.

Selection

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2.9. Other Areas

Training


1. In the last ERP software solution, all agree that training was lacking.

Through the selection, implementation and on-going management of a new ERP solution there will be a number of training opportunities

for process owner and process end-user staff.

Decide which type of training (train the trainer or end user training) will be most effective and economical.

Ensure that on-going training resources are included as part of the post go-live support model.

Selection

2. Staff currently is not aware how their system configuration adjustments affect other users

resulting in changes that negatively affect other departments.

Implementation of an effective support structure with knowledgeable staff will allow for

understanding of their specific processes and also have a high-level awareness of how other departments are using the system. A

centralized change control process should also be instituted to review and approve configuration changes.

Determine what system modifications are subject to a change control process and

develop a clear approval process.

Ensure that an on-going system support structure considers roles around

configuration changes.

Implementation

3. Many times users find that a feature exists in the current system but no one knows how to

use it and no one has the time to learn.

Implementation of an appropriate support model and involvement in vendor user groups

will allow staff to maintain knowledge of current and newly implemented system features.

Determine how much budget for training after go live should be allocated.

Determine whether an independent assessment should be performed after some period of time after post go-live to

assess system usage.

Selection

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Data Conversion


4. Several departments have identified multiple sources for data conversion per module.

The needs assessment report should identify most of the data sources.

Determine all data sources that need to be considered as possible candidates for data conversion.

Implementation

5. Several departments have expressed a need to convert many years of data.

Historical data should be retained. Where the data needs to reside is the question. Only

convert data to the new system in order to maintain efficiency.

Determine per application if data should be converted to the new system, converted to

a data warehouse, printed out to a report or left in the legacy system.

Selection

6. There are concerns with the quality of data in the current system and the need to convert poor quality data.

Data will need to be cleansed before converting to the new system.

Work with departments to proactively identify what data needs to be cleansed and initiate a data cleansing plan prior to

implementation.

Selection

Software Customizations


7. The City of Columbia has made many customizations to the current HTE software to

modify the system to meet needs of internal departments.

Through the purchase of a new ERP system, the City should be able to use increased

system functionality without the additional need for numerous customizations.

.

The City should consider whether to allow for any customizations to a new ERP

system with a full understanding of the overall support and upgrade costs associated with customizations.

Selection

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Software Customizations


8. Columbia’s IT staff members maintain and update the customizations. System customization has affected the City’s ability to

use additional functionality that exists within the HTE software solution.

The City may be in a position to re-engineer selected business practices in order to align with the functionality that is present within the

selected ERP software solution.

The City may have to choose between maintaining current processes and implementing desired functionality in a new

system. City processes may need to be re-engineered or re-designed in order to use the desired functionality available within a

new ERP system.

Implementation

9. Customizing workflow through a third party

software (OptiView).

Software functionality such as electronic

workflow and employee self-service with the ERP modules is very flexible with options to deploy at a departmental-level.

The City needs to determine if the workflow

functionality within the ERP solution can replace the OptiView workflow.

Implementation

Staffing


10. Staff indicated that adequate resources were not allocated or directed toward backfill support of normal business operations when

the current system was implemented. Because of this, the current system was either not configured optimally or using all potential

functionality.

Provide assistance to both process-owing and end-user departments to implement a new system while supporting normal business

operations.

Determine the appropriate balance between available resources and required resources for implementation while maintaining normal

business operations.

Implementation

11. Staff indicated that end-user departments

were often not included in communications or represented during decision-making discussions during the implementation of the

current system.

Continue to promote a high-level of

stakeholder involvement and communication through the entire system selection and implementation process.

Develop a communication plan during

implementation and how to balance the appropriate level of stakeholder involvement.

Selection &

Implementation

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Staffing


12. Several departments are becoming more decentralized with multiple facilities throughout the City. Ensuring staff

communication and collaboration throughout the implementation process is critical.

There are multiple approaches towards facilitating and encouraging communication and collaboration during system

implementation.

Identify specific approaches to encourage intra and cross-departmental collaboration during implementation in the communication

plan.

Implementation

13. Several departments noted that a high percentage of staff with an incredible amount of institutional knowledge have recently retired

or will be retiring in the near future.

There is an opportunity to document staff knowledge before retirement and consider rehiring retired staff as backfill during

implementation.

Determine approaches to document institutional knowledge held by senior staff before departure and consider how retired

staff can be leveraged as backfill during implementation.

Implementation

14. Staff noted that there was limited testing and governance during the implementation of the current system.

Implementing a new system provides a fresh start to thoroughly test all system configurations before go-live and to establish a

clear governance structure to manage decisions.

Develop a formal testing and acceptance process and clear project/system governance structure.

Implementation

15. There are a number of decisions that will need to be made regarding the overall governance structure of the project during system

implementation and for on-going support.

Implementation of a new system will allow that is more integrated will provide the opportunity to rethink the existing system support model.

Initiate discussions around the governance structure for system implementation as well as on-going system support such that

decisions around training during the system implementation timeframe can be made based on the on-going support model.

Selection

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Other


16. Staff indicated that there is limited access to the HTE data.

In the newer ERP systems, a site license will provide access to all that should have access and security can be customized so that data

can be viewed and accessed without any editing ability so that staff can use the data to make critical decisions.

Determine the roles for security access. Implementation

17. There is limited ability in the current system to track the current status of approval workflows.

Additionally, there is no ability to track the duration a workflow item was in any given step in the workflow process.

Many current systems provide greater functionality to track workflows and workflow

metrics.

Identify a system that provides greater feedback through all workflows.

Selection

18. Several staff noted the current system offers limited flexibility for assigning access and

permissions to individual staff. Often there is not functionality to assign read-only access to staff.

Current ERP systems generally allow more robust security administration configurability.

Identify a system that provides flexible and robust security administration tools.

Selection

19. Staff indicated that the current system is not user-friendly and provides limited ability to

extract, manipulate and analyze data.

Current ERP systems provide graphical user interfaces and offer robust data analysis tools.

Identify a new ERP that provides greater functionality to report on, export and

analyze data managed within the system.

Selection

20. Several departments expressed concerns

regarding how cost allocation will be determined for on-going costs in the new system.

Develop a fair cost allocation plan for the new

system.

Determine how on-going costs for the new

system will be allocated to departments and share with departments while discussing licensing.

Selection

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3. Recommended Next Steps

3.1. Project Structure

Implementation of the new ERP system will require a well-coordinated and well-organized governance structure in which to operate and manage the project. For the ERP system being considered by the City, all staff will be impacted. Complex ERP implementations are most successful at organizations with structured governance set-

up for the project.

The process and technology changes will be significant and will impact all departments. There will also likely be policy changes that will need to be considered and implemented to receive the full benefits.

Strong project management is also critical for deployment, and becomes increasingly important with the ERP investment. As a result, it will be critical to form a project structure that incorporates the following:

Considers the needs of a variety of stakeholders

Provides the ability to make decisions in the most efficient and effective manner

Ensures that project communication is flowing to the right individuals at the right time including those that are part of the project team and those external to the project team

The project team structure is empowered by management to enforce policies

Recommended Strategies:

The following strategies should be employed relative to the establishment of a project governance structure

during the selection and implementation phases of the project:

1. Governance Structure Establishment: Establish a formal governance structure to coordinate the selection of the new ERP system, with the intent that structure can be leveraged and specific roles can be

re-defined for future design, implementation and maintenance phases of the ERP lifecycle. See the Sample System Selection Roles & Responsibilities section in the Appendix for further clarification.

2. Identification of City Staff Time Commitment: As part of the RFP process, request information from

vendors as to the optimal City staffing structure and time commitment required for a successful ERP implementation including on-going support and maintenance of the system.

3. Establishment of Time Commitment Expectations: Prior to launching the implementation phase of the

project, establish expectations with City staff as to the time commitment that will be required for a successful implementation.

4. Determine Sunsetting Policy: Establish policies to sunset legacy best of breed and “shadow” systems, in

conjunction with the ERP implementation so that they do not perpetuate an environment of dual information tracking.

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3.2. Request for Proposal (RFP) Tactics

As noted earlier, the Request for Proposal (RFP) will encompass a number of sections including a list of the scope of software modules to procure and a list of detailed software specifications supplemented by other

tables including interface requirements and migration paths for existing systems. The visual in section 1.7 Overall Opportunity of this document defines the organization of modules as they relate to the continued assessment for inclusion in various phases of the project:

Modules in Scope - Represents either a new module or an existing module that is being considered as part of this project

System Interfaces – Current City software where integration is needed

Outside Agency/3rd Party Interface – Interfaces desired with outside agencies


The following strategies should be considered by the City as it continues through the RFP and due diligence activities leading up to the selection of a future ERP solution:

1. Vendor Clarity in RFP: Ensure that software vendors are clear as to the strategy of the organization as it relates to the procurement of replacement software.

2. Open Procurement: The City should define both functional and technical requirements as part of the RFP process and allow to vendors propose their respective solutions. The City will then be able to evaluate the solutions based on the selection criteria and conclude on the most appropriate level of investment. The ERP Marketplace Assessment section further details the differences between the Tiers of vendors.

3. Identify Other Vendor Module Capabilities: Within the RFP, include additional questions pertaining to the capabilities of vendors in other areas not considered as part of the initial scope of the project (i.e., system interface required modules) but which may be available from the ERP vendors.

4. Balance a Strategic Vendor Decision with a Preliminary Investment: Include all ERP modules which the City may consider as part of an ERP procurement and structure the RFP to provide “a la carte” pricing. This will allow the City to evaluate the full scope of the vendor solution to aid in the strategic decision of the vendor / ERP platform; however, make a subsequent conclusion on phasing the investment. Please refer to the Phasing section below for additional details.

5. Progressive Elaboration: As the City learns more about the work of the project, City planning can progress, becoming more elaborate, over time. Using consultant templates and expert judgment can assist with leveraging lessons learned from other similar local public sector organizations; however, specific implementation planning requirements will be increasingly defined throughout the project phases.

6. Evaluate Financing Options: As part of the RFP process, the City may wish to consider financing options that are available from the vendor to provide an improved payment stream to fund the cost of the project.

7. Consider City and Vendor Hosting Solution Offerings: The capabilities of municipal software vendors providing robust hosted solution offerings is becoming more appealing for a variety of reasons. The City should consider requesting both types of offerings from responding vendors to evaluate the potential of having one or more solution components be externally hosted.

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8. Software and Services Solutions: Ensure that information is gleaned from providers of ERP solutions in areas of both product and service as part of the RFP and due diligence activities. Specifically, this would include the following:

a. Review their product offerings as requested in the RFP b. Identify and contact relevant references of a comparable size to the City c. Develop vendor demonstration agendas that are geared towards identifying how the vendors

will achieve specific City outcomes d. Develop a preliminary Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over 5 years factoring in all internal and

external costs e. For multi-product solutions, assess the degree in which these various products have operated

with each other at other clients

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3.3. Phasing

The implementation of a municipal management solution presents a number of options as to when certain modules are deployed frequently based on when the various business cycles are executed within the City such

as:

Fiscal year-end Calendar year-end

CAFR development

Budget development

There are a variety of options to consider when implementing a new system including the appropriate phasing

of modules. For the City, the natural grouping of modules, although not necessarily in the order shown, is as follows:

Core ERP (to include Financials, Document Management and HR/Payroll)

Time and Attendance

Community Development

Infrastructure Management

Customer Information Systems (CIS) /Utility Billing



Although there is no perfect answer as to when certain modules should be deployed, the following best practices should be considered related to the implementation phasing set of activities:

1. Implement Complimentary Modules Together: There is a natural implementation phasing of like

modules as part of the deployment of a new ERP system. For example, core financial modules should be implemented together. Likewise, HR/Payroll modules, to the extent incorporated, should be implemented together as well. This is another example of factors to be considered when determining

an overall implementation approach.

2. Avoid “Big Bang Approach”: The deployment of a new ERP system is a very significant project requiring a large amount of staff and vendor time to implement as it will impact people, process, policy

and technology. Careful phasing of implemented modules should be performed versus a “big-bang” approach of implementing all software at the same time to minimize overall project risk. The City may wish to consider separating core financial modules, payroll and personnel, and procurement functions

into separate phases. Integrations to other City systems should follow as the ERP modules are implemented over time.

3. Evaluate Opportunities for “Quick-Win” Implementations: There are a number of opportunities to

obtain quick-win implementations of a new system that provide visible evidence of project success and minimize the risk of bringing all modules up simultaneously. Frequently, modules such as Debt Service Management and Investment Management are isolated to a limited number of individuals, are relatively

simple to deploy and do not have significant interaction with the core financial system. Opportunities for these quick-wins should be explored during the vendor selection phase of the project and more closely during system implementation. Certain “quick-wins” may need to be initially implemented in stand-

alone mode with or without temporary bridges in place and then later integrated when the core ERP is live.

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4. Implement Considering Natural Business Cycles: A natural tendency is to implement all the financial components of an ERP system such that go-live is on a fiscal year-end to have all transactions

for a year on one system. In general, there are many cases where this is not the ideal situation as the post go-live challenges with implementing a new system impede significant activities that are required for year-end close. HR/Payroll solutions tend to go-live on a quarterly basis and the City may wish to

consider going live at a calendar year break due to the processing of W-2 statements for employees. Regardless, natural City business cycles should be considered as part of the phasing of ERP modules.

3.4. A Single RFP versus Multiple RFPs

It is recommended that the City issue a single Request for Proposal (RFP), with the idea that vendors can respond to the one or more lines of business and complete the specifications for their respective modules as outlined below.

Core ERP

The vendor would need to include responses to the following module specifications:

General & Technical General Ledger

Account Payable Human Resources

Bank Reconciliation Inventory Management

Budgeting Investment Management

Cash Management Master Address / Land Mgmt.

Cash Receipting Miscellaneous Billing & AR

Contract Management Payroll

Debt Service Management Project and Grant Accounting

Document Management Purchasing

Fixed Assets

Time and Attendance


General & Technical Time & Attendance



General & Technical Master Address / Land Mgmt.

Business License Permitting

Electronic Plan Review Planning & Engineering

Inspection & Code Enforcement Customer Relationship Mgmt. (CRM)

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Infrastructure Management


General & Technical Inventory Management

Asset Management Customer Relationship Mgmt. (CRM)

Facilities Management Work Order

Fleet & Equipment Management Master Address / Land Mgmt.

Customer Information System (CIS)


General & Technical

Master Address / Land Mgmt. Utility Billing

Customer Relationship Management


General & Technical Customer Relationship Mgmt. (CRM)

Housing Management


General & Technical Housing Management

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3.5. Cost Containment Strategies for Implementation

The procurement and implementation of a comprehensive ERP solution can be a very expensive endeavor with opportunities for purchasing software and services that do not necessarily equate to immediate or long-term

value for the City. This is especially relevant in these difficult economic times in which City expenditures need to be directed appropriately to maximize the benefits to City staff and to the constituents served by the City. There are a number of strategies that the City should consider when selecting and implementing a software

solution to maximize the value of what is being acquired as follows:

Ensure that the purchased solution is an appropriate fit for the City versus over-buying on a solution that has additional functionality that will likely not be used by the City

Take advantage of “best practices” offered by the software vendors versus customizing the products to meet unique City needs

Defer or opt-out of procuring more advanced software functionality that adds incremental value to the base solution or whose overall costs is not worth the functionality provided

State the top-end budget for the software vendor in the RFP such that the onus is on them to construct a response that fits within the City budget

Minimize the amount of data conversion to be performed

Implement only critical interfaces during the initial go-live while deferring or opting out of the implementation of less critical interfaces

Opt out of certain services that add incremental value to the overall success of the project or alternatively perform those services internally if the skillsets exist (e.g., change management)

Negotiate the start of maintenance payments as far in the future as possible

Negotiate vendor payments to be aligned with achievement of critical milestones

Negotiate hold-backs/retainages to be paid out once final acceptance of the entire solution is achieved

Look for price concessions from the vendors as part of contract negotiations

Implement a vendor-hosted solution and construct the payment stream such that it is evenly spread over a seven or ten year period

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3.6. Staff Backfill

The anxiety of staff who will be involved in the project is significantly high as they try to comprehend the amount of effort that will be required to implement the new solution and associated processes while continuing to

perform their existing work. Frequently, staff who are the most desirable to lead such a replacement project are also the ones who also have the most knowledge of the legacy environment and are viewed as key in maintaining the integrity of the existing environment.


