Title
Recommendation to Receive the Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP). (Information Technology 2611) [Not heard on November 7, 2017]
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Recommendation to Receive the Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP)
BACKGROUND
The last City-wide Technology Strategic Plan was completed in 2000. During the past 17 years, technology and business applications have improved dramatically; however, many of the City’s core systems to support both internal and external technology needs have not been upgraded or replaced.
In order to modernize the City’s technology infrastructure, the City issued a Request for Proposals to firms that could assist in this effort. In September 2016, the City contracted with NexLevel, a Sacramento-area management consulting company specializing in technology services, to develop a 3-5 year Technology Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan).
The goal of the Strategic Plan was to identify areas within the City that either currently rely on technology to conduct business or could use technology to be more efficient and prioritize current and future resources to maximize the City’s technology investment. NexLevel used an extensive process of information gathering, analysis, collaboration and review that included several workshops with key members of the City’s management team and developed a working roadmap to move the City forward.
DISCUSSION
Strategic planning enables organizations to find a balance between immediate and long-term needs. The ITSP was developed in an interactive process including all Departments. NexLevel identified a range of strategic technology projects, some in-progress or planned, based on an IT best-practices assessment and interviews with the City’s management team, Department Heads, and user stakeholders. These projects represent opportunities to use information technology to further the City’s ability to meet community needs and expectations and falls into several broad categories including:
• City-wide technology projects that benefit the operation of multiple City Departments;
• Departmental technology projects that are targeted at improving the operations of individual Departments;
• IT projects that are specifically intended to enable the Technology Department to better meet the City’s overall needs; and
• Projects related to the implementation of the recommendations identified in the course of the IT assessment.
Of the forty-two projects identified, 5 were already in process at the time of the ITSP workshop and one had been completed.
Appendix A (Project List) and B (Project Prioritization Worksheet) to Exhibit 1, provides a description of each project including the current status, relative levels of effort and risk, estimated costs, and the estimated business benefits. The top cross Departmental prioritized projects that are not “In Process” identified in the Roadmap on page 34 are:
• Finance, Payroll, Human Resources ERP replacement (Begin FY2017/18 Q1): The City needs a modern, proven Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that supports improved processes for managing the financial, payroll, and human resource functions. The new system will be able to exchange information with other City business applications and integrate with the City’s document management system (Laserfiche). Other ERP modules can include citywide time reporting, contract management, project management, budgeting, and training/certification tracking. The current system is close to twenty years old.
• Electronic Content and Document Management (ECM) Roadmap (Begin FY2018/19 Q4): The City should engage a consultant to perform a city-wide records management review, as well as to develop an ECM implementation plan. The plan should also consider how the City can best use its existing Laserfiche system for collaboration.
• Fiber Infrastructure Review / Smart City Initiatives (Begin FY 2017/18 Q3): This project would complete a review of the City’s existing fiber infrastructure to determine whether it can be used to implement Smart City initiatives such as Traffic Management System Enhancement, Streetlight Program, Remote Facilities Management, Public Wi-Fi, E911 Upgrade, etc.
• Create Administrative Network (Begin FY 2017/18 Q3): Establish area wide networks (both wireless and wired) that are separate from Alameda Municipal Power’s (AMP) network which would allow broader (though still secure) access to users without the restrictions required by AMP’s regulatory framework. The new networks should be administered separately from AMP's.
• GIS Roadmap/Centralized Address Repository (Begin FY 2017/18 Q3): Multiple Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are in use in the City and this project would provide a roadmap to optimize its use, make the information more readily available to both users and business applications, and identify short and long-term actions that the City should take to govern the use of this asset. One of the sub-projects in this effort would provide for the consolidation and reconciliation of multiple repositories of address information in the City and the creation of a master address schema that would be accessed by all users and applications including the Police and Fire Departments, the Building Division, Public Works and AMP.
The Technology Strategic Plan not only includes specific project recommendations but also provides recommendations involving IT Best Practices and Governance, Organizational Agility and Change Management, Smart City Technologies, Cybersecurity, Mobility and the Consumerization of IT, Strategic Outsourcing and Cloud Services, etc.
As a result of the IT Assessment, it was determined that although many of the City’s systems are outdated, the City has considerable strengths, not the least of which is a strong commitment on the part of the City’s leadership team to improve information technology governance enabling the City to realize greater returns for its investments and aligning the use of technology resources with the City’s business priorities.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Technology Strategic Plan will help Council and staff throughout the organization prioritize and implement the identified projects while aligning scope, time and resources.
The procurement process for the initiatives and projects identified in the ITSP will follow the City’s procurement policy.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
There is no impact to the Alameda Municipal Code from the execution of this agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A Technology Strategic Plan is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act because it is an organizational or administrative activity of the City that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment (CEQA Guidelines, section 15378 (b)(5)) and therefore no environmental review is required.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive the Technology Strategic Plan.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn T. Hogg, Information Technology Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP)