Item 8 Staff Report Accept Information Technology Strategic Plan for the Town of Los Gatosn
MEETING DATE: 09-02-03
ITEM NO. r
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: AUGUST 21, 2003
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: DEBRA J. FIGONE, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: ACCEPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN FDR THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept Information Technology Strategic Plan for the Town of Los Gatos (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND:
In May 2002, the Town issued a Request for Proposals for consultant services to assist in the
development of an Information Technology Strategic Plan (IT Plan) for the Town of Los Gatos. In
August 2002, the Town entered into an agreement with Maximus, Inc. for this purpose in an amount
not to exceed $39,880 under the Manager's contracting authority during the summer recess. This
staff report discusses the purpose, the process used to develop, and the highlights of the IT Plan.
Staff is seeking Town Council acceptance of the IT Plan as the framework for decision -making
related to technological enhancements for the Town. Funding decisions guided by the IT Plan would
still occur through the normal budgeting and procurement process.
DISCUSSION:
Purpose of the Information Technology Strategic Plan
Information technology is a critical tool that supports the delivery of services to the Los Gatos
community, both directly and indirectly. Advances in technology and changing community needs
and expectations require that the Town continually assess opportunities to improve the way it uses
technology to provide services.
PREPARED BY: PAMELA JACOBS
Assistant Town Manager
N:\MGR\PJacobs\IT\IT Plan Council Report.wpd
Reviewed by: --'"-Assistant Town Manager iAttorney Clerk Finance
Community Development
Revised: 8/25/03 8:04 am
Reformatted: 5/30/01
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ACCEPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
August 21, 2003
In the absence of a vision and plan for moving forward technologically, the Town may make
decisions for investments in technology that result in information systems that are incompatible,
duplicative, or not priorities. The purpose of the Information Technology Strategic Plan (IT Plan)
is to provide a vision for how we will use information technology to improve services to the
community and to provide a framework for making technology investment decisions.
Methodology for Developing the IT Plan
Oversight for the development of the IT Plan was provided jointly by the Assistant Town Manager
and the Management Information Systems Manager, with the lead assistance of the Technology
Advisory Committee (a cross -departmental team comprised of technology leads from each
department). The process for developing the IT Plan consisted of three phases: Phase I —
Background Information Technology Assessment and Environmental Scan; Phase II — Strategic Plan
Workshop; and, Phase III — Information Technology Plan Development and Review.
Phase I included workshops for the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) and Executive Team
regarding emerging technologies affecting local government, followed by a detailed assessment of
the Town's IT infrastructure, staffing, existing business systems, and potential new projects. The
assessment derived from interviews with all departments, and in-depth discussions with the IT
Manager, Chris Gjerde. This phase resulted in an Assessment Report (Appendix A of the IT Plan).
Phase II involved an eight -hour workshop conducted over two days at which the TAC, Executive
Team, and several other staff reviewed the Assessment Report, developed an IT vision and goals,
and ranked the potential IT projects. As discussed below, this staff ranking is one of a number of
criteria used to develop a priority project matrix. The results of the workshops were incorporated
into the IT Plan. The workshop materials appear as Appendix B.
The final phase of the project involved review of the IT Plan by the TAC and Executive Team,
followed by the review of all Town employees wishing to do so via making the draft available on
the Town's Intranet. This broad -based approach to all phases of the project was important to obtain
comprehensive input about technology needs and opportunities, as well as to raise awareness of the
need to make future technology decisions within the context of the IT Plan rather than independently.
Highlights of the IT Plan
Vision and Goals. Through the workshop, staff developed a vision and goals for how the Town will
use information technology to improve services to the community. The vision is: "Los Gatos... Small
Town Service...SMART Technology." In this vision, the term "smart" has two meanings. First the
technology is used to support the delivery of service in a "smart" or appropriate way. Second,
"smart" stands for Sensible, Multi -Modal, Accessible, Responsive and Time -Phased.
n
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ACCEPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
August 21, 2003
The Town's information technology long-range goals to implement the vision are in the areas of
customer service, IT infrastructure, information integration, and teamwork. Each of these goals are
described in meaningful, measurable ways in the IT Plan.
Key Factors in Successful Implementation. Successful implementation of the IT Plan requires a
broader understanding of several factors. These factors include the expectations of the public we
serve, strategic assumptions about the Town's commitment to operational efficiency and customer
service, and consideration of critical success factors associated with technology operations, such as
purchasing practices, staff oversight and participation, and provision of training.
Emerging Technologies. The IT Plan includes a discussion of emerging technologies in local
government. This discussion is important to understand the possibilities for new technologies that
could improve organizational efficiencies and services to customers. In making decisions about
investments in technology, the value and benefits of new technologies need to be weighed against
the costs of migrating or converting to the new technology. The investment may very well be
justified, given the return on investment over time due to productivity enhancements and to the
intangible value to the Town's customers. This evaluation, however, is a necessary step in the
decision -making process.
Project Priority Matrix
During the course of Phase I, staff identified a number of information technology projects for
possible inclusion in the IT Plan. Cost estimates are provided for each of these projects described
in the IT Plan, including hardware, software, implementation consulting services and ongoing
annual operating costs. In most cases, a range is provided since many alternatives are available in
terms of systems and implementation methodology. The cost estimates are incorporated in one of
the four criteria used to rank the projects.
The four criteria used to rank the projects include:
•
•
The project's contribution to helping achieve the IT vision and goals;
The project's expected Return -on -Investment (ROI);
The project's operational necessity (O.N.) or risk of system failure;
The project's priority as ranked by staff attending the workshop (referred to as "Community
of Interest" ranking).
Values were assigned to levels of contribution to each of these criteria. The project priority matrix
is found on page 24 of the IT Plan. The matrix presents 14 projects in priority order based on the
four criteria. The top four projects on the priority matrix include: 1) IT Staffing and Organizational
Structure; 2) E-Government; and 3) a tie between IT Infrastructure Maintenance and Upgrades, and
Constituent Relationship Management and Call Center. This ranking is consistent with the Town's
current emphasis on communication with the community and customers, in that two of the four top
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ACCEPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
August 21, 2003
projects focus on this area. Specifically, "e-Government" refers to the use of technology to deliver
services to the community, from improvements on the Town's web site that provide comprehensive
and useful information to the capability for on-line transactions, such as building permits, inspection
scheduling, and parks reservations. Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) and Call Center
refer to systems that route and track customer inquiries and service requests (CRM) and serve as a
central point of contact that uses an electronic knowledge base to provide accurate, complete
information and referrals (Call Center). The other two priority projects provide the basic staff and
infrastructure to facilitate these and other technology systems.
It is important to note that the project priorities will change over time, based on investment capacity,
changing business needs, new technologies, community needs, and available funding sources. At
any given point in time, the Town may be undertaking portions of multiple projects or a lower
priority project prior to the completion of the projects ranking higher. The priority setting
methodology provides the Town with an approach to be used to continually reassess information
technology priorities. An IT Plan update will be included as part of the Town's annual budget
process.
Technology projects included in the FY 2003/04 budget include the realignment and augmentation
of staff to support technology systems (priority #1); ongoing IT infrastructure maintenance and
upgrades (priority #3) Asset Management System (priority #6) including a Customer Relation
Management (CRM) module (priority #3); and a set -aside for telephone upgrades (priority # 11)
which would help support CRM (priority #3). Work plan projects for the FY 2003/04 budget include
Web improvements (priority #2).
CONCLUSION:
The IT Plan and the current priority project matrix provide a framework for planning to meet the
Town's information technology needs and for making investment decisions related to technology.
It is critical that IT procurement occur within this broader framework, rather than independently.
This will ensure that investment decisions reflect the Town's priorities and do not result in
duplicative or incompatible information systems.
By acceptance of the IT Plan, the Town Council is not approving budgets for any of the individual
IT projects. Any proposed future project over $25,000 will be brought forward to Council for
approval following a formal Request for Proposal process. Rather, the acceptance of the IT Plan
provides a framework for responding to the Town's business and service delivery needs.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
Is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ACCEPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
August 21, 2003
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with acceptance of the IT Plan. Resources will be
identified for any purchases made pursuant to the IT Plan under normal budgeting and procurement
processes.
Attachment: Information Technology Strategic Plan for the Town of Los Gatos
Town Council Minutes
Redevelopment Agency September 2, 2003
Los Gatos, California
PUBLIC HEARINGS
There were no public hearings held this evening.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN (08.42)
Pamela Jacobs, Assistant Town Manager, explained that staff was seeking Council's acceptance of the
IT Plan as a framework for decision -making related to technological enhancements for the Town. She
also noted that the advances in technology and changing community needs and expectations require that
the Town continually assess opportunities to improve the way it uses technology to provide and improve
services to the community and to establish a framework for making technological investment decisions.
Council Questions and Ms Jacobs response:
The investments in technology and training are eventually offset by long term savings as online services
become more readily available to the public. Before a full redesign of the web site would be
implemented, an on-line permitting service could be offered to the public. Acceptance of credit cards
for payments are being evaluated to augment the e-permitting process. A call center for customer
inquiry and follow up is a module in the asset management system which is in this year's budget. The
call center would be offered as an enhancement to the personal service already offered to the public and
received at the counter, rather than as a replacement for personal service. When tracking by individuals
and forming a comprehensive picture of each customer, we will address the privacy issues involved and
who has access and how. The use of a wireless infrastructure was also discussed, and the desire to keep
broadcasting available for Council and Commission meetings. A disaster recovery system is in place,
and a written plan will be completed. Significant improvements have been made to our website this
year. Training of staff should be fundamental in the implementation of any new technology program.
Motion by Mr. Glickman, seconded by Ms McNutt, that Council accept Information Technology
Strategic Plan for the Town of Los Gatos . Carried unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
LEADERSHIP LOS GATOS/STATUS REPORT (16.28)
Chris Miller, praised the program having been through it in 2001-02. He suggested heightened
recruitment efforts to encourage more participants.
Motion by Mr. Pirzynski, seconded by Ms McNutt, that Council accept report regarding the state of
the 2002-03 Leadership Los Gatos program. Carried unanimously.
PERSONAL SERVICE BUSINESS/GROUND FLOOR/URGENCY ORDINANCE 2117 (17.38)
Bud Lortz, Director of Community Development, introduced the item and spoke of the history of
personal service businesses listing those in the downtown area and asked Council to consider this matter
and how these services in the downtown might be regulated. Mayor Decker then asked for comments
from the audience.
The following people from the audience addressed the Council on this issue:
Jennifer Taroni spoke of her retail store which offered personal services at the Opera House. She noted
the high end retail that will be displayed in her windows.
Sallie Robbins-Druian does not support personal services that affect her business. Asked that they be
permitted on the second story only so as not to negatively impact existing businesses in Los Gatos.
N:\CLK\Council Minutes\20031N 09-02-03.wpd
4
Town of Los Gatos, California
Information Technology Strategic Plan
June 2003
Prepared By:
MAXIMUM
3130 Kilgore Rd., Suite 400
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(916) 669-3720
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Syw.ems Strategic Plan
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 - PROJECT BACKGROUND 1
CHAPTER 2 - INFORMATION SYSTEMS VISION 2
CHAPTER 3 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GOALS 4
Goal 1 - Customer Service 4
Goal 2 - IT Infrastructure 5
Goal 3 - Information Integration 5
Goal 4 - Teamwork 6
CHAPTER 4 - KEY FACTORS IN SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION 7
4.1. Community Issues 7
4.2. Strategic Assumptions 9
CHAPTER 5 - EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 11
Conclusions 15
CHAPTER 6 - PROJECT PRIORITY SETTING PROCESS 16
Priority Setting Methodology 21
IS Project Ranking Matrix 21
Projects - Ranking Matrix 24
APPENDIX A - IT ASSESSMENT REPORT
APPENDIX B - WORKSHOP MATERIALS (11/2002)
APPENDIX C - STAFF ASSISTING WITH PLAN DEVELOPMENT
APPENDIX D - GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS
MAXIMUS Table of Contents June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Systems Strategic Plan
CHAPTER 1 - PROJECT BACKGROUND
"If you want to be an effective leader in
our networked world, you must engage IS
issues."
The Harvard Policy Group
The Town of Los Gatos set out to develop a long-range strategic plan for
information technology (IT Strategic Plan) in August 2002. The planning process
included three major project phases and is scheduled for completion in April
2003.
In the project's first phase (August and September 2002), the project team held
workshops for the Town's Technology Advisory Committee and Executive Team
on the strategic planning process. The workshops included a detailed discussion
of emerging technologies affecting local government. Following the workshops,
the team conducted a detailed assessment of the Town's IT infrastructure,
staffing, a review of existing business systems and discussions about potential
new projects. This assessment phase was designed to provide the team with
the background necessary for the next two phases of the project. The findings
and conclusions from this phase were documented for the Town in a document
titled "Information Technology Strategic Plan Phase 1 — Assessment Report" in
November 2002 (Appendix A).
In the second phase of the project, Town managers and staff met in a workshop
to develop additional components of the plan. Workshop participants reviewed
the Phase 1 Assessment Report and then went on to develop an IT vision for the
Town and several long-range goals, and to review the list of the Town's potential
IT projects. The Town's IT vision and long-range goals along with the potential
benefits from each project played an important role in setting the overall IT
project priorities. This report documents the results of the second phase of the
IT Strategic Planning project, including the methodology for determining project
priorities.
In the third phase of the project, the planning team and Town staff reviewed and
commented on the project reports via a customized web site. All staff comments
received during the review phase were considered prior to finalizing the IT
Strategic Plan.
MAXIMUS Page 1 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CH Information Systems Strategic Plan
CHAPTER 2 — INFORMATION SYSTEMS VISION
"Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world."
Joel Barker
The Town of Los Gatos has developed a vision for how we will use information
technology to improve services to the community and become a more efficient
local government in the Internet age. Our vision and associated goals describe
the Town's desired direction in the new information based economy, where
access to government is seamless, efficient and always available. The
information technology Vision Statement for the Town of Los Gatos is:
"Los Gatos... Small Town Service... SMART Technology."
This Vision Statement, developed by the Town's Technology Advisory
Committee and Executive Team staff during the phase 2 workshop (see
Appendix C for a list of participants), was a key step in setting the framework for
the development of the Town's information technology goals. The Town's IT
goals are listed in the next section of this report.
The IT vision statement has a strong connection to the Town's overall
mission/vision that stresses the Town's commitment to personal, rapid and
excellent customer service. The vision's reference to "SMART Technology" has
a dual meaning. First, the technology is used to support the Town's delivery of
service in a "smart" or appropriate and useful way. Second, "smart" stands for:
Sensible —
Multi -Modal —
Accessible —
Responsive —
Time -Phased —
the types of technology solutions used in Los Gatos must
make the most sense based upon the issues and goals
appropriate for the Town, and the available resources.
the Town recognizes that one size doesn't fit all, and thus
the solutions we implement have to respect the fact that
constituents will desire to get government services from the
Town in a variety of ways (Internet, phone, walk-up
counters, etc.).
both easy for the public and staff to use and accommodating
of those with limited English speaking capability or physical
disabilities.
services are available in an environment that is reliable,
secure and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
the Town cannot implement technology and solve all
problems at once, therefore we will strive for continuous
improvement in service delivery through incremental
improvements in our systems and technology.
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy,cems Strategic Plan
The vision, the goals and the project priorities that make up this plan are
intended to help make the Town of Los Gatos' IT Strategic Plan a living
document. The project prioritizing methodology is designed such that the Town
staff can periodically re -visit these issues and update the plan to meet changing
needs of the community and the organization.
With the vision and goals established, it is intended that the Town will include an
IT Strategic Plan update as part of the Town's annual budget process.
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Syotems Strategic Plan
CHAPTER 3 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GOALS
In order to realize and implement the Town's Information Technology Vision
Statement, Town staff created a set of long-range IT goals that cover four major
policy areas. The creation of this set of long-range goals is an important part of
the overall IT strategic planning process. We intend that the Town's progress
toward reaching these goals be measurable; therefore providing a set of valid
criteria by which to judge the value of all current and future IT projects.
During the November 2002 workshop, participants broke into smaller groups to
develop and discuss their ideas for IT goals that would support the IT vision.
The ideas and concepts discussed and presented by the groups form the basis
for the goals reflected here and elsewhere in this plan.
Goal 1 - Customer Service
How does the Town plan to use information technology to help it deliver better
service to customers?
The Town of Los Gatos will continuously enhance and improve customer
service using SMART technology by:
Providing a variety of ways for customers to access Town services
that include various combinations of walk-up counters and computer
kiosks, telephony services, and on-line (Internet) based web portals.
Increasing the number of Town services and information available to
customers through the Town's web site, thereby expanding service
hours to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Increasing the quality and availability of information on Town
services through an integrated, customer centric database shared by
all departments.
Improving the proficiency of Town staff in using information
technology through a continuous and comprehensive IT training
program.
The Town Service Assessment project conducted as part of the Civic Center
Master Planning process identified the importance of customer service and staff
accessibility to the community. One of the primary objectives of the Town as we
move forward with implementation of the projects identified in the IT Strategic
Plan is to balance accessibility and the small town culture of Los Gatos with
service delivery that is enhanced by IT. We will evaluate our progress in
improving customer service with ongoing surveys through mail, telephone, the
Town's web site, newsletters and at the point of contact as appropriate.
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Systems Strategic Plan
Goal 2 - IT Infrastructure
What type of internal and external IT infrastructure does the Town want to invest
in and what will that investment do to improve government efficiency and
effectiveness?
The Town of Los Gatos' will maintain and enhance a sound and reliable IT
infrastructure by:
Allocating appropriate and sufficient resources to purchase and
support technology necessary to achieve the Town's IT goals and
support IT project priorities.
Maintaining industry standard technology that enhances our ability
to integrate information and systems throughout the organization.
Ensuring that the Town's IT infrastructure is cost effective, reliable,
secure and redundant where appropriate.
The Town's IT network and associated infrastructure form the foundation upon
which internal and external IT services are delivered. The hardware and
software that make up the Town's network are constantly changing and
improving. As a result, the Town's investment in this resource will be ongoing.
Our ability to attain this goal will be measured by network responsiveness,
reliability, usage and our ability to implement new applications and technology
easily and quickly.
Goal 3 - Information Integration
Information is one of the Town's most valuable assets. How will we develop and
maintain this resource to benefit the greatest number of people?
The Town of Los Gatos will use information technology to provide
seamless services by:
Sharing integrated databases and systems and minimizing
duplication.
Ensuring that we carefully consider the value of shared systems and
system compatibility when making purchase decisions.
In order to attain this goal, it will be necessary for the Town to focus on
implementing information technology and systems that are inherently more
integrated than those available to the Town in the past. Also, the Town will see a
change from systems that are functionally focused around a business process to
systems that are more customer -centric. Customer centric systems view
customers holistically as consumers of a wide range of Town services. This is in
contrast to systems that focus on business process (like building permits or
checking out library books) that link customers to a process. In the latter
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Town of Los Gatos, Cm Information Systems Strategic Plan
approach, a unique customer record will exist independently in each system. In
order for the Town to get the complete picture of services accessed by a
constituent, staff has to look in many different places. Modern Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) offer another outstanding opportunity for system
integration. These systems can link to Computer Aided Dispatch or Conditional
Use Permit systems and produce highly accurate and informative town maps
showing where these activities are occurring on both an historical and real-time
basis.
Our ability to reach this goal will be measured by how well the systems and
databases implemented in support of this goal help improve the delivery of Town
services while also protecting the constituent's fundamental right to privacy.
Goal 4 - Teamwork
How will the Town use teamwork to improve information technology decision
making, share systems implementation responsibilities and reach out across
organizational lines to improve the efficiency of business processes?
The Town will operate as a team to achieve information technology goals
by:
Making technology decisions collaboratively to ensure they are
consistent with overall service priorities.
Leveraging technology resources through partnerships with public
and private agencies for enhanced services to our customers.
Identifying and implementing the appropriate technology and tools to
enable and enhance organizational collaboration.
The most important premise in this goal is the acknowledgement that the
broader needs of the Town and community are more important than the needs of
an individual or department. Our success will be measured by our ability to
implement integrated business systems that are based upon a common set of
business rules, and by our ability to engage other agencies serving our
community to deliver efficient services to our customers.
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Town of Los Gatos, CIi Information Sy.tems Strategic Plan
Chapter 4 - Key Factors in Successful Implementation
The level of success the Town will realize towards reaching the vision and
implementing the goals outlined in this plan depends upon a complete
understanding of the complex environment in which local government must
operate. The factors that fashion this complex environment are numerous and
are constantly interacting with each other.
4.1. Community Issues
In setting forth a vision for information technology for the Town, it is important to
understand the community environment that may shape the expectations of the
public with regard to the use of technology. The following issues have been
taken into account in developing the Information Technology Strategic Plan:
Technologically Savvy Citizens: Published surveys indicate that 70% of
households in the San Francisco Bay Area currently have direct access to
some form of Internet connectivity. A recent survey of Los Gatos
residents indicated that 89% of residents have access to the Internet.
With connectivity at such a high level and growing, the citizens and
businesses of Los Gatos have a great deal of familiarity and comfort with
Internet technology. If the citizen does not have Internet access and/or a
computer at home, odds are that he/she has a computer at work or can
access a computer at a local library or other community facility.
An example of how this affects Town services would be to consider the
busy executive who lives in Los Gatos and works in San Jose. The
executive wants to do some remodeling work at her home this weekend.
Accessing the Town's web site to find out information on building permit
requirements and then requesting and paying for the permit from a remote
location would be of great value to this constituent.
Due to a more technologically savvy constituency, the Town's IT vision,
goals and project plan will have to actively address government service
delivery via the Internet.
Capacity to Integrate Technology into the Organization and Meet
Existing Responsibilities: In the private sector, businesses can make
decisions about how they serve their customers. Some businesses
choose to construct brick and mortar facilities and serve customers in a
traditional model. Other businesses choose to interact with their
customers and conduct business over the Internet using e-commerce,
while still others choose both approaches. Local government does not
have that same degree of flexibility to choose how we will provide
services. Unlike the way that many "e-business" companies elect to do
business, the Town is unlikely to tell a homeowner who needs a building
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy.cems Strategic Plan
permit that they have to pay by credit card using the Town's web site.
Therefore, we must continue to provide service using traditional
approaches while we develop these new Internet based or e-government
applications.
Local governments like Los Gatos are challenged in two ways during this
period. First, staff has to continue to meet and service customers in the
traditional ways, while supporting service delivery using these new "e-
government" technologies. To the staff, this feels like an added workload.
Second, a small Town government like Los Gatos cannot simply
dismantle the old service delivery systems like walk-up counters that
customers value in preference to the new Internet based approach. The
result is that the cost of government operations goes up not down during
the transition period to e-government.
Increased Expectations of Citizens: The citizens of Los Gatos have
high expectations when it comes to the services they get from local
government. A large percentage of Los Gatos' residents work for
technologically sophisticated organizations throughout the Bay Area and
Silicon Valley. It is natural for them to want the same level of service and
convenience they find in the private sector when they do business with
their local government. When they need to deal with the Town, some
may want to do so from their offices via the Internet or in the evening from
their home computer. A recent survey of Los Gatos residents indicated
that 65% prefer to access information about the town via the Internet.
The town is under increased pressure from constituents to respond
quickly to individual customer needs while at the same time trying to keep
the overall needs of the community in focus. In spite of these pressures,
it will remain important to keep in mind the overall benefits of
implementing the IT projects with long lead times in this plan.
Implementing these projects requires commitment from management and
staff and effective follow through to succeed. Successful implementation
will build capacity for the Town of Los Gatos to become a more effective
and efficient organization in the longer term.
Funding: Development, implementation and support of these new
technologies is an expensive proposition. We must carefully consider the
priorities for these projects and the trade-off between spending scarce
financial resources on new systems versus other infrastructure, public
safety, and service needs. The Town wants to be sure that the dollars
spent on IT projects deliver the highest return possible.
Understanding how these community wide issues influence constituent needs
and impact the Town's staff is an important factor that will help the Town
managers guide the implementation of the projects in this plan. Because the
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information SysLems Strategic Plan
projects prioritized in this planning process were selected for their value and
contribution towards the Town's information systems goals, knowledge and
understanding of the strategic assumptions that helped guide the selection
process is equally important.
4.2. Strategic Assumptions
This IT Strategic Plan was based upon a number of different assumptions.
Changes in any of these assumptions may necessitate a change in the overall
plan. If the Town makes decisions that invalidate one or more of the
assumptions listed here, then the plan and projects initiated as a result will
produce diminished returns.
The Town of Los Gatos desires to improve operational efficiency and
customer service, while at the same time avoiding the information technology
"bleeding edge." Accordingly, the Town will consider how best to fund
information technology to complete the projects listed in this plan.
The Town will continue to purchase technology that employs information
technology standards that are in the industry mainstream. The Executive
Team will be held accountable for assuring that their staff members adapt to
these standards.
The Town's planning for the civic center including the general assessment of
Town services being conducted by Anderson Brule Architects will incorporate
the strategic direction for Information Technology in the design process.
4.3. Critical Success Factors
Like the strategic assumptions, the successful implementation of this and future
IT Strategic Plans requires support from a number of areas. Without support in
these critical areas, the Town's return on its IT investment will not be optimal.
The Town's Executive Team will take an active role in the Information
Technology Strategic Plan project and in the implementation process.
This active involvement by management will prevent barriers to effective
inter -departmental communication and cooperation.
The Town will maintain an ongoing planning and oversight process for
information technology that utilizes the resources of the Technology
Advisory Committee to evaluate future IT priorities for inclusion in the
budget process.
When selecting and implementing new automated systems, the Town will
avoid the temptation to select the least expensive option without fully
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sys,ems Strategic Plan
considering the system's ability to adequately support the needs of
multiple departments and larger groups of users.
When selecting projects to implement under the "IT Infrastructure
Maintenance & Upgrades" funding, the Town will focus on projects that
improve network redundancy as well as on projects that improve network
capacity and efficiency.
The Town should make minimal modifications (customizations) to any
new "off -the -shelf" systems during implementation. This will reduce
implementation costs, assure that the Town takes advantage of industry
best practices, and reduce the cost of system upgrades in the future.
The Town will use competitive procurement practices for major technology
projects to the extent practical.
Implementation of a new system is difficult for Town staff. A well -
designed program to address "change management" that includes a
significant investment in training is critical to making sure that staff can
adapt to the new systems quickly. Without consideration for change
management and training, the post -implementation adjustment period will
be long and difficult for the Town staff.
y Careful consideration must be given to balance needs and cost of
converting data when implementing a new system. A decision to convert
obsolete or unnecessary data from an existing legacy system or the
imaging of outdated paper files will increase implementation costs, while
failure to convert data that is really necessary will result in the loss of
institutional memory.
The Town will also use the implementation process as an opportunity to
review and re -engineer our business practices. Avoiding the "but we have
always done it this way" syndrome would be a goal.
MAXIMUS Page 10 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sycems Strategic Plan
Chapter 5 — EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
The rapid pace of change in information technology continues to have a major
impact on all segments of our society, including local government. As we scan
the environment, we see a number of emerging technologies that will have a
direct impact on the Town's IT infrastructure during this planning horizon. In
most cases, there is an obvious link between these emerging technologies and
the overall changes affecting the Town of Los Gatos.
Internet Based e-Government
In the late 1990's, the use of the Internet in local government was mainly limited
to offering a new way for citizens to get access to some forms of government
published information. As the "Dot-Com Bubble" grew between 1997 and 2000,
and the private sector raced to embrace "e-business," many local government
officials began to ask how this might apply to the public sector.
What most enlightened local governments came to realize is that the e-business
model in vogue at that time had limited application for them. Initial projections of
huge cost savings through e-government never materialized for those local
governments who were early adopters of the technology. Unlike the
Amazon.Com's of the world, who can make a decision to sell goods to someone
if they have an Internet account and a major credit card, local government
realized that they have to continue to provide services to everyone whether or
not that person has an Internet Service Provider account and a credit card.
The result has been a "go-slow" approach to full deployment of e-government
services. When deployed at the local level, e-government serves as an
augmentation to service delivery, not as a replacement for traditional services
like walk-up counters and telephone. Under this "multi -modal" service delivery
model, costs rise in the initial stages of e-government deployment. While there
is an increase in costs, most local governments report a higher constituent
satisfaction level due to things like 24-hour service availability and the ability to
conduct business with the Town from a remote location.
During the planning horizon, most local governments will re-evaluate their
Internet portal presence and supporting infrastructure to strengthen citizen to
government ties. One concept that will emerge is e-democracy. Here, local
government will experiment with ways to more actively engage constituents in
policy discussions, decision -making, and greater citizen participation.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been in use in local government
since the mid-1980's. Initially evolving from Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)
software, GIS software has been used as a tool to produce a wide array of
MAXIMUS Page 11 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy.,cems Strategic Plan
maps. The maps produced are frequently based upon data extracted from other
production systems like Computer Aided Dispatch, Building Permits, Zoning and
Economic Development.
Studies have claimed that over 85% of the data used in local government is
related to a physical location like an address, intersection, topographical feature,
or area. Given the high percentage of information in local government that is
linked to a place, interest in GIS technology continues to grow. Los Gatos, like
most other local jurisdictions, has come to understand the power of GIS
technology in using location to build relationships between various types of data
and use those relationships in providing services. Developing various strategies
that will help guide the deployment of GIS technology and improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of Town services is a key part of the overall IT
Strategic Plan.
The Town has a GIS project underway that is designed to create a GIS
foundation in the form of monumentation and a basemap. The policy issues that
the Town needs to be sure are addressed during this process include:
1. Data Standards - What structure (i.e. data layers) will the Town adopt
and use as standards?
2. Data Ownership — Within the data structure, how will data ownership be
established and controlled? How will departments be held accountable
for maintaining the data that they own?
3. Data Repository — How will the Town construct, support and utilize a
common repository designed to promote sharing of common data
between users?