Consider the following tactics with respect to performing staff backfill during the implementation phase of the project:

1. Factor Backfill Costs in Project Budget: The City should factor backfill costs into the overall project budget that is presented to City Council as part of the entire project budget.

2. Consider Recent Retirees to Provide Backfill: To the extent feasible, evaluate the opportunity of using recently retired staff to provide backfill support for the project or to provide assistance in critical areas deemed important for the project due to their institutional knowledge. This may include areas such as data conversion assistance, including data cleansing, where this institutional knowledge is relevant, or for addressing day to day operational responsibilities, while current City subject matter experts focus their attention on the ERP implementation effort.

3. Consider Workload Sharing: Based on normal business cycles, certain City staff may become especially busy addressing operational requirements. During these times, to the extent that other City staff can re-focus their efforts to assist them in their operational duties, it can mitigate the bottlenecks which can result and increase staff availability to participate on project work. Additionally this can help with staff cross-training, and collectively “upgrade” staff skills in each work area. To the extent that the City can proactively initiate such approaches in advance of the ERP project, it can provide benefits to allow subject matter experts to more easily transition to their project roles.

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3.7. Data Cleansing / Conversion

Legacy systems frequently have data stored in a variety of formats either electronically within the system or in hard-copy format that is deemed as critical, and has data retention requirements. Vendors will generally

provide two approaches towards the conversion of client data. In one method, vendors will provide a template format to the City and request that all data to be converted is provided in the requested format regardless of the number of data sources that currently house this information. In the second method, vendors will manage both

the extraction and conversion of information into the template format. In both cases, the data conversion process will be iterative in terms of extracting, converting, reporting and reviewing.

Likewise, cleansing of the data prior to the data conversion activity during implementation will generally make

this process occur more smoothly. Regardless of the methods taken, data conversion is considered a critical part of system implementation and one that can be a critical risk to the project if not managed correctly.


The following data cleansing/data conversion strategies should be considered to minimize the challenges that many organizations encounter as part of migrating data from the legacy to the new environment:

1. Scope Data Conversion Requirements Early: Define general data conversion requirements in the

RFP and work with the tentative finalist vendor during the last stages of the selection to finalize the scope of conversion within the Statement of Work (SOW) with the ERP vendor.

2. Minimize Data Conversion Volume: Avoid converting all historical information to the new

environment. Instead, consider the conversion of summary information as a first course of action unless detail is needed.

3. Assess Alternative Options to Converting: Consider alternative options of accessing historical

information other than electronically. This may include printing of reports to electronic files or the creation of a data mart.

4. Develop Required Cross-Walks: Develop a cross-walk between legacy and new system data as part

of the conversion process. For example, this may include development of an interface that allows users to enter in an old account that then displays the same account in the new structure. Likewise, an old vendor number could populate a field in the new system to act as a cross-reference.

5. Initiate Data Cleansing Activities Early: Begin data cleansing activities as early as possible. For example, the City may wish to start reviewing its existing vendor file and eliminating duplicates or vendors who no longer exist. During the implementation phase of the project, most ERP vendors will

provide specific instructions related to data cleansing activities.

6. Assess Alternative Conversion Destinations: As a separate internal project, consider the use of a data mart for housing of legacy data for historical reporting purposes. If this route is chosen, clear

responsibilities for separately acquiring and implementing the data warehouse will be required to consider both vendor and City staff involvement.

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3.8. Interface Development

Interfaces related to the deployment of a new financial system can exist in various forms as follows:

Standard imports or exports provided by the vendor’s solution with entities and systems outside of the City of Columbia (e.g., benefit providers, other governmental entities, etc.)

Interfaces between the vendor’s solution and applications that are not being considered for replacement as part of the project (e.g., Rectrac, ESRI, etc. )

Interfaces between the vendor’s solution and applications that are being considered for replacement as part of the project that may or may not be provided by the prime vendor (e.g., document management, utility billing, etc.)

Decisions as to who will develop and provide on-going support for system interfaces are another important factor to consider. Frequently, vendors will provide toolsets that assist in the development and management of system interfaces.


The following strategies should be considered relative to interface development activities:

1. Define Required Interfaces Early: Define needed interfaces between the new ERP and external

entities in the RFP. This would include existing as well as desired new interfaces that would be populated in the Application Interface Table of the RFP.

2. Consider External Systems in Interface Definition Development: Define needed interfaces

between the new ERP and other City systems not being replaced in the RFP. This would include existing as well as desired new interfaces that would be populated in the Application Interface Table of the RFP.

3. Mandate Prime Vendor Responsibility for Interface Development: Ensure that the prime vendor is responsible for the delivery of all system interfaces during implementation.

4. Shadow Staff to Facilitate Knowledge Transfer: City staff should shadow ERP vendor staff during

system implementation to develop an understanding of their conversion tools such that the City can maintain those interfaces designated for City support going forward.

5. Contract for Standard Interface Support: Consider allowing the software vendors to maintain

interfaces that exist between their product and entities outside of the City (e.g. benefit providers, IRS, etc.) and, as an option, other systems not being considered for replacement by the City.

6. Ensure Holistic Interface Strategy: Perform the necessary work to inventory the system interface

requirements, develop an System Interface Plan, design and develop the system interfaces, test and accept the interfaces and implement them in conjunction with the “out of the box” system implementation.

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3.9. Report Development

Although the selected vendor will provide a significant number of reports and queries through their base system, there will be a need for the City to have existing reports customized and to have additional reports developed

that are not available as part of the core set of reports. The skill sets required for report development include not only the report development tools but also an understanding of the database and/or views which the reporting tools access. Likewise, if the City pursues the use of a separate data mart /data warehouse in order

to perform more complex analysis, additional skill sets will be needed.

When software vendors demonstrate their solutions, the expectation of users being able to perform ad-hoc reporting themselves is heightened as the vendors will present the process as simply involving the point and

click of a few buttons to generate the desired results. In reality, the process of using the tool and developing an understanding of the database/view takes a period of time.


The following strategies are proposed to maximize the reporting outcomes from the project:

1. Establish Staff Expectations on Reporting Options: Reset staff expectations that traditional reporting should not necessarily be the first or most appropriate method towards obtaining the financial, procurement

or HR information that they seek. Instead, as part of the overall training approach, ensure that staff understand the self-service, inquiry and portal functions available in the system, and when to use them.

2. Ensure Training on Reporting Tools: Identify a joint team of process owners and technical support staff

to be trained on the ad-hoc reporting tools during the implementation. These staff will likely be generating custom-developed reports for some time after the go-live period.

3. Assess Reporting Options During Selection Process: Obtain a clear understanding during the selection

process as to the reporting options available with each vendor solution and, for each reporting option, who typically is using the tool.

4. Establish Process for Identifying and Developing Custom Reports: Work with the software vendor

during the implementation phase of the project to develop a select set of custom reports, with their assistance, to improve knowledge transfer as to both the product and database structure.

5. Establish Go-Live Reporting Expectations: Reset staff expectations that not all reports will be available

at the go-live transition and that all users will be able to generate ad-hoc reports.

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3.10. Change Management

Project success comes from having a very clear idea of how management would like to run the City and then using a new ERP system to facilitate the way the City has envisioned it. When software implementations do not

meet expectations it is often due to people issues, and not necessarily the technology. Research indicates a correlation between the success of a change initiative and how well the people side is managed. That is why applying a change management methodology is critical to the success of such an initiative. A rigorous change

management methodology is critical to supporting the successful launch of the new ERP. The purchase and implementation of a new ERP system and related technology is done to assist in meeting organizational objectives and improving performance. Organizational performance is also impacted by the people of an

organization and the processes used to complete work. Throughout the project, the goal is to balance these components, as illustrated:

People

Process

Technology

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3.11. Communication Planning

As part of the first steps of change management planning, the City should develop communications plans intended to guide project communications from inception through post-implementation. By its nature, the ERP

replacement project will affect many staff across the City. For this reason, a Communications and Change Management Team recommended the appointment of key “change agents” within each City Department to nurture 'buy in' and get Department staff committed to taking relevant actions. Such team members will be

involved in educating Department staff about the impacts and benefits of the project and be “inspiration agents” by helping Department staff find ways to discover their potential, overcome barriers, and celebrate successes. These staff should monitor "what is working", "what isn't working" and "what do we need to change" – and

provide regular feedback on progress to Department staff. Acknowledging the diverse City audiences that will be involved and impacted by this project, a Communication Plan should be developed to create awareness and make the project relevant by effectively communicating the impacts to both internal and external stakeholders.

Sample objectives for a Communication Plan may include:

Accurately distribute information in a timely manner concerning important project benchmarks and progress to employees.

Use various media to provide multiple sources from which information concerning the project can be accessible.

Ensure all information available is updated and accurate.

Reduce confusion among employees by providing a sole directive and source from which all project information originates.

Provide clear channels of communication within which City project staff can operate to lead to an expedited solution to issues that arise during the selection and implementation and after its completion.

Encourage feedback from employees across the City

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3.12. Process Re-Design

The City should be re-engineering business processes in conjunction with the implementation of the new ERP, as part of a successful change management approach. The needs assessment activities that were conducted

surfaced several opportunities for improvements in the management and execution of existing processes. Through the course of conducting process owner review sessions and stakeholder review sessions, process-specific as well as City-wide issues and opportunities surfaced.

During the implementation phase of the project, there will be significant levels of review conducted by the selected vendor to understand existing City processes and how their software can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these processes. However, it is generally considered the responsibility of the

client to develop the actual procedural documentation that defines exactly how these processes will operate with the selected system for use by process owning and process end-user staff.


The following strategies related to process redesign are recommended:

1. Educate Vendors on Process Considerations During Implementation: During the RFP development and due diligence activities associated with reviewing vendor responses, ensure that

process redesign decisions are provided to the vendors.

2. Recognize Change Management Challenges: Consider the significant change management aspects associated with the large amount of process redesign that will likely occur on the project.

3. Assess Process Redesign Support During Selection Process: As part of the due diligence phase, ask the finalist ERP vendors what process redesign activities they will conduct during the implementation phase of the project and the specific deliverables that will be produced.

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3.13. ERP System Training

The City should develop appropriate training plans in conjunction with the implementation of the new ERP. The City does not currently have any formalized training program for existing financial, procurement and human

resources systems. Current training methods are primarily limited to informal one-on-one training provided by City staff that support the individual systems or the key users of the systems.

The process of providing training on the new City system should occur in conjunction with the implementation of

the new ERP. Training should be both functional and technical. Functional training should be for both process owners and process end users as well as include technical training to City IT and departmental “power user” staff.


The following strategies should be employed relative to training on the new system and associated changed processes:

1. Communicate Training Expectations: During the RFP development and due diligence activities associated with reviewing vendor responses, ensure that any specific training expectations are articulated to the vendors. Consider the use of a “train the trainer” approach, whereby the City would save on vendor implementation expense, as well as encourage City process owners to become knowledgeable about the key aspects of the system.

2. Assess Level of Training to be Performed: As part of the due diligence phase with the finalist ERP vendors obtain a clear understanding as to the level of training activities they will conduct during the implementation phase of the project and the specific training materials.

3. Define a Training Team for Implementation: During the implementation of the new ERP, formulate a Training Team which will focus both on the implementation training requirements on the development of an ongoing internal training program for continued exploitation of the capabilities of the new system over time.

In future budget cycles, consider including an ongoing training budget specific to the ERP system, to assist in

maximizing the ongoing leveraging of the City’s investment.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Project Charter

City of Columbia, MO COFERS Needs Assessment - Project Charter

PROJECT NAME: City of Columbia COFERS Needs Assessment

VISION STATEMENT:

The project will identify the future business systems environment that will support City staff in the delivery of government services and activities, take advantage of best practices, and significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the City’s customer service and business processes.

PROJECT OVERVIEW:

The City will conduct a COFERS needs assessment that will provide a future direction and business case for the City’s business systems environment.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The City hopes to accomplish the following objectives with the successful completion of this project:

Identify challenges including training needs, processes and technology with current City business processes

Identify opportunities for process improvements without and with new technology

Identify system needs for a new business systems environment

Identify options for the City to consider in moving forward with a new business systems environment

Identify realistic budgetary costs associated with a new business systems environment

Develop a business case for moving forward with a new business systems environment

BUSINESS DRIVERS:

1. One current view of the data; a single source of the truth. Eliminate conflicting information, shadow systems (spreadsheets, multiple systems with the same basic functionality, etc.)

2. Significantly reduce process time through business process reengineering and best practices in the selected and implemented business system

3. Users & vendors can see where their transaction is in the process. Fewer phone calls for status updates.

4. Eliminate paper-based processes & forms

5. Quality is moved to the front of the transaction

PROJECT INFLUENCES:

Existing processes have been in existence for an extended period of time that are paper-based and are based on existing technology

Inertia/resistance to change

Budgetary challenges

Legal or regulatory constraints

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CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS:

Ensuring that all of the needs of the City are thoroughly defined, documented and understood by the vendors.

Business process reengineering takes place as appropriate in a timely manner

Consultant understanding of what the City is trying to accomplish

Obtaining buy-in from the departments on the process for defining their needs

Gaining ownership by the departments on the project

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS:

Staffing resources

Budgetary constraints

Legal restraints that impact City business operations

PROJECT SCOPE:

In-Scope: This project will impact the business processes that the City employs to accomplish most business functions performed including:

Accounts Payable

Bank Reconciliation

Budgeting

Business Licensing

CAFR Reporting

Cash Management

Cash Receipting / Point of Sale

Code Enforcement

Cost Allocation

Contract Management


Dashboard

Debt Management

Document Management

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

Financial Reporting

Fixed Assets

Fleet Management

GASB 34 Reporting

General Ledger

Housing Management

Human Resources

Inventory Management

Investment Management

Land Management / Master Address

Miscellaneous Billing and Accounts Receivable

Payroll

Performance Management

Permitting

Planning and Engineering

Plan Review


Purchasing

Reporting (Querying, Ad-hoc reporting)

Time & Attendance

Utility Billing

Work Orders

Interfaced systems and technologies including GIS and others

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Out-of-Scope: The following areas are deemed to be out of scope for this project for replacement although many of these areas will be interfaced to COFERS:

Most law enforcement processes (CAD and Records Management)

Geographic Information System (GIS)

Court specific processes and systems

Parks and Recreation processes and systems

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

The City shall adhere to the following principles throughout the planning, design and implementation of the project:

a. We will embrace process improvement strategies and implementation of new and best business practices

b. Information is a City asset to the extent that it is not confidential or private.

c. Establish common processes & practices across the City.

d. Focus on process and transaction quality; build quality at the source.

e. Provide relevant, timely, and consistent management information.

f. Minimize resources allocated to transactional activities; focus more on information to sustain the business.

g. The Project Steering Committee shall be composed of City leadership staff that is committed to dedicating appropriate staff resources to ensure the success of the project.

h. The City shall embrace vendor system best practices, wherever possible.

i. Decisions related to project activities and system implementation shall be developed for the betterment of the entire City.

j. Department needs shall be given adequate consideration in the development of project policies and activities.

k. The Project Steering Committee commits to maintaining communication throughout the project

l. The project shall strive to decentralize operational responsibilities and approvals to the degree reasonable and possible.

m. The City's critical IT architecture & standards shall be followed while other City standards may be open to modification.

n. Investments in technology shall improve capacity, efficiency, and reduce cost.

o. The City is committed to providing staff training to become proficient in their functions.

