Item #15 Approval of Development Services Software System
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AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET
Meeting Date: April 21, 2009
Item # 15
Contact Name:
Contact Number:
Craig Shadrix
(407) 905-3157
Reviewed By:
Department Director:
City Manager:
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Subject: Workflow management, tracking, and external customer service software for the
Development Services Department
Background Summary:
In 2007, the City Commission approved budget for purchase of software for the Building Division that would
streamline work efforts and provide for a more efficient, up-to-date customer service protocol and tracking
system. The Development Services Department, in its evaluation of proprietary software options learned of
low-cost, innovative software being developed for local governments by the University of Central Florida. Due to
high costs associated with providing necessary functionality for a system that manages building permitting,
development review, planning and zoning, business tax certification, and all other development services, this
option is an excellent choice. There are numerous advantages to hiring the university for this work. First, the
software provided will actually result in the City being provided with all of the open-source code. This benefit,
which distinguishes the university as a sole source qualifier, will allow the City to make modifications at very low
costs versus a proprietary system, which would charge fees for modifications. Additionally, preliminary
discussions with university officials have indicated that the City would receive free of charge an agenda
management system as well as a solid waste management system, both of which were developed for other
local governments, but are easily modified to the City's processes. The software platform has already been
evaluated by the City's Information Technology Division and determined to be 100% compatible.
The process for implementation of this software is three-fold, and includes documentation/process analysis,
system modifications, and testing/go-live. The City anticipates man-hour savings of 40-50% through the
process evaluation period, and additional savings with automation of these new processes via the software.
With implementation, the City will be the first in Orange County to offer on-line permitting options that are fully
transactional.
Issue:
Should the Honorable Mayor and City Commission authorize staff to negotiate a contract not to exceed
$150,000 with the University of Central Florida to create development services software?
Recommendations
Staff recommends that Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners authorize staff to proceed with negotiating a
contract with the University of Central Florida not to exceed $150,000 for creation of a web-based interactive
software system that manages all phases of development services.
Attachments:
Financial Impact:
Type of Item: (please mark with an "x'J
Public Hearing
_ Ordinance First Reading
Ordinance Second Reading
Resolution
Commission Approval
Discussion & Direction
For Clerk's Deot Use:
Consent Agenda
Public Hearing
Regular Agenda
_ Original Document/Contract Attached for Execution by City Clerk
Original Document/Contract Held by Department for Execution
Reviewed by City Attorney
Reviewed by Finance Dept.
Reviewed by 0
N/A
N/A
N/A
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City of Ocoee - Building Permit Project
The University of Central Florida SAGE team has expertise in improving the
efficiency of government processes. This process improvement is done through a
methodology that was developed at UCF - and follows a set of guidelines that
are flexible enough to meet the specific needs of local governments.
The overall expectation of this project is that the process of building permits will
be
(1) more efficient
(2) completely accountable
(3) transparent to the user
The project is completed using the following steps and has the characteristics
described.
- Stakeholder Analysis - Stakeholder analysis identifies all key players in the
system and obtains all information necessary to built a strong and smart
system.
Standardization - Standardization of processes ensures all processes are
done the same way and that all staff know what to do in each situation. This
eliminates arbitrary decisions and possible legal action associated with them
Best Practices - Best Practices for process improvement are researched,
documented, and presented to the city. Decisions towards the implementation
of the best practices are made by the city staff with the support of the SAGE
team.
Software System Development - A software system to improve productivity
and efficiency is developed and deployed. Use of our existing software base
code makes this process efficient. In general the system will provide:
o Functionality: The system will bring to the user accurate information, and
the information will be guarded with total security.
o Trust-based: The system will provide different level of security access
according with the responsible for approve or denied each change on the
process. The system will track all the operations and the people who
made these operations, according with their level of responsibilities.
o Reliability: The portal will be reliable to all the users in order to be easy to
access and the user will be able to trust the system knowing that it can be
used at any time.
o Usability: The portal will be effective and efficient, and will satisfy the user
providing the way to solve tasks and problems for a particular situation.
High usability means that the system is easy to learn and remember. Our
system will be friendly for everyone who does not know much about
Internet, programming or other concept linking with the computing
science.
o Maintainability: The portal will be tested through the control system design
for this purpose and any technical problem will be controlled to keep intact
or carry on the entire system configuration, in order to not have any faults,
preserving and retaining the functionality of the system.
o Portability: The portal will be compatible with the most common web
system due to the complexity of the users. It will guarantee the access
with high-speed Internet connection from different location. Users will have
access from anywhere at any time as long there is Internet.
o Communication: The success of the entire system focus directly on the
users' ability to get the information needed at the time it is needed.
- Cost Savings - An overall goal of all systems is to achieve a high level of
cost savings. The team documents and predicts potential cost savings in
man/hours, and uses metrics to determine how well actual cost savings meet
this goal.
Reporting - Reporting capability is greatly enhanced through the process
allowing decision makers to determine the how well the system and staff are
meeting efficiency goals.
- Accessibility - The system provides an extremely high level of accessibility,
no only to the government but also to the citizen population who have the
ability to see where their specific items (permits) are within the approval
process at any time through a web interface.
Open Source and Extensible - The system is provided to the government
with all source code and documentation. There are no locked in contracts,
maintenance charges, or fees associated with the software. In addition the
government has ability to deploy the results of all other projects for their use -
these include comprehensive plan management, agenda management, a full
solid waste assessment and billing system - and others under development.