Joint software selection project provides numerous benefits.

• Author: Blagg, Jim

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Two Texas cities recently turned a cooperative technology project into a real success story, not only saving money but also reaping additional benefits, both hoped for and unexpected. The cities' joint acquisition of software provides a blueprint for other organizations to follow. After successfully completing an information technology strategic planning effort, the cities of Southlake and New Braunfels needed to replace their existing land and asset management systems and to refine and improve the associated business processes. The organizations could have undertaken the projects independently, but each city understood that a cooperative effort would give them greater market presence and cost savings, as well as the opportunity to learn from other another.

THE CITY OF SOUTHLAKE

The City of Southlake, located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area, has a population of 25,000. Southlake is experiencing rapid growth that has had a significant effect on operations, pushing the city toward more a businesslike approach to providing services. Southlake recognized that improved technology was a way to provide city services more efficiently and effectively, During fiscal year 2006, the City of Southlake undertook a systemic review and discovered that its information technology (IT) systems did not adequately support its business processes or provide enough flexibility to enhance ongoing and future operations.

Southlake then did an IT strategic alignment study to assess how well the city's IT capabilities met the needs of the local government and citizens. The study sought to identify IT investments and tools that would improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of key city functions and operations, and specifically to identify ways the city's operations and business processes could be improved through innovative technology solutions. The assessment would be used to develop specific goals for the future.

When the alignment study identified a gap in the technology support of several key business areas of the government, Southlake identified areas of primary focus: integration, usability, customer relationship management, functionality, and technology infrastructure. Older technologies and out dated procedures had resulted in increased costs and administrative burdens. For example, Southlake's purchase order process was manual and time consuming. Several business processes of the city secretary's office, including records management, were also operating through outdated technological processes.

Southlake also had problems using its existing software, which was based on an older, text-based user interface that was non-intuitive and difficult to learn. Overall, the existing system lacked many of the functions available from more current systems, and information access was not provided equally among employees. In addition, the existing system could not be integrated in a cost-effective manner with finance and geographic information systems (GIS). This led to excess staff labor, including duplicative data entry, which also increased opportunities for error. City officials wanted to consolidate customer relationship management functions into a single system that would provide a more comprehensive view of the city's customers and eliminate duplicate data entry. When the study was completed, it was determined that Southlake's major projects should be replacing an aging finance and payroll system, along with developing interim solutions for procurement and creating a development review process. The city's secondary need was a comprehensive land and asset management system.

THE CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS

The City of New Braunfels, Texas, with a population of 50,000, is a high-growth area located northeast of San Antonio. In 2006, the city identified the need for significantly upgrading the technology that supported its business processes. This included all hardware (desktop as well as network equipment), desktop software, and major software systems that supported the network itself as well as those used in providing service to citizens. The legacy systems in place were function-specific...