PROJECT MILESTONES AND DELIVERABLES:

COFERS Needs Assessment Report Completed: September 2012 COFERS Request for Proposal Developed: October 2012 COFERS Solution Selected: February 2013 COFERS Contract and SOW Negotiated: April 2013 COFERS Implementation Begins: TBD

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PROJECT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

Following are the roles that will be employed for the project. These roles are essential for the success of the project and are intended to define the project reporting structure and lines of authority for decision-making.

The management component of the project consists of the Executive Sponsors, the Project Steering Committee and Project Managers. The Project Managers report directly to the Project Steering Committee. Leadership is further broken down into Functional Team leads. Further description of the teams, membership and responsibilities are outlined below.

Project Role Individual(s) Responsibility

Executive Sponsor

Tony St. Romaine – Deputy City Manager

Maintain the project vision Act as the project champion Energize the project leadership and teams Be visibly committed to the project Provide a strategic perspective when defining the

needs for a future ERP and associated processes Remove project roadblocks Secure alignment across departments Coach the project leadership

Project Steering

Committee

Tony St. Romaine – Deputy City Mgr John Blattel – Finance Director Robert Simms – IT Director

Enterprise system projects require executive level support

from all organizational areas significantly impacted by a new system. The Project Steering Committee should provide incentives to City-wide staff to view the project as a

top priority. To the extent possible, the Project Steering Committee is comprised of senior-level managers who have the ability to make the decisions regarding changes

in organizational policy and procedures.

Steer the Project Managers Address issues presented by the Project Manager Clear roadblocks that jeopardize project success Create the conditions to make the Project Managers

successful in their role Review and decide on proposed changes to

organizational policies and procedures that will be impacted by the project

Review and provide feedback on the consultant’s report

Review and approve release of the ERP RFP documents

Review significant project recommendations (e.g., recommended vendor solution)

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Software Selection

Committee

John Blattel – Finance Director

Stephanie Browning – Health Director

Margrace Buckler – HR Director

Ken Burton – Police Chief

John Glascock – Pub Works Director

Mike Hood – Parks & Rec Director

Tad Johnsen – Water & Light Director

Bob Simms – IT Director

Tony St. Romaine – Deputy City Mgr

Timothy Teddy – Comm Dev Director

Chuck Witt – Fire Chief

Work with the City departments to ensure that all software functional needs have been identified and prioritized (musts, wants)

Develop proposed vendor selection criteria and weightings

Review and provide feedback on vendor proposals Participate in vendor proposal analysis meeting to

determine and recommend finalist vendors Participate in software vendor demonstrations and

integrator presentations Conduct reference checking and site visits, if

performed Solicit input from the Team Leads (if not a team lead)

regarding the vendors’ solutions Conduct scoring of finalist vendor solutions Recommend preferred vendor solution

City Project Manager

Ron Barrett – Comptroller It is critical that the project manager be at the center of all project communications and activities so that he is current

on the status of the project. All communications and questions about the project shall be directed to the project manager.

Ensure that prompt and clear communications to City department staff is conducted

Act as the focal point for collection of needed documentation for review by the consultant

Manage project milestones & activities Manage the project budget Communicate project status, issues and risks to the

appropriate stakeholders Document and track to resolution project issues and

decisions Escalate issues in a timely manner to the Project

Steering Committee or Executive Sponsor as appropriate

Oversee planning activities associated with project Ensure that project deliverables are reviewed by

appropriate City staff Provide progress updates to City management,

Project Steering Committee, City Council and other interested stakeholders

Manage the configuration of the SharePoint site Work with the team leads in communicating decisions

that need to be brought to the Project Steering Committee for review and resolution

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Project Administrator

Paula Barrett Schedule various meetings between the consultant and City staff and other necessary project-related meetings

Ensure availability of appropriate resources to support project meetings

Act as a liaison between the outside consultant and the City related to various project logistics

Take minutes at meetings, as needed Ensure project communications are distributed Tabulate vendor demonstration evaluation sheets

Subject Matter

Expert

ASKEME Team Members Provide information on current City processes, systems and shadow systems used

Participate in initial/on-site and cross-functional interview sessions

Articulate needs and desires for a new ERP and associated processes

Develop an understanding of how a future ERP and associated processes might operate

Identify and communicate potential procedural or policy changes that may require decisions related to implementation of a new ERP

Review and provide feedback on the Needs Assessment Report

Review and approve module specifications Review and provide feedback on appropriate sections

of vendor proposal responses Develop vendor scripts to be used during vendor

demonstration activities Participate in software vendor demonstrations Provide feedback on demonstration and due diligence

activities Conduct due diligence on software vendors with peer

organizations

Non-Process

Owning Departments

Participate on project teams Provide input from an end-user perspective related to

various processes that are executed in their department

As requested, participate in cross-functional sessions

Technical Team John Johnson Provide information on the City’s current IT infrastructure during the Needs Assessment phase

Define technical requirements for a new ERP Review and provide feedback on the technical

components of vendor proposals Conduct due diligence on technical aspects of the

vendors’ solutions Assess the impact of vendor solutions on the City

technology infrastructure Ensure vendor solutions conform with City IT policies,

technical architecture and standards

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Readiness Team (Communications,

Change Management and Training)

TBD Assess the readiness of the City with respect to change that will occur as a result of the project

Develop change management strategies and practices that can be used to enhance project success

Develop, implement and monitor change management action plans

Act as a liaison to the team leads for identifying and resolving change issues associated with people, process and technology

Identify training and education requirements as it relates to change management needs associated with people, process and technology

Define change management requirements for inclusion in the RFP

Evaluate the change management approach provided by vendors in their RFP response

Work with the selected ERP vendor in the development and implementation of additional change management strategies during project implementation

Educate the project teams on change management theory and practices and bring those to the project

Define training requirements for inclusion in the ERP RFP

Evaluate the training approach provided by vendors in their RFP response

Procurement Office / Legal

Counsel

Will Hobart/Rose Wibenmeyer Provide terms and conditions to be used in the RFP Participate in contract negotiation activities with the

selected ERP vendor

Outside

Consultant

Scott Eiler - Plante Moran Facilitate the needs assessment phase of the project Apprise the project manager of current and potential

project risks and discusses means of mitigating these risks

Work with the project manager in scheduling, planning and conducting on-site visits

Provide leadership and guidance to the City throughout the project

Develop project deliverables

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Appendix B: Application Inventory and Migration Table

As part of the Needs Assessment, an inventory of all key current software systems has been developed to support the areas in scope for the project, as defined in the project charter. For each current system, the analysis categorizes the level of availability of that software from other ERP vendors which sell their

products to similar size governments. Additionally the analysis identifies a recommended preliminary migration plan for the current application based on all factors. From a data cleansing perspective, the identification of these systems will provide an opportunity for the City to starting developing data

cleansing and data conversion plans well in advance of system implementation.

*Application Availability in the ERP Market

Legend Code Description

G Generally

Available

The module is generally available from most / many providers of ERP solutions

to similar size entities

B Best of

Breed

The module is not generally available from most / many providers of ERP

solutions to similar size entities and is typically selected and implemented as a separate best of breed system, then later integrated to ERP, as feasible, based on available funding and skills.

E Expanded ERP

The module is available from certain, select providers of ERP solutions to similar size entities and if not selected and implemented as part of the

integrated ERP system, would need to be obtained by the City from a separate best of breed system, then later integrated to ERP, as feasible, based on available funding and skills.

** Migration Plan for Current Applications

Legend Code Description

R Replacement The City is intending on replacing this application

C Consider The City is considering replacing this application with an ERP solution,

based on the strength of the finalist vendor offering and cost / benefit of the replacement module

M Maintain The City is intending on retaining the application, not replacing it thru the ERP effort

I Interface The City is intending on keeping the application and interfacing/integrating it with the selected ERP solution.

