P3 builds business intelligence tool for enhanced reporting, transparency.

• Author: Dukes, David M.

This initiative received the GFOA's Louisville Award and an Award for Excellence for 2014.

Williamson County, Texas, has grown quickly, and the accompanying transition from rural to urban required county leaders to change the way they viewed information, reported critical operational data, and approached transparency. The expanding population demanded information and technical advances; the "Old Guard" resisted change; and one faction had the idea that if people don't know how much money they have, then they won't spend it.

Like governments at all levels, Williamson County had been collecting vast amounts of data, but it couldn't really be called information or intelligence. Simple operational reporting on the data in the county's ERP system was a manual, labor-intensive task, as were reconciliation activities related to that data. Management had limited high-level insight into simple analytics like countywide and department overtime costs and current budget-to-actual experience positions.

Department heads and managers needed tools to help them access information that would help them make better, faster decisions. The county also wants to provide accurate and timely information to improve transparency and for the positive effect additional information can have--for instance, higher credit ratings, which reduce bond issuance costs, as counterparties have more confidence in transparent organizations. To achieve these goals, the Williamson County Auditor's Office decided it would need to create its own solution; historically, counties have lacked the internal reporting capabilities necessary to address these issues well. Therefore, Williamson County developed four goals for meeting its needs and requirements:

1. Use technology to provide information.

2. Improve countywide communication, both internally and externally.

3. Improve the timeliness of reporting (in some cases, reporting was done once a month, after close).

4. Provide not just data, but a way to understand and make use of that information.

DEVELOPING THE SOLUTION

To create a better option for meeting its business intelligence goals, Williamson County collaborated with third-party vendor Mo'mix Solutions to develop and implement Performance Center, a cloud-based, software as a service (SaaS) business intelligence and operational reporting system that makes use of cloud-based technologies. The system is integrated with the county's ERP system and can be extended to any source of data.

This project is not so much a completely new technology project as an example of using a P3 to optimize a number of proven technology approaches. Both partners shared...