4. Data Accuracy — What standards will the Town use for overall data
accuracy and how will those standards apply?
5. Data Sharing — How will data be shared internally and externally and
what security is necessary to ensure appropriate access?
6. Policy Deployment — How will the policy be deployed in the organization
and what enforcement or other incentives will be used to assure
compliance?
Privacy and Security
The events of 9/11 and the pervasive deployment of information technology in
service delivery have made individual privacy and IT infrastructure security major
concerns. Rarely a day goes by when news reports don't contain a story related
to identity theft, network "hacking" of corporate systems, new computer viruses
or other misuse of information technology resources.
The risks to the Town of Los Gatos in not making privacy and security a major
concern are great. These risks grow as the Town expands the use of on-line
payments, wireless networks, and Internet -based services. Citizen confidence in
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Town of Los Gatos, CA Information SyLems Strategic Plan
the Town's ability to secure and effectively operate in this context is vital. The
damage that could be done as a result of even the smallest security compromise
would be difficult to repair.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
In the mid-1990's, systems began to emerge in the private sector that were
called "Customer Relationship Management" or CRM systems. The goal of this
technology was to integrate all the data available from a number of different
systems so that the business could have a comprehensive picture of each
customer and thus improve overall customer service.
By 2000, many progressive governments were looking at CRM developments
and asking how the technology could be deployed in the public sector. In the
public sector, they became known as Constituent Relationship Management
(CRM) systems. In government, CRM systems coupled with "Call Centers" have
evolved into a "one point of contact" system that tracks constituent inquiries and
requests for service such that the organization has a complete "customer centric"
picture of all the interaction with a constituent and tracks accountability for
responses.
Some of the challenges the Town will face in the development and use of CRM
technology include security and privacy, linking with external government
partners like the County, and direct public access to the CRM system through
the Internet.
Networking - Integration of Wireless Services
The speed and reach of the worldwide networks that support government and
business continues to grow at an amazing pace. Within the five-year planning
horizon, wireless network services will garner most of the attention. A few short
years ago, what was commonly viewed as the "hype" of ubiquitous (anywhere)
access to electronic based services has become a reality.
As commercial network providers develop and deploy this technology, the Town
will find uses related to public safety, building inspection, code enforcement,
library services and other areas of general government. With the rapidly
expanding availability of secure and reliable commercial services, the Town will
find that it can incorporate this technology into its plans without the need to
develop the wireless infrastructure itself. When wireless use expands in Los
Gatos, the Town will need to pay close attention to the business viability of the
providers and continually monitor security and reliability.
Application Service Providers
Another area that is seeing explosive growth is with companies that offer
application -hosting services known as Application Service Providers (ASP's).
MAXIMUS Page 13 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy.,tems Strategic Plan
These organizations build secure, redundant data centers and then offer to host
or run a business' or government's applications for a monthly fee under a multi-
year contract.
Use of these ASP companies frees an organization from the overhead costs of
supporting an internal computer center, hardware and software upgrades, and
reduces the need for staff with high levels of technical skills. Despite these
attractive benefits, there is a major concern related to ASP use that the Town will
need to keep in mind. That issue is contingency planning for a discontinuance of
service. ASP companies operate in a profit sensitive environment. Loss of
service and subsequent financial problems can result if an ASP vendor closes its
business on very short notice. As a result, if the Town develops a relationship
with an ASP company, then the Town will need to be sure that there is a service
back-up plan in place that can be executed quickly to avoid disruptions in
service.
With the exception of web site hosting, the Town of Los Gatos is not currently
using ASP services for application hosting and support. Within the planning
horizon, the ASP option for future deployment of systems will be a factor that the
Town must consider in evaluation of vendor proposals.
Information Sharing
The technology available to the Town that allows sharing of information with
internal and external partners has matured in the past 2-3 years. With
leadership from public sector interest groups like the National League of
Cities/Counties and the National Governor's Association, the technology industry
has developed and adopted standards that make information sharing easier by
eliminating vendor proprietary formats. The most widely accepted format for
information sharing is based upon the XML (eXtended Markup Language)
protocol.
Sharing of information and even functionality from GIS databases and public
safety systems will continue to become easier within the planning horizon. This
will place greater emphasis on the development of internal and external
partnerships and increased teamwork.
Content Management and Workflow
As the amount of information available to the Town internally and through the
Internet explodes, so too will issues around how to manage that content.
Cataloguing, storage, and retrieval technology will emerge as a critical issue
during this planning horizon. Internet based search engine technology combined
with internal content management or document management software continues
to evolve and provide extensive search capabilities. With Internet technologies
playing a major role, most local governments will be looking for ways to re-
MAXIMUS Page 14 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, Cf+ Information Systems Strategic Plan
engineer their portals to enhance collaboration, document management,
application integration, and citizen personalization.
Most modern content management systems include a capability or component
known as workflow. Workflow systems allow the user to define business rules
(like how to prepare a purchase requisition/order or how to prepare a Council
agenda item) and the system will manage that process and track the required
document(s) from initiation to archival.
The most critical challenges that the Town will face in this area include staffing
the content management process, internal and external security, disaster
recovery, and ease of use.
Conclusions
It is easy to see from this extensive list of environmental and technological
changes that the Town will face many challenges that will impact not just IT but
the organization as a whole. From constituent expectation to GIS and e-
government, the Town of Los Gatos faces many challenges in making the
detailed decisions that must be made during this planning horizon and the Town
will have to factor information technology and organizational impacts into the
process. Therefore, it is very important for the Executive Team and the
Technical Advisory Committee to communicate openly with each other and with
the Town Manager's Office about needs and other changes in strategic direction
as early as possible.
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Town of Los Gatos, Cm Information a.,,stems Strategic Plan
Chapter 6 — PROJECT PRIORITY SETTING PROCESS
During the course of the assessment phase of this project, the Town identified a
number of information technology projects for possible inclusion in the IT
Strategic Plan. The list included in this section describes the projects that were
included in the project priority setting process.
For each project we have included a cost estimate for initial acquisition,
implementation and an estimate of ongoing annual operating costs. On most
projects this estimate is a range, due to the fact that there are many alternatives
available to the Town when choosing a system, system options, and an
implementation methodology. The numbers given include hardware, software,
and implementation consulting services. They do not include the cost of Town
staff whose time may be taken up assisting in the implementation process, or
whose positions may need to be backfilled with temporary staff during
implementation, or the cost of staff time lost during the learning process.
a. Ongoing IT Infrastructure Maintenance and Upgrades — This project
includes a number of smaller sub -projects intended to maintain the IT
infrastructure as well as making functional upgrades to that infrastructure.
Most of the projects in this group would be focused on the systems and
hardware that are shared by all departments. Ongoing maintenance and
upgrade of the Town's IT infrastructure is key to enabling the other
projects on this list. The specific sub -projects currently included in this
group are:
1. Civic Center network upgrade plan
2. Installation of an MS SQL database server
3. Upgrade Permits Plus from MS Access to MS SQL
4. Installation of redundant fiber-optic network segments
5. Supporting remote access to the Town's network for
employees
6. Network security assessment and security upgrade plan
7. Additional wireless network clusters
Estimated Project Cost: $50,000 to $75,000 per year
b. Business Recovery Plan — The Town would analyze threats to business
operations and develop a plan for recovery of key business systems,
networks and other supporting infrastructure that are critical to support of
those business operations. The recovery plan would be tested in a
business recovery simulation exercise on a regular basis. This plan is
important because the Town is located in a critical seismic zone, and
delivering Town services is becoming more and more dependent on
information technology.