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# Current ERP Application

Application Notes/Description Departmental Owner

Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

1 SunGard HTE - GMBA-Integrated Accounting

This software includes General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Budgeting and core Financial Management

Multiple R G General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliation, Budgeting, Projects & Grant Accounting, Cash Management, Investment Management, Debt Management

2 SunGard HTE - Accounts Receivable

Used for miscellaneous billing Finance R G Miscellaneous Billing & AR

3 SunGard HTE - Contact Management

Call logging software Multiple R E Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

4 SunGard HTE - Purchasing with inventory

Decentralized requisitions with approvals, proceed to purchase, receiving and invoicing.

Finance R G Purchasing Inventory

5 SunGard HTE - Cash Receipts

Receives payments from various sources to post to appropriate modules within HTE

Finance R G Cash Receipting

6 SunGard HTE - Continuing Property Records/Fixed Assets

Maintains City assets, fixed assets including depreciation

Finance R G Fixed Assets

7 SunGard HTE - Payroll

Payroll Management system controlling payroll accounting.

Finance R G/B Payroll Time & Attendance

8 SunGard HTE -Personnel

Human Resource management system, applicant tracking

Human Resources

R G Human Resources

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

9 SunGard HTE - Business Licensing

Issue and renew business and alcoholic beverage licenses, armed and unarmed security guard licenses, taxi and limousine licenses, taxi drivers permits, solicitors permits, animal licenses and various other permits and licenses. Administer the collection of cigarette taxes and hotel/motel taxes.

Finance R G Business License

10 SunGard HTE - Housing Loans

Tracks loan information, payments and balances


R E Housing Management

11 SunGard HTE - Work Orders/facilities management

Track miscellaneous work orders and other cost accounting (e.g. employee travel costs)

Multiple R E Work Orders Accounts Payable

13 SunGard HTE - Fleet Mgmt.

Tracks maintenance for the City's fleet PW: Fleet Operations

R E Fleet & Equipment Management

14 SunGard HTE - Customer Information System

Utility Billing and records system, bills for all city services (water, sewer, electric, etc.)

Finance R G/B Utility Billing

15 SunGard HTE - Planning and Engineering

Managing planning and zoning functions. Community Development

R G Planning & Engineering Electronic Plan Review

16 SunGard HTE - Code Enforcement

Management of code enforcement cases with the ability to generate notice letters.


R G Inspections & Code Enforcement

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

17 SunGard HTE - Building Permits and Inspections

Management of building permits, building code enforcement and scheduling of inspections


R G Inspections & Code Enforcement & Permitting

18 SunGard HTE - Land/Parcel Management

Maintains records of City land parcels, addresses and property owner information.

Multiple R G Master Address

19 SunGard GovNow - Occupational Licensing

Renew Licenses Online Finance R G Business License's online portal

20 Access Database

Tracks all volunteers, the department, event, and hours worked


R G Payroll/HR

21 Access Database

Inventory for electric production WL: Electric Production

R G Inventory

22 Access Database

Tracks Non-sufficient Funds Treasury R G Bank Reconciliation

23 MS SQL Database

Wellness Tracker Human Resources

R G Human Resources

24 Access Database

Volunteer Management Community Development

R G Human Resources/Time and Attendance

25 Access Database-Parking System

Tracks parking permits PW: Parking C E Misc Billing & AR

26 Allmax Antero WWTP maintenance software, work orders, equipment/parts inventory, labor inventory, etc.

PW: Stormwater / Wastewater

R G Asset Management

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

27 API (Advanced Processing and Imaging) / Optiview & Workflow

Using this with a web portal application that opens the digital file cabinet to show everything on the project for the citizen

Multiple R B Document Management and ERP modules for workflow

28 Asset and Depreciation Roll-Forward Excel Workbook

Fixed Assets Finance R G Fixed Assets

29 AutoCITE Parking enforcement solution expected to be replaced in the near term.

PW: Parking I (replace

ment applicatio

n)

N/A Cash Receipting / General Ledger

30 Backflow Prevention Device Access Database

Track all BFPDs to ensure annual inspections are performed

WL: Water Distribution

R E Asset Management

31 Bank of America Works

P-Card Transactions Finance I N/A Cash Receipting

32 Bconserv.com Reporting and document storage Multiple R G Time and Attendance

33 Benefit Extract Files

Benefit premium payments Payroll I N/A Human Resources

34 Bloomberg Investment Management Finance I N/A Investment Management

35 BP Re-Inspections Billing

Cash Receipts/Permitting Finance R G Misc Billing and AR

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

36 Check Free Reports

Using this online service to manage payments.

Finance I N/A Treasury Management

37 Coal Inventory Excel Workbook

Track coal inventory and shipments WL: Electric Production

R G Inventory

38 Critical Testing Human Resources

I N/A Human Resources

39 Crystal Reports Queries IT R G Report Writer

40 CWorks CMMS CMMS currently being implemented (70%)

WL: Electric Production

R E Asset Management

41 Donor Software - Developed Inhouse

Track donors and donations Community Development

C E/B Utility Billing

42 Dot Project CIP Software (Capital Improvement Plan) Finance R G Project and Grant Accounting

43 dot-dev.columbia.mo.gov

CIP Planning and Tracking Multiple R G Budgeting

44 Elavon Card Payments Finance I N/A Cash Receipting

45 Employee Certification Excel Workbook

Track employee certifications and expiration.

Multiple R G Human Resources

46 Energy Rebate Excel Workbook

Track customer rebates for energy efficiency program

Energy Management

R E Utility Billing / Housing Management

48 EnRoute Current Police Records Management Police M N/A N/A

49 Esri GIS Geographic Information Systems Esri suite components including ArcGIS desktop, server, and SDE

Multiple I N/A interface with all land based modules

50 E-Verify System

I-9 Compliance Human Resources


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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

51 Excel-OSHA Reporting

OSHA Reporting Finance R G Human Resources

52 EZ Park Card System

Track EZ Park Card Balance PW: Parking I N/A Cash Receipting / General Ledger

53 Fiber Customers Excel Workbook

Track customers utilizing City's fiber by circuit ID for billing

WL: Electric Distribution

R G Utility Billing

54 Fiber Quote Excel Workbook

Track quotes for fiber connection to customers.


C N/A Utility Billing

55 FileMaker Pro Misc reporting and databases Multiple R G Report Writer

56 Fire Inspection Excel Workbook

Track last/next inspection for each building.

Fire R G Inspections

57 Firearms Pro Firearms inventory system Police M N/A N/A

58 Firehouse Incident reporting, inventory, equipment inspections, track scheduling (schedule is developed manually), track employee training and continuing education

Finance C N/A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) / Inventory / Inspections and Code Enforcement / Human Resources

60 FormSprint Third-Party Form Creator used to generate POs, checks, W2 and 1099

Multiple R G Purchasing

61 Front End Custom software designed to facilitate the student rush by automatically filling in the HTE fields needed online

Finance R G Utility Billing

62 GFI GenFare Transit fare receipting system Transit I N/A Cash Receipting / General Ledger

63 GovDeals Surplus Property Sales Finance I N/A Fixed Assets

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

64 Granicus Manage meeting agendas, minutes, videos

Clerk I N/A Contract Management / Project and Grant Accounting / Document Management

65 Grants Tracker Custom-developed grant tracking application.

Multiple R G Project and Grant Accounting

66 Hansen Inventory, asset management & work orders

PW: Streets & Sidewalks

R E Asset Management, Inventory, Work Orders

67 Household Hazardous Waste Excel Workbook

Track hazardous waste on-hand that is temporarily stored (e.g. received by homeowners, picked-up by contractor)

PW: Solid Waste R G Inventory

68 HRWEB Custom application for job description and job openings

Human Resources

R G Human Resources/Recruiting

69 IBM i-Series Navigator

Essential to view "Demand Reports" printed from HTE's Naviline

Multiple R G Report Writer

70 Identipass Client & IVIS 2000

Security and ID Software Human Resources


71 IDIS HUD required system for reporting progress and expenditures on activities


I N/A Possible interface to housing management system

72 IPS Parking Meters (ipsgroupinc.com)

Accepts credit card transactions directly through parking meters.

PW: Parking I N/A Cash Receipting / General Ledger

73 IVR / Teleworks

Phone payments and online credit card payment

Finance I N/A Interface with all modules where payments are applied

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

74 IVR/Outage Management Systems (OMS)

Identified where the outage is based on address of call.

Water & Light I N/A Integration to the Master Address module for address identification

75 LoadRite Weigh bulk material loaded with equipment

PW: Street Division

I N/A Inventory

76 Mail Scan Barcode scanning for bill payment processing

Treasury I N/A Treasury

77 Microsoft Word CAFR Preparation Accounting R G General Ledger

78 MO DOR Sales Tax Reporting and Payments Finance I N/A Accounts Payable

79 MV-RS Itron Meters

Meter Software Water & Light I N/A Interface with utility billing

80 Nixle Citizen alert system Multiple M N/A N/A

81 Nuisance Abatement Database

Track billing of Nuisance Abatement by parcel

Neighborhood Services

R G Code Enforcement

82 One Roof Track applicant & expenditure data on all HUD programs, loan tracking


R E Housing Management

84 Osmose O-Calc

Utility Pole Management Software WL: Electric Distribution

C E Asset Management

85 Parking Permit Excel Workbook

Track parking permits Public Works C E Misc Billing & AR

86 Part Inventory Access Database

Shadow system to track parts on hand, on order.

WL: Electric Production

R G Inventory

87 PeopleAdmin Recruiting and Performance Management Human Resources

C G Human Resources

88 PetPoint Animal Tracking System for renewing animal licenses

Health & Human Services

R G Business License

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

89 PetroVend Fuel management Public Works I N/A Fleet & Equipment Management / Inventory

90 Phone Call Log Track calls from citizens. WL: All Divisions R G Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

91 POSS (Police Officer Scheduling System)

Scheduling, training management Police C / I E Time and Attendance

93 PreEvaluate Testing Human Resources


94 PRISM Risk Management/Claims Reporting Finance I N/A Human Resources

95 Public Purchase

Third-Party eProcurement site Purchasing R G Purchasing

96 Quatred Barcoding

Wireless inventory barcoding system WL: Electric Distribution

I N/A Inventory

97 RecTrac / FinTrac

Recreation management application Parks and Recreation

I N/A Cash Receipting / General Ledger / Payroll

98 RMI RailConnect

Car hire payments, and bill car owners for railcar storage

WL: Rail I N/A Misc Billing & AR / Cash Receipting / General Ledger

99 RMI RailConnect Newlook

Track rail car movements WL: Rail M N/A

100 Roll & Hold Specialized warehouse inventory application utilized by Colt Transload

WL: Transload C G Inventory Misc Billing & AR

101 RouteMatch Scheduling Transit C E Time and Attendance

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Likely Future?*

ERP Availability**

Expected ERP Module

102 SCADA System

Operate wastewater treatment plant. PW: Sewer Utility

I N/A Asset Management / Inventory

103 Show Me Vac Vaccination Tracking Human Resources

R G Human Resources

104 Smart911 Access profile information about callers. Public Safety Joint Communications

M N/A N/A

105 Spectrum Claim Data Access (Read-Only) Finance M N/A Human Resources

107 Term and Supply Contracts Worksheet

Multiple departments maintain Microsoft Excel worksheets to track all term and supply contracts.

Multiple R G Contract Management

108 Traffic Concern Log

Track citizen traffic concerns PW: Street Division

R G Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

109 Trash Bag Inventory Excel Workbook

Track trash bag inventory PW: Solid Waste R G Inventory

110 Vendor File Database

Shadow system created by PSJC to track POs and invoices by vendor

Public Safety Joint Communications

R G Purchasing

111 Virtual Merchant

To handle online credit & debit card payments for parking permits

Multiple I N/A Integration with all modules that allow for payments

112 WasteWORKS Solid Waste's billing system used with scales

PW: Solid Waste C/I N/A Utility Billing or Integration with new ERP system.

113 Wire Reel Management System

Custom wire real management inventory system


C G Inventory

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Appendix C: Application Interface Table

The following table contains a listing of current and/or desired application interfaces and their likely need in a future integrated ERP environment. Existing City interfaces between core ERP modules that may currently exist (e.g., AP posting to GL) or shadow systems that will likely be replaced are not included as they are assumed to be included in an integrated ERP solution.

Data Flow

Item #

Data Flow Description Source Application Target Application

Currently Exists in ERP Environment

1 Synchronization of address data to parcel layer of GIS (changes, transfers, splits, combines, etc.).

Esri ArcGIS Master Address Yes

2 County Parcel Download to Master Address

County's Parcel Database

Master Address Yes

3 Integration from the IVR/Outage Management Systems (OMS) to Master Address to recognize where outages occur based on the phone number

Outage Management System (OMS)

Master Address Yes

4 Integration throughout ERP applications with document management system

ERP/Document Mgmt.

ERP/Document Mgmt.

Yes

5 In order to make Granicus documents accessible from Grant/Project Management & Contract Management module (such as resolutions, minutes, project summaries, etc.) that are related to grants/projects and contracts.

Granicus Grant/Project Management & Contract Management

No

6 Import bank statement electronic file

Columbia's Bank Bank Reconciliation

Yes

7 Send Positive Pay files to bank Accounts Payable Columbia's Bank Yes

8 Yearly 1099 & W2 submission Accounts Payable US Treasury Yes

9 Vendor Payment ACH file export / import with US Bank.

Accounts Payable US Bank Yes

10 Import a file from Bank of America Works Procurement Card software to ERP Accounts Payable.

Bank of America Works

Accounts Payable Yes

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11 Import of transactions from RMI RailConnect to the Account Payable module when the City is using a 3rd party's rail car for their own use

RMI RailConnect Accounts Payable No

12 Import of transactions from RMI RailConnect to the Account Receivable module when the City is storing a 3rd party's rail car

RMI RailConnect Accounts Receivable

No

13 Export a billing file to send to a 3rd party for the printing and mailing of the invoices and statements

Accounts Receivable

3rd party printing/mailing software

Yes

14 Import investment data from Bloomberg to the Investment Management module

Bloomberg Investment Management

No

15 Export Fixed Asset information to GovDeals for disposal information

Fixed Assets GovDeals No

16 Integration with Mail Scan for barcode scanning on bill payment processing

Mail Scan Cash Receipting (apply payments to all applicable modules)

Yes

17 Online Credit Card Payment Verification

Elavon Cash Receipting (apply payments to all applicable modules)

Yes

18 Online Payments Virtual Merchant/ Vendor's suggested online payment provider

Cash Receipting (apply payments to all applicable module)

Yes

19 Import of electronic payment files from IVR Software

IVR Teleworks software

Cash Receipting (apply payments to all applicable module)

Yes

20 Import of electronic payment files from Check Free Reports

Check Free Reports Cash Receipting (apply payments to all applicable module)

Yes

21 Import cash receipt information from AutoCITE (or parking replacement software) to the Cash Receipting System (in summary)

AutoCITE (or current

Cash Receipting No

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22 When cash is received for an EZ Park card reload, the Cash Receipt module can push the additional balance to the EZ Park Card system

Cash Receipts EZ Park Card system

No

23 Import cash receipts from RecTrac to ERP cash receipts (in summary)

RecTrac ERP cash receipts (in summary)

Yes

24 Import transit fare receipts information from the GFI GenFare program to the General Ledger or Cash Receipt module

GFI GenFare Cash Receipting (in Summary) or General Ledger

No

25 Import GL entries from RecTrac to General Ledger

RecTrac General Ledger Yes

26 Integration of General Ledger transactions to MO DOR for sales tax reporting

General Ledger MO DOR (Missouri Department of Revenues)

No

27 Import WasteWORKS billing transactions to the General Ledger module

WasteWORKS General Ledger Yes

28 Import credit card transactions from IPS Parking Meters to the General Ledger

IPS Parking Meters General Ledger No

29 Export of Payroll Direct Deposit data

Payroll Columbia's Bank Yes

30 Send Positive Pay files to bank Payroll Columbia's Bank Yes

31 Import time and attendance information from FinTrac to Payroll

FinTrac Payroll Yes

32 If the POSS system is not replaced with the new ERP solution, then hours worked (from POSS to Time & Attendance or Payroll) will need to be imported and scheduling & accrual information will need to be exported (from HR/Payroll to POSS).

