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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 48-12RECORD OF RESOLUTIONS Nank.lno, Foon No. 30015 Resolution No. Passed .20 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF DUBLIN TO PARTICIPATE IN AN APPLICATION FOR A LOCAL GOVERNMENT INNOVATION FUND (LGIF) GRANT THROUGH THE STATE OF OHIO TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE CONSOLIDATION. WHEREAS, an adopted City Council goal is to build upon the City's existing practice of shared services to explore new partnerships and possibilities; and WHEREAS, the Local Government Innovation Fund (LGIF) was established in HB 153 to provide grants and loans to political subdivisions for local government innovation projects that promote efficiency, shared services, co- production, and mergers among local governments; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin is collaborating with the cities of Westerville, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights; Franklin County Metro Parks District; Prairie Township; Metropolitan Educational Council; and Educational Service Center of Central Ohio to study the feasibility of consolidating information technology services and infrastructure; and WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Educational Council will serve as the lead applicant, and if awarded a grant will manage the project, including coordinating local government partner meetings, hiring a feasibility study consultant, and grant reporting. N01y, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Dublin, of its elected members concurring, that: Section 1. The City Manager is hereby authorized to participate in the submission of a Local Government Innovation Fund (LGIF) grant to study the consolidation of information technology services and infrastructure and is authorized to execute other documents as deemed necessary and appropriate to carry out the intent of this resolution. Section 2. This Resolution shall be effective upon passage in accordance with Section 4.04(a) of the Revised Charter. Passed this I R O - tA day of 2012. Mayor - Presidi gg Officer ATTEST: Clerk of Council 48 -12 Office of the City Manager City of Dublin Phone: 614- • Fax:b614 --410 -4490 1090 To: Members of Dublin City Council From: Marsha I. Grigsby, City Manager'I Date: August 16, 2012 Initiated By: Michelle L. Crandall, Director of Administrative Services Memo Re: Resolution 48 -12 — Local Government Innovation Grant (LGIF) to Conduct Feasibility Study of Information Technology Services and Infrastructure Consolidation Background Resolution 48 -12 allows for the City of Dublin to participate in a Local Government Innovation Grant (LGIF) application with several other local entities. This specific grant application is to conduct a feasibility study for the possible consolidation of information technology data storage and security, hardware and software procurement and support, and any other information technology services and infrastructure that could reasonably be shared and /or consolidated and that would result in increased efficiencies, security and /or cost savings. A detailed draft project description is attached containing a listing of all services, infrastructure and commodities that will be considered as part of this study. Based on the findings of this study, the City would only pursue shared services that demonstrate cost savings or increased efficiencies and that do not compromise IT data security or service reliability. This LGIF grant application is being jointly pursued by the cities of Dublin, Westerville, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, Franklin County Metro Parks District, Prairie Township, Metropolitan Educational Council and Educational Service Center of Central Ohio. The Metropolitan Educational Council (MEC), a central Ohio purchasing cooperative and information technology center, will serve as the lead grant applicant. If awarded a grant, MEC will be responsible for managing the project, including coordinating local government partner meetings, hiring a feasibility study consultant, and grant reporting. The grant amount being requested for this feasibility study is $100,000, the maximum that can be requested under the grant guidelines. The grant requires a 10 percent match, which can be cash or in -kind contributions of goods or services. It is anticipated that this 10% match will easily be met by the various partners' staff time invested in completion of the study. Recommendation Staff is requesting passage of Resolution 48 -12. Should you have questions regarding this memorandum, please contact Michelle Crandall at 410 -4403 (desk) or 206 -4886 (mobile). Grant Application - Section 3 - DRAFT Project Description (4000): Political subdivisions in Central Ohio operate their own IT systems independent of other public entities. Duplication of IT services has been identified as a key inefficiency that could be addressed through an integrated, collaborative, IT shared services approach. Currently, duplication of IT services includes commodity type services versus those services needing more intimate knowledge about the participating organization. These services include: • Backup • Infrastructure Disaster Recovery • Server Hardware • Data Center Space • Network Services • Security • Email (includes backups, hardware management, spam filter management, applying updates) • Productivity