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CONTRACT K-1718-110: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, THE NORMAN MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY AND SCIENS CONSULTING IN THE AMOUNT OF $323,040 TO PROVIDE CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION, TESTING AND FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS FOR MUNICIPAL COURT; PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT; UTILITY BILLING; CORE ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP); AND TIME AND ATTENDANCE.
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BACKGROUND: The FYE 2017 CIP budget approved an allocation for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suite to replace the existing Superion suite presently used for various departments. Within the ERP replacement budget is also an allocation of $350,000 to secure consultant services to assist with the implementation, testing, and final acceptance of applications. The Information Technology (IT) Department staff, through interviews with other cities and based on the complexity and scope of the project, recommended a consultant with the professional knowledge and expertise in the specific area of ERP software solutions and implementations for municipalities of our size and projects with similar scope be retained.
On February 29, 2016, the City of Norman advertised Request for Proposal RFP-1516-41 soliciting responses for consultant services to assist the IT Department and City staff in conducting a Needs Assessment, developing a Request for Proposal (RFP), to evaluate and score responses from software vendors, and to develop testing scripts, setup and lead demonstrations of possible solutions, and contract negotiations. Alternate pricing or estimated costs to complete the project through implementation, testing and final acceptance were also requested and received.
DISCUSSION: The City’s IT Department is presently supporting two (2) different environments to support the City of Norman data requirements; a Windows based environment leveraging virtual server infrastructure with an industry leading storage system, and an IBM iSeries environment. The present system used by the City was purchased in 1995, has been updated numerous times, and operates a software solution by SunGard. The IBM system hardware is aged as are many of the features of the present application running on it. The solution interfaces to our public safety solution as well as other applications such as meter reading and traffic citations.
The IBM ERP system contains software modules that support important City functions such as building permits; mobile field code and building inspections; general ledger and fixed asset accounting; budget preparation and monitoring; payroll; treasury and accounts receivables; accounts payable and purchasing; human resource functions; utility billing; municipal court; on-line bill pay systems for utility billing and permitting; and occupational licensing.
The IT Department, in conjunction with the consultant for the first phase, recommended replacing this system and transferring the existing data into an environment that can leverage our enterprise storage solution, virtual server environment and be more readily supported by the IT Support Staff. IT recommends a solution that provides easier integration with other City data to improve services and experiences to citizens. Data backup and system redundancy capabilities are also desired.
There were a total of seven consultant proposals received on March 21, 2016, for the consultant phases 1 and 2 project. The criteria for selecting a consultant to recommend to Council included technical approach, experience of key personnel, references, cost, and experience of the firm with similar size and scope projects. The Selection Committee consisted of Tim Powers, IT Director; Anthony Francisco, Finance Director, Kari Madden, IT Manager; Suzanne Krohmer, Budget Manager, Robert Gruver, IT Manager, Stacey Baker, Business Systems Analyst, Jamie Teel, Business Systems Analyst, and Judson LeRoi, Web Development.
Plante Moran, LLC was selected to perform the Phase I consultant services, which were recently completed. The consensus of the Selection Committee was to recommend Sciens Consulting as the overall best consultant to complete the Phase II services. Staff recommends the contract for Phase II ERP Consulting Services be approved in the amount of $323,040.
Funds are available in the Capital Project Fund, ERP Replacement Project, Design (account 050-9529-419.62-01 project BG0070).
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of contract K-1718-110 between the Norman Municipal Authority, the City of Norman and Sciens Consulting in the amount of $323,040.