Estimated Project Cost: $5,000 to $20,000
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Town of Los Gatos, CH Information Systems Strategic Plan
c. Phone Systems Standards and Upgrade — This project includes an
upgrade to the Town's telecommunications system to add new features,
capacity and functionality. This project is important because the features
listed here will improve employee efficiency and customer service.
Specific sub -projects currently included in this group are:
1. Voicemail system upgrades
2. Automated Attendant
3. Voice/Data network integration (voice over IP)
Estimated Project Cost: $90,000 to $140,000
d. e-Government — This group of projects focuses on improved use of
Internet technology that includes a redesign of the Town's web site to
provide on-line business transactions and deliver other services to the
community through a secure on-line portal. In most cases the sub-
projects included improve customer service by offering an alternative
means of access to existing Town services and information on a 24
hours/day, 7 days/week basis. Given that 89% of the Town's residents
have Internet access, improved services in this area would benefit just
about everyone. The project also includes the development and
implementation of an internal Intranet for sharing of data between Town
staff. Sub -projects include, but are not limited to:
1 Improvements (not redesign) of existing web pages to gather
more useful content and provide better two-way
communication with customers. Estimated Cost: None
Addition of on-line Permitting ASP service. Would allow
development application tracking and routine "over-the-
counter" building permits and inspection scheduling using
the Internet and a credit card. Estimated Cost: $20,000
3. Full redesign of web site including secure on-line portal and
enhanced functionality. Estimated Cost: $40,000 first
year/$18,000 per year afterwards.
e. IT Staffing and Organizational Structure — This is proposed as a two-
phase project. The first phase would evaluate the existing IT staffing and
organizational structure in the Town, identify staffing and structure
alternatives and recommend appropriate changes. An important issue
that should be considered in the analysis phase is the staffing backup
levels that would offer the greatest support for the relatively isolated
services now being provided by the IT Manager and in the Library and
Police Department. In the second phase, the organizational changes
would be implemented including the addition of staff if appropriate. The
project estimates listed below will accommodate a wide range of
alternatives. The range considered here covers the estimated cost of the
most likely alternatives. This includes, but is not limited to:
Alternative 1: Making no changes to the existing staff and
retaining existing levels of outside consultant support.
MAXIMUS Page 17 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CH Information S,stems Strategic Plan
g.
Alternative 2: Add one technical position reporting to the IT
Manager and partially offset the cost by a reduction in the use of
outside consultants.
Alternative 3: Add two technical positions reporting to the IT
Manager and partially offset the cost by a greater reduction in the
use of outside consultants. Each of the new positions would be
given responsibility for providing back-up technical support for
either the Library or for the Police Department.
Alternative 4: Add two technical positions reporting to the IT
Manager and retaining existing levels of outside consultant support.
Each of the new positions would be given primary responsibility for
providing technical support for either the Library or for the Police
Department as well as backfill for the IT Manager.
Estimated Project Cost — Phase 1: $5,000
Estimated Project Cost — Phase 2: $0 to $200,000 per year
Document Management and Workflow — Through this project, the Town
would purchase and implement hardware and software to store and
manage various forms of digital information including electronic
documents, scanned images of paper documents, photographs, videos,
etc. The workflow component would support the development of
automated processes to manage manual processes like Council Agenda
Packet processing increasing employee efficiency and effectiveness.
Assuming that the project would include some form of constituent self-
service access to Town information, benefits would flow to this group as
well. Considerable time has been invested in a review of this project. In
September 2002, a systems requirement study was completed for the
Town by a firm called @doc. A report was issued that described the
project elements and projected costs in detail.
Estimated Project Cost per @doc:
Phase 1: $500,000
Phase 2: $200,000
Phase 3: $16,500
Maintenance: $75,000 per year
As an alternative, the Town may wish to consider a pilot or "proof of
concept" type of Document Management project. Such a project could be
used to build a system and automated workflow for one area of the Town.
A logical place to start might be with the agenda management process.
The cost of such a pilot would be considerably less expensive than the full
project as described above. If the Town elects to take this approach, then
care should be taken in selecting the document management software to
be sure that the product could be scaled to a larger size later.
Pilot Project estimate: $75,000 initial and $5,000 per year
Financial/Payroll/HR System Upgrade or Replacement — This project
would focus on either replacement or upgrade of the Town's existing
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Town of Los Gatos, C., Information systems Strategic Plan
financial and payroll system. This project is included on the list because
of the existing system's age, lack of reliability and lack of functionality.
These old systems are becoming difficult and more expensive to maintain.
The project would replace and upgrade functionality of existing systems
plus add new functionality such as Human Resource Management, Job
Applicant Tracking, On-line Time and Leave Reporting and Electronic
Purchasing.
Estimated Project Cost $100,000 to $600,000 implementation/$10,000 to
$120,000 per year
h. Project Management System — This project would review the options for
automated project management software and select a standard system
for use throughout the Town. Included would be the development of
project management standards, a common project database and
integration to the Geographic Information System. Lack of a consistent
project management methodology supported by modern and efficient
software means that the Town is paying a higher price for their projects
than otherwise necessary.
Estimated Project Cost: $25,000 to $50,000/$5,000 per year
i. Computer Based Training (on-line) — This project would include the
selection and implementation of software that supports the development
and delivery of training via the Internet and Intranet. Employee training
increases employee effectiveness, improves retention and can offer
opportunities for cross training that improves service reliability.
Estimated Project Cost: $0 to $20,000 implementation plus cost of
developing and updating training material
j.
Constituent Relationship Management System and Call Center — This
project would select and implement a constituent centric database for
tracking inquiries, service requests and constituent services delivered by
Town staff. The project would evaluate the need for and benefits of a
Town "Call Center" that serves as a central point of contact for non -
emergency citizen contacts. Agencies that properly implement this
technology improve citizen service, increase employee accountability, and
get valuable and reliable management information on the types, frequency
and location of citizen requests. Frequently, agencies find that this
technology gives them the ability to anticipate trends and act in a
proactive manner.
Estimated Project Cost: $20,000 to $100,000 implemetation/$10,000 per
year plus Call Center staffing if applicable
k. Geographic Information System (GIS) — The GIS project includes the
selection of a standard set of GIS software, development of a common
Town base map, setting standards for the wide array of data layers linked
to the base map, a GIS database and deployment of the system on Town
MAXIMUS Page 19 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CH Information Systems Strategic Plan
desktop computers. Application areas supported by the GIS would
include facility inventory, property management, Public Works and
Engineering, Planning, crime analysis, and economic development. GIS
technology will allow the town to have access to better data for decision -
making.
Estimated Project Cost: $150,000 to $225,000 implementation/$10,000
per year
I. Facility and Asset Management System — This system would be used
by the Public Works staff to inventory and track maintenance activities on
a wide range of Town assets. Assets tracked include, transportation
facilities, utilities, buildings, and street trees. Systems that track these
resources are becoming increasingly popular as local governments face
increased legal pressure to meet reporting needs like those required by
GASB 34. Also, the town will be able to anticipate preventative
maintenance problems and reduce costs by acting proactively.
Estimated Project Cost: $150,000 to $245,000/$15,000 per year
m. Video Streaming and Interactive Conferencing — The Town's Intranet
and Internet services would be upgraded to support the addition of
equipment for sending and receiving video. The system could be used for
conducting interactive meetings and video casting of Town Council and
Commission meetings. This will reduce travel time and costs.
Estimated Project Costs: $25,000 to $30,000 implementation/$5,000 per
additional conference site
n. Radio Frequency ID (RFID) and Techlogic - This project is an upgrade
to the Library's Collection and Patron Management system. The system
would use electronic tags in patron's library cards and in library material to
automatically process check -ins and checkouts. This will improve security
for material reducing replacement costs and improve employee efficiency.