Tools (such as Office) • Standard Reporting • ISP's • Communications • Administrative Applications (including GIS, work orders, permitting, etc.) • Help Desk (including Culture and Expectations) • Technical Support • Upgrades • Phone System • Website Development and Maintenance Budget realities and the evolution of affordable cloud computing, smaller and more powerful server solutions, cost - effective server virtualization technologies, modern document management systems and business process re- engineering create both motivation and opportunity for collaboration. These new technologies and IT strategies have the capacity to create new efficiencies and enhance data management and security for all parties. The MEC /ITC and its team of collaborative partners, proposes to use LGIF dollars to analyze and create a plan to develop the Public Sector IT Service Center that will make the Information Technology (IT) systems for these entities more effective, and thus make these government entities more efficient service delivery providers through a "shared services" model. To perform this analysis and develop the plan, the MEC /ITC as lead partner, requests a $100,000 LGIF grant to conduct a finely -tuned analysis and feasibility assessment to determine key issues faced by each of the participating agencies, identify information system assets and liabilities encountered within the current infrastructures, and identify how a shared services approach to IT can address current limitations and inefficiencies. The entities involved have a strong leadership structure and collaborative framework. The key aspect of this effort is to create an environment to achieve greater efficiency in combined service delivery. The MEC /ITC's collaborative partners include: • City of Upper Arlington • City of Grandview Heights • City of Dublin • Prairie Township • City of Westerville • MetroParks • ESC of Central Ohio These partners seek to identify and analyze: • IT platforms • Measure total cost of ownership of their technology tools • Assess IT capacities of partner organizations and other regional public entities • Map solutions that seek to better leverage existing IT capacities in a shared services environment with contemporary solutions, IT standards and practices The project will map opportunities for consolidation and structural realignment across IT operations of the local government partners, including the larger entities of the City of Dublin, City of Upper Arlington, City of Grandview Heights and the City of Westerville, along with the much smaller jurisdictions of Prairie Township and the MetroParks. The objective is to standardize solutions and applications and enhance data security and system performance, while maintaining and /or improving each partner's ability to provide quality services to their taxpayers. An additional component is the opportunity to spread fixed costs for larger partners who have their own data centers by better utilizing current resources and excess capacity on a scalable basis. This could help minimize purchasing of additional expensive capital equipment. The analysis and planning effort will determine the best approaches to make eventual solutions scalable so that other jurisdictions could be included in the future after the initial phase of implementation is completed. After the initial phase of implementation, extensions of the IT infrastructure could be made available to other villages, townships, schools, community colleges, counties and other political subdivisions. Shared Services within the area of IT will promote innovation, efficiencies, and collaboration as the focus of this project. The analysis and planning effort will be crafted in a manner that will move the partner agencies toward the development of the Public Sector IT Service Center to serve their IT needs. Past Success (1000): This application falls under the LGIF targeted category of Shared Services. In the recent past, the MEC /ITC has successfully implemented projects that promote efficiencies and shared services among the school districts it serves. Among these projects are: Shared IT networking Shared IT services Web -based learning management system Administrative collaboration and network program Cooperative purchasing - technology office commodities In addition to the MEC /ITC successes, this project will analyze an effective model of IT Shared Services, GroundWork group (GWg) to learn what worked and what did not work as GWg was being developed. GWg developed a model by which non - profit organizations could utilize technology in a more cost effective manner by sharing the cost and resources across many non - profit organizations. This model is relevant to this project as GWg provided an environment for non - profits to leverage the following capabilities in a shared services manner - • Backup • Disaster Recovery • Network Services • Security • email • Productivity Tools • Reporting • Administrative Applications • Help Desk • Technical Support • Upgrades Scalability (1000) The project will focus on consolidated IT services solutions that are scalable and pose the greatest prospect for efficiencies to assist all partners. Although the political subdivisions will serve as the collaborative partners for this initiative, the analysis and planning effort is expected in a result that will permit the expansion of this shared services approach to other entities in the region and serve as a roadmap for others statewide. The plan will provide a series of service offerings that the partner organizations can take advantage of. The result will be that citizens and local businesses can enhance current service levels, gain access to new customer service applications and receive a faster response from public administrators. For larger agencies, this is an opportunity to share costs, for smaller agencies, this is an opportunity to do more than would be possible if they attempted these projects alone. This will allow smaller agencies to focus on their core business, while knowing that they have access to knowledgeable IT resources. The Public Sector IT Service Center Analysis and Planning effort will ensure that the model will be developed to be scalable. Probability of Success (1000): As a classic shared service provider, MEC /ITC is the logical entity to take the lead on this project. MEC /ITC has extensive experience in offering shared services to public school districts in the counties it serves. The organization has developed a successful track record in providing vital services to political subdivisions. MEC /ITC's organizational expertise will be essential in identifying the capacities of the partner entities, and how the IT for these entities will be better configured for efficiency. To increase the chances of success, MEC /ITC will contract with QSI, an experienced IT Consulting Firm to conduct the Public Sector IT Service Center Analysis and Planning project and serve as project Manager and will do the detail analysis and planning. Also, Public Performance Partners (P3), an experienced 501(c) 3 non - profit consulting entity, will provide subject matter expertise related to counties, cities, townships, school districts and institutions of higher learning plan and help to execute the cost - saving strategies. Performance Audit/Benchmarking (1000): A cost analysis will be completed to determine the percentage of IT expenses that are allocated to aspects of the systems that could be part of a shared services arrangement. The analysis planned under this application will drill down on the percentage of IT costs that relate to commodity IT infrastructure, such as the cost of purchasing and maintaining servers as well as commodity services such as email for each of the entities involved. Similar studies and analyses provide a meaningful basis for the need among the entities in Central Ohio. A State of Ohio 2011 analysis of its IT costs indicated 70% of these costs were related to infrastructure and operations, and only 30% to software. By sharing the infrastructure costs, do we expect to shift the balance to increase expenditures on software, to offer more publically visible /valuable options to the citizens. The goals of the collaborative partners are similar and overlapping. The partners seek to protect and enhance service levels to the public, to become more efficient in delivering operational data management, and to pursue a more robust regional business continuity (disaster recovery) solution. Economic impact (1000) The way local governments work is changing. A more dynamic business and technology market is causing local jurisdictions to be more adaptable. Taxpayers also are becoming more technologically sophisticated and seeking more accessible and efficient government services. The case for more efficient government, particularly in the area of technology offerings, is gaining traction. New enabling technologies make IT consolidation a reality. These strategies will be key tools in responding to the diminishing revenue environment in Ohio. We anticipate saving partners at least 30% on their IT costs by better leveraging existing public data centers and implementing cloud -based network solutions. Based upon total cost projections of the collaborative partners, over the next three years this will result in cost savings in the amount of $XXX.XXX. The benefits of IT consolidation also reach beyond cost savings. The additional benefits include increased simplicity of maintenance, heightened security, reduced environmental impact and integration of new applications. This effort will mine the current investments and identify those areas where a ROI exists. Response to Economic Demand (1000): The partners within this application know there must be more sophistication in government - provided services in order for a geographic area to remain enticing to the businesses community. By improving the sophistication of IT, the county and region become more attractive to the business community. Public entities, which are more efficient and approachable, are more likely to develop public - private partnerships, and offer additional services, programs and funding for the community. Westerville has implemented a model for its Community data Center and Fiber Network. Central Ohio must compete with the other urban areas. A local region where entities are working collaboratively, and where IT infrastructure is efficient and up -to -date, will increase its attractiveness to business. The Public Sector IT Service Center will entail: • Less duplication • Better utilization of resources • Operations efficiency • Faster provisioning • Ease of maintenance • Consistent training • Newer tools • Consistent policies • Policy adherence • Better architecture • Equipment reuse • Network modernization • Private cloud applications • Decreased threats of malware