25C - FINANCE AND UTILITY SOFTWARE

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Contract Award for Finance And Utility Billing Software March 3, 2008 Page 2 of 5 excess of 44,000 invoices paid; and over 200 new hires and employee terminations handled annually. As the volume of information increases, so does the demand for real time financial and personnel-related information, which currently requires countless staff hours to collect, interpret and distribute to those requiring the information, including the City Council and administration, other departments and the public. The age of the software, lack of program flexibility resulting from numerous new accounting regulations, and age of the mainframe causes delays and disruptions for staff. As a result, staff determined that the purchase and implementation of an integrated financial software system, offering a unified database for financial and human resource management, was critical. Three key goals for the new system were identified: 1) Consolidate data and reporting through an integrated software application. 2) Use technology to reduce inefficiencies. 3) Give management and employees access to data through comprehensive and intuitive solutions. To navigate the complex and dynamic world of enterprise software selection and contract negotiation, the City contracted with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), a nonprofit, professional organization for government officials and finance practitioners. In the fall of 2006, GFOA held a series of meetings with staff from all departments to develop a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP was posted on the City's website and sent to vendors in December 2006, and nine vendors submitted responses in January 2007. As an integrated financial and human resources management software impacts every City department, an evaluation team made up of 13 employees from across the organization were brought together to review the proposals. By the end of February 2007, the team had selected three vendors, Bi-Tech Sungard, Tyler Munis, and Lawson Software (partnering with Systems & Software, Inc. for utility billing), to provide demonstrations of their software. Utilizing a script drafted by GFOA, vendors were given an opportunity to demonstrate their product. Employees from all departments participated in the software demonstrations. Following each scripted demonstration, employees were invited to ask additional questions in a laboratory set up to further explore the functionality of the software. Based on the demonstrations, the evaluation team narrowed the search to two vendors, Tyler Munis and Lawson Software/Systems & Software, Inc. Over the next few months, the team sought clarifications from the two vendors, conducted extensive reference calls to other governmental 25C-2