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Date
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September 24, 2007
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Agenda
Item No. 39 Roll
Call No. 07- Communication No. 07-585 Submitted by: Merrill Stanley, |
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AGENDA HEADING:
Approving the issuance of a Request for Proposals to
provide strategic planning consulting services to assist in the development of
an Information Technology Strategic Plan.
SYNOPSIS:
Approving the
issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) as a competitive process leading to
the selection of a consultant to assist city staff in the preparation of a
strategic plan that will be used to guide technology decisions over the next
three to five years.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Amount:
To be determined. Estimated to be less than $100,000.
Funding
Source: Fiscal Year 2007-08 Operating Budget,
Information Technology Department, Network and Operations, GE001 /
IFT010100 (page 197).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Information
Technology services are critical to the mission of all city departments. These services can be delivered in a variety
of ways with new methods being developed continuously. The last IT strategic plan was prepared over
ten years ago and many changes have occurred during that time, both to the
city’s IT structure and even more to the IT industry in general.
The city is at a
critical juncture, with a list of many perceived needs for hardware and
software upgrades. It is staff’s belief
that the city’s interest would be best served by investing the time and money
to thoroughly review and evaluate possible courses of action, and set an
overall direction for the department and identify the best means of achieving
desired outcomes. It is staff’s
recommendation that consultants experienced in technology matters be engaged to
assist in an evaluation of the broad range of city IT applications and prepare
a roadmap for future IT decisions. Staff
would expect that the consultant’s recommendations would derive from an in-depth
knowledge of IT issues and exposure to a wide range of IT solutions in a
government setting.
The objectives
of the IT Strategic Plan would be to:
1)
Conduct
a review of current and projected needs of the various user departments of IT
services (including the IT Department) including cost estimates.
2)
Analyze
the current state of systems and hardware.
3)
Analyze
the internal skill sets and capabilities of the current IT staff.
4)
Review
the options of providing IT services by various methods including the
advantages and disadvantages of each approach and cost estimates.
5)
Produce
an overall strategic plan addressing these issues.
6)
Produce
a sequential plan for implementation of the recommended strategic plan.
7)
Design
and produce a documented Software Acquisition Process for the City
The selected
consultant will be expected to produce a strategic plan within ten weeks of contract
execution.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S):
Date: August 19, 1996
Roll Call Number: 96-2929
Action: Professional Services Agreement with
Public Technology, Inc., (PTI), to provide consulting services for City's
Information Technology needs. (Council Communication No. 96-340). Moved by Vlassis to receive, file and adopt
the recommendations contained in the Council Communication No. 96-340. Motion
Carried 7-0.
BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S):
NONE
ANTICIPATED ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS:
Council approval of consultant selection
and contract.