POSS / HR & Payroll or Time & Attendance

HR & Payroll / POSS

Yes

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33 Import/export employee demographic and benefit election information to/from the benefit providers and to/from human resource module.

Benefit Providers/ERP HR

HR/Benefit Providers

Yes

34 Import from two different testing sites employee test result information to the Human Resource module

Critical & PreEvaluate

Human Resource No

35 Import risk management/claim information from PRISM to the Human Resource module.

PRISM Human Resource No

36 Integrate Identipass Client & IVIS 2000 with the Human Resource module when there are new hires and/or terminations

Identipass Client & IVIS

Human Resource No

37 Integrate the Human Resource module with the E-Verify system verifying social security numbers or passport ids for I-9 compliance.

Human Resource E-Verify Yes

38 Integrate with an integrated voice response system (Teleworks) to allow customers to be able to inquire on account and bill information via phone.

IVR Teleworks software

Utility Billing, Business License, Misc. Billing/AR, Permitting, Inspections & Code Enforcement

Yes

39 Customer Payment ACH file export / import with Bank of America (for direct customer ACH payments)

Utility Billing Columbia's Bank Yes

40 Export a file containing delinquents to a collection agency.

Utility Billing Collection Agency Yes

41 Export a billing file to send to a 3rd party for the printing and mailing of the invoices and statements

Utility Billing 3rd party printing/mailing software

Yes

42 Upload/download of meter read information

Itron's MV- RS Software

Utility Billing Yes

43 Export the water usage of residents to Boone County Regional Water District for them to calculate sewer usage

Utility Billing Boone Co. Yes

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44 Integration from the IVR/Outage Management Systems (OMS) to CRM to alert citizens where outages occur

Outage Management System (OMS)

CRM No

45 Integration with LoadRite to the Inventory module to update inventory quantities based on weighed bulk material

LoadRite Inventory No

46 Integration with Quatred Barcoding with the inventory module for tracking items.

Quatred Barcoding/Inventory

Inventory/Quatred Barcoding

Yes

47 Integration from SCADA to Asset Management for triggering preventative maintenance schedules.

SCADA Asset Management

No

48 Import fuel usage data – vehicle ID, driver, date, fuel type, gallons, pump ID, tank ID to the fleet management system

PetroVend Fleet and Equipment Management

Yes

49 Interface information entered in Bank Of America's Works for fuel purchases processed using a procurement card to Fleet and Equipment Management (e.g. date, mileage, vehicle number, and number of gallons).

Bank of America Works

Fleet and Equipment Management

No

50 Export information from the Housing Management module to IDIS (HUD's required system for reporting)

Housing Management

IDIS (HUD's required system for reporting)

No

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Appendix D: Custom vs. Packaged Software

The following matrix further outlines the advantages and disadvantages of both homegrown and COTS software:

Software Approach Advantages Disadvantages

“Home-Grown” or

Highly Customized Software Applications

The functionality of the application can be developed to exact City requirements.

The City has a greater level of control over the design, functionality, technical specifications to the applications, and can control modifications to it, on an ongoing basis.

There is a risk that if the City loses internal development staff, that the technical understanding of the application, and the ability to maintain it, would be greatly reduced.

Overall, custom developed applications are typically less cost effective, long term.

Limited internal development staff may not have the capacity to be as technically innovative as a vendor organization with deeper resources.

COTS (Commercial Off

The Shelf) Vendor Supported Packaged Software Applications

The City may benefit because pre-packaged applications often have industry best practices embedded within them.

Potential to receive ongoing enhancements. The City may benefit from the research and development performed by the vendor.

Ability to receive support from the vendor, who likely has deeper technical resources.

Overall, they are typically more cost effective, long term.

Potential to participate in vendor user groups and identify practical best practice processes in use by peer organizations.

May not fit exact City requirements May require the City to change business practices to

work within the parameters of the application, in order to minimize application customization.

Necessitates a requirement to maintain and manage a vendor relationship.

System requirements generated by other users of a vendor supported solution, may not be consistent with the City’s, thus, the prepackaged solution may have additional unused functionality which may cause configuration and / or performance issues.

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Appendix E: Sample Approach for Selection of Major New Technology

Based on expected acquisition of an ERP system in the future, an established technology acquisition

approach is appropriate. A sample high level approach is as follows:

Establish Functional / Technical

Requirements:

A detailed list of functional and technical requirements should be established that reflects the needs for the ERP system. Involvement of the relevant City

staff and users is critical. Steps to identify these requirements will vary but may include: identification of functional requirements, identification of best practices, involvement of process owners and customers, etc. Technical

requirements will need to be identified as well.

Define Selection Criteria:

System selection criteria should be defined to assist with identifying how vendor / technology solution decisions will be determined.

Appropriate Purchasing Process:

Formal RFP process should be used to request information, quotations or proposals as appropriate. An RFP format should be used that both are intended to capture the appropriate information regarding vendor solutions

and ease vendor response analysis.

Evaluate Vendor Responses:

Vendor responses should be evaluated based on the selection criteria including factors such as one time and ongoing costs, the solution’s

adherence to the City’s system requirements, the background of the vendor, and their ability to provide the appropriate level of ongoing support and training.

Additional Due Diligence:

Semi-finalist vendors should be further evaluated and additional due diligence should be performed. Such due diligence should include activities such as system demonstrations, reference checking, and performing site

visits as appropriate.

Finalist Determination: The finalist vendor should be selected based on the analysis of the vendors’ solutions and considering the information gathered during the due diligence

activities.

Finalize Scope of Software License and

Vendor Implementation Services:

The contract should be defined listing an agreed-upon matrix of roles and responsibilities for the required activities for all involved in the

implementation and ongoing support of the system. Consideration should be given to the realistic services required to realize the envisioned benefits of the system.

Negotiate Contract: A contract should be negotiated with terms and conditions that are sufficient to protect the City’s interest and that meet the spirit and intent of the transaction. Any pending contract should be reviewed by the City’s legal

counsel prior to completion.

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Appendix F: Sample Implementation Approach for Major New Technology

Based on expected implementation of various new technologies in the future, an established technology

implementation approach will be valuable to assist the effective adoption for technology initiatives. Best practice project management approaches, including the adoption of PMI’s (Project Management Institute) PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) will be valuable to consider for future technology

initiatives at the City. As such, a sample high level approach for technology implementation is as follows:

1. Project Initiation and Planning Phases: o Project Charter o Define Project Sponsor o Define Project Milestones o Define Roles & Responsibilities o Define templates, tools and a process for project administration (to do tracking, issues,

meeting, status reporting, decisions, schedule) o Define method for tracking project costs o Identify project risks, impacts and mitigation approaches o Communications Planning o Understand Stakeholder Impact o Project Planning (scope, schedule, costs, quality, staffing, risk, communications) o Define meeting frequencies for the teams, team leads and leadership group o Define project success o Other activities as necessary

2. Execution and Controlling Phases: o Administer Project o Meetings and Status Reporting o Cost Management o Installation and Configuration o Process Mapping & Redesign: identifying specifics on how to incorporate the new tools

into operations o Security o System Modifications o Testing and Quality Assurance o Training and Documentation o Data Conversion

3. Closing Phase: o Final Acceptance o Identify follow up items o Support Transition Plan from Vendor to Internal o Archive Project Records o Close out Contracts o Post project review activities

104 | P a g e

For more information contact:

Scott Eiler, Partner

(248) 223-3447

[email protected]

plantemoran.com

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