Estimated Project Cost: $150,000 to $250,000/$15-25,000 per year.
MAXIMUS Page 20 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy.tems Strategic Plan
Priority Setting Methodology
Once the IT vision was developed and goals set, the project team began to
develop consensus on project priorities. The final portion of the November 2002
workshop was devoted to starting the project priority setting process.
Town staff members that attended the full -day workshop were asked to prioritize
the IT projects within four (4) "Communities of Interest." Communities of interest
are comprised of Town staff members with similar business functions and needs.
These communities of interest for the priority setting process were:
• Finance/Human Resources — internal core business systems (Finance,
HR/Payroll).
• Police/Library/Community Services — projects and systems providing
direct services to external customers and/or supporting the delivery of
these direct services.
• Parks & Public Works/Community Development/Police— projects and
systems supporting development and park services to external customers
and/or supporting the delivery of these direct services.
• Town Manager/Attorney/Clerk — projects supporting the general
oversight responsibilities of these departments.
After the workshop, the project team took the final steps to determine the
recommended town wide priorities for all IT projects. Multiple factors were taken
into consideration before overall priority was determined. Each IT project was
evaluated and then rated in four (4) areas. The areas that the team used for this
evaluation process were:
1. The project's contribution to helping achieve the IT Vision and Goals.
2. The project's expected Return -on -Investment (ROI).
3. The project's Operational Necessity (O.N.) or risk of system failure.
4. The project priority within the different "Communities of Interest."
IS Project Ranking Matrix
The "IT Projects Ranking Matrix" (see page 23) shows the overall priority for
each of the Town's IT projects. In the matrix, we have included each project's
scores for each of the rating categories. A project's total score, which ranged
from a low score of 16 to a high score of 43, is listed in the right-hand column. In
this chart, lowest score represents projects with the highest overall value to the
Town.
MAXIMUS Page 21 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Sy.,tems Strategic Plan
GOALS: There are four scores listed in the Goals category. These correspond
to the four IT Goals areas developed by Town staff and described in the Town
wide IT Goals section of this report (see Chapter 3). The matrix shows ratings in:
G1 — Customer Service goal
G2 — IT Infrastructure goal
G3 — Information Integration goal
G4 — Teamwork goal
The values listed under each goal represent one of the following levels of
contribution to that goal:
1 Essential to the accomplishment of the goal. Without this project,
the Town will not be able to reach the stated goal.
2 High contribution to the goal.
5 Moderate contribution to the goal.
7 Low contribution to the goal.
10 No contribution to the goal.
Return on Investment (ROI): Here, projects are rated on their overall estimated
return on investment to the Town. The cost side of this evaluation comes from
project estimates developed by the consultant. Project scores in this category
are as follows:
Return on investment in less than 12 months - 1
Return on investment in 12-18 months - 2
Return on investment in 18-24 months - 3
Return on investment in 24-36 months - 5
Return on investment > 36 months - 10
Operational Necessity/Risk (O.N.): The primary consideration here was the risk
associated with continuing to use existing systems or information technology. In
other words, how risky is it for the Town to do nothing. In order to determine the
operational necessity/risk each IT project was evaluated on a case -by -case
basis. The factors that were taken into consideration here included the following:
• Functionality — How well is the system meeting the Town's business
needs?
• Vendor Situation — What is the current level of support that the Town
receives from the system's vendor? What is the prognosis for future
MAXIMUS Page 22 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA Information Systems Strategic Plan
support from the vendor? Is the vendor updating the application to
provide new features and staying in sync with changes in the hardware
and software environment?
• Consultant Situation — To what degree does the Town depend upon
consultants for technical support on the system(s)?
• Hardware Situation — Which hardware platform supports this application
and how vulnerable to failure is the hardware? How easy is it for the
Town to maintain and operate the hardware?
• Application Scalability — Can the system perform satisfactorily as the
number of simultaneous users and overall usage increases? This is of
particular concern where there is a desire to web enable the application.
• Operational Risk — What are the operational risks to the Town if the
application failed? How long after failure would it be before serious
problems arose?
O.N. Score
1 Extremely Necessary — Loss of use of the application/service both
likely and eminent due to more than one of the above factors.
2 Highly Necessary — Loss of use of the application/service probable
due to some combination of the above factors.
3 Moderately Necessary — Loss of use of the application/service
possible, mitigation available.
5 Low Necessity — Loss of use of the application/service not likely,
mitigation available.
10 No significant risk or necessity to replace the application or service.
Communities of Interest Rank (C of I Rank): This value represents the priority
the project received when ranked by the members of each "Community of
Interest" attending the November 2002 workshop. Projects were given the
following score depending upon their ranking within the communities of interest.
Top 20% Score — 5
Middle 60% Score — 7
Bottom 20% Score — 10
MAXIMUS Page 23 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CA
Projects - Ranking Matrix
Information Systems Strategic Plan
Rank
1
Project Description
Goals
ROI
2
O.N.
2
C of I
Rank
5
Overall
Score
16
Project'
Cost
Low/High`
$5/$200
G1
2
G2
2
G3
1
G4
2
e. IT Staffing and
Organizational Structure
2
d. e-Government
1
5
1
2
2
2
5
18
$19/$40
3
a. IT Infrastructure
Maintenance & Upgrades
1
1
2
5
2
2
7
20
$50/75
3
j. Constituent Relationship
Management and Call Center
1
5
1
1
2
3
7
20
$20/$100
5
k. Geographic Information
System
2
5
1
2
3
3
7
23
$150/$225
6
I. Facility and Asset
Management
2
5
2
2
5
1
7
24
$150/$245
7
g. Financial/Payroll System
Upgrade or Replacement
2
2
1
2
10
2
7
26
$100/$600
8
f. Document Management &
Workflow
2
5
1
2
10
3
7
30
$75/$716
9
b. Business Recovery Plan
5
2
7
5
1
1
7
34
$5/20
10
h. Project Management
System
7
7
2
2
2
5
10
35
$25/$50
11
c. Phone System Standards
and Upgrades
5
5
5
7
2
5
7
36
$90/140
12
m. Video Streaming and
Interactive Conferencing
5
5
7
5
3
5
10
40
$25/$30
13
i. Computer Based Training
7
7
5
5
3
5
10
42
$0/$20
14
n. Radio Frequency ID and
Techlogic
2
7
7
7
5
5
10
43
$150/$250
Funding Alternatives
Funding these projects presents a challenge to local government especially in
these difficult economic times. Despite funding problems, local government
investments in information technology continue to grow as a percentage of total
revenue each year. In the Return on Investment (ROI) studies we have done,
we frequently show savings potential in a number of areas.
• Employee efficiency and effectiveness is often improved with modern
systems when internal processes are re -engineered to use best business
practices employed by most packaged systems.
Project costs are in $1,000's and do not include ongoing costs.
2 Projects with a range of costs are listed when there is significant latitude for the Town to select
from a range of options on the project.
MAXIMUS Page 24 June 1, 2003
Town of Los Gatos, CH Information systems Strategic Plan
• Integrated systems that support broad access to data allow organizations
to eliminate the numerous shadow systems that they support and
maintain.
• IT maintenance costs are generally reduced with newer hardware and
software because as information systems age they become more and
more expensive to maintain.
• Newer systems have built-in "self service" features for employees and
citizens that allow these groups to get the information they need with out
the intervention of another employee on a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week
basis.
• With integrated workflow, the need to handle, process and file paper
documents can frequently be eliminated.
• Newer systems include enhanced internal security and controls that
improve data reliability and accuracy.
