ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and Director of Information Systems to APPROVE the Virtualization of the Tyler ERP System (Munis and Energov) and Associated Security and Business Recover Services and Expansion of Implementation, Management, Training and Other Support Services.
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BACKGROUND: Tyler has stopped offering an on-premise solution to new customers as part of its corporate road map. The City is currently using an on-premise solution and anticipate a need to move to a virtual solution in the near term. This means that we had already planned to budget and migrate to a virtual solution in 2022 to continue to have a fully supported product (in terms of upgrades to security and usability of the software).
Due to recent (and impending) departures and staff reductions we propose that we speed up that migration to 2021. In addition, we are proposing comprehensive engagement from Tyler to support our implementation, configuration, and training across departments.
While the migration work would occur in 2021, Tyler has offered serious concessions to help our budget challenges. While we will need to pay to migrate our data ($17,000), the larger payment for the virtual product will be delayed until 2022, and Tyler has offered a significant reduction in their standard fee to provide us with comprehensive technical, training and management resources.
Tyler has offered to expedite our project and we are asking that we be given authority to negotiate the final agreement within the cost parameters below.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The ongoing cost of the product will increase from $227,000 to an annual cost of $415,000 for the virtual product, on-going upgrades, and security / business recovery programs. In addition, Tyler has agreed to forgo payment on the migration until January 2022. They will immediately implement our virtualization program.
In 2021, we will need to pay for a one-time project management fee ($17,000) for migration including data management and hardware. We will also need to pay for a year of intensive product support ($88,000) including training implementation and configuration. This translates to a total of $105,000 payable this year. The current year departures can be used to cover current anticipated budget variance.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Faster upgrade and maintenance will improve the citizen self-service experience over time, and, over time, increase the accessibility of data as there are a number of usability and reporting improvements in the 2020 product (we are currently using 2019) and that trend is expected to continue.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: Improved city-wide stability, access, and usability of Tyler systems.
IMPACT IF DENIED: We will continue to struggle to keep the product current and usable for the team. We will not have the resources to configure the product and It quickly and effectively will take some time to update our security and busines recovery program for this product. Also, we will be required to do multiple updates to product in the next two years if we do not move to SaaS. We do not currently have staff with this skill set and are in the process of hiring. We will continue to be at risk of total loss of system in the event of an event such as a server failure or cyber-attack.
ALTERNATIVES: Use AWS rather than Tyler as the host. While there may be some near-term advantages and discounts, hiring a third party to host and implement is expected to be even more costly with little to no additional value and the potential for more complexity.
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: 03099-220630
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2017 - 2032 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Safe Peoria
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Have an efficient government.
DEPARTMENT: Information Systems