Governments are also getting more creative when it comes to funding new
information technology. Some of the strategies employed by governments
across the country include the following:
Convenience Fees: Agencies implementing e-government services that
collect fees frequently amend their fee schedules to include a small
charge on all transactions to fund e-government development and
maintenance. Others simply include a convenience fee as a separate
item on electronic transactions.
IT CIP: Many governments consider certain types of IT expenditures as
long-term capital investments. Here, they elect to allocate a portion of the
funds set aside for capital improvements into a special IT Capital
Improvement Program (CIP).
Bonding: Particularly when it comes to higher cost projects, some
agencies have issued bonds to finance the cost of these systems. In
other places, agencies have internally supported financing programs
where the city literally lends itself the money for the project and the
repayment (with interest) supports the finance program.
Grants and Donations: Seeking grants and donations for hardware,
software and services is another option however, opportunities in this area
have decreased significantly over the past five years. This approach has
been most successfully used in Libraries, Schools and Law Enforcement.
Bartering: While opportunities in this area are very limited, some bay
area cities have been successful trading right-of-way access for fiber optic
cables, transmission antenna sites for free cell phone services, or locating
transmission sites on public buildings in exchange for wireless services.
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Town of Los Gatos, CH Information Systems Strategic Plan
There are also several approaches that have been tried and met little success.
These include:
Selling Information: Many local governments tried in the 1990's to fund
their GIS projects with the assumption that they could sell the data and
maps to commercial organizations.
Advertising: Some public sector web sites attempted to sell advertising
to fund early e-government projects. Most of these projects met the same
degree of success as dot com businesses that were based upon this
funding model. On the other hand, this approach seems to work well for
bus fleets, airports, golf courses, and stadiums, none of which are
operated by the Town of Los Gatos.
Conclusion:
The Town's IT project priorities and investment capacity will always be changing.
The project ranking methodology and matrix used in this IT Strategic Plan are
designed to provide lasting value to the Town. As circumstances dictate, the
methodology can be re -worked to assign a priority to a new need, or to reassess
priorities for all the projects on the list as a result of changes in the internal and
external environment. This will assure that the towns IT project priorities reflect
the town's business goals and return the greatest value for the dollars spent.
MAXIMUS Page 26 June 1, 2003
1
Town of Los Gatos, California
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Phase 1 —Assessment Report
November 19, 2002
Prepared by:
MAXIMUS , Inc.
Rancho Cordova, CA
Appendix A
Town of Los Gatos, CA
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 1
2. Assessment Findings and Observations 5
2.1. IS Infrastructure 5
2.2. Staffing and Organizational Structure 8
2.3. Organizational Readiness 9
3. Systems Assessment to
3.1. Police Department 10
3.2. Finance Department 11
3.3. Human Resource Department 11
3.4. Parks and Public Works Department 12
3.5. Community Development Systems 13
3.6. Community Services Department Systems 13
3.7. Library Systems 14
3.8. Town Clerk Department 14
3.9. Town's Web Site 15
4. Project Ideas 17
Appendix A - Table of Contents
Town of Los Gatos, CA
1. Executive Summary
An assessment of the Town of Los Gatos' environment and infrastructure described in this report
was conducted during the months of August, September and October 2002. This was the first
step in developing the Town's Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan.
The project began with a workshop for the Town's Technology Advisory Committee and
Department Heads that covered the scope and objectives of the project and a detailed discussion
of emerging policy trends and technologies affecting local government. Detailed interviews were
conducted with each department head and their key staff members. During these discussions,
we reviewed departmental business functions, goals, current uses (or lack of use) of IT, and
desirable future uses of technology. The goal of this first phase of the project was to gain a
general understanding of management and technical staff's views of IT services and needs
throughout the Town.
This report summarizes our findings and observations at the conclusion of the assessment phase
of the project. This report will form the basis for the balance of our work on the IT Strategic Plan.
The report is organized into three (3) major sections. In the first section after this executive
summary, we have listed the findings and observations that emerged during the assessment
process. Following the findings and observations section is a more detailed discussion of each
group of departmental systems including key systems related issues. The final section of the
report includes a list of project ideas raised by Town staff. This list is unprioritized.
The easiest way to summarize the Town's current IT environment is to list the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats at a high level. As we proceed to develop the Town's IT
strategic plan, our goal will be to capitalize on the strengths, make the most of opportunities,
address weaknesses and minimize threats.
Strengths: Highly reliable and functional IT infrastructure.
Consistent use of industry standard components (nothing "off the wall").
Outstanding service and support from all staff members that support IT.
Weaknesses: Limited staff resources to accommodate new initiatives.
No back up or cross -trained staff to support key systems.
Dependence on consultants for support of key systems.
Little or no redundancy in key network components.
Staff apprehension over impacts of new technology and systems.
Opportunities: Civic Center planning process could be used to address IT infrastructure issues.
e-Government interest from community is strong.
Threats: Town is susceptible to natural disasters (earthquake and fire).
The ongoing potential of attacks from hackers and viruses.
Loss of key IT support resources could impact operations.
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The Town operates an information systems and technology environment that is comparable and
typical for municipal governments of Los Gatos' size and levels of service. The Town's IT
environment is reliable and effective for current needs as it has evolved over a number of years.
The environment reflects the expected mix of old and new technologies with no rogue solutions in
place. It has been the Town's practice to purchase all application systems from outside vendors
and rely on those vendors for a majority of the technical support needed to run automated
business operations. This practice is quite common in today's smaller local governments. It
allows the Town to avoid the high costs of staffing a large IT technical and operational staff.
In order to better understand the overall IT environment in Los Gatos, we compared the town's IT
expenditures to those of other government agencies. For over 20 years, the Gartner Group, an
IT advisory service, has surveyed IT expenditure trends in a wide range of industries. Looking at
the Gartner data for the government sector, IT spending continues to increases at a steady rate.
Gartner uses IT spending as a % of total agency revenue to measure this trend. According to the
2001 Gartner survey, IT spending in government is increasing at an average of 8% per year. The
following table summarizes Gartner's findings with respect to what government agencies are
spending on IT as a percentage of total revenue.
Progressive adopters of information
technolo•
Mainstream adopters of information
technolo •
Conservative adopters of information
technology
There are a couple of cautions regarding the Gartner data. First, the survey is not random. It is a
compilation of data from Gartner clients that elect to respond to the survey. As a result, it is likely
that the responses are slightly skewed to the high side. In other words, actual expenditure levels
for all government agencies would likely be lower than the percentages shown in the table.
Second, the survey results do not differentiate by type of government, so the data reflects
responses from cities, counties, state and federal agencies, some of which operate programs and
services considerably different than those in the Town of Los Gatos.
The Town of Los Gatos' central Information Technology budget for FY 02/03 is $1,070,900 and
total Town revenue for this same period is $48.5 million. In addition to the centralized IT budget,
the Town has allocated funds in departments for IT related items. A budget review identified an
additional $220,000 of IT related expenses funded primarily in Public Works, Police and Library.
Combining these two amounts, the total budget for IT in the Town of Los Gatos is $1,285,900.
Compared to the Gartner analysis, the Town spends 2.65% of total revenue on information
technology related items. The 2.65% of total revenue spending level for IT, places Los Gatos on
the lower side of being a "Conservative Adopter" of information technology among government
agencies.
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While this comparison in and of itself does not justify any changes in the Town's IT budget, it
does show that the Town of Los Gatos allocates fewer budget resources to the information
technology area than the other public sector agencies that responded to the Gartner study.
Expanding this comparison further, MAXIMUS has worked with other governments in the area,
and some additional data is available for selected northern California cities. For example, the
City of Sacramento (Pop. 400,000) spends 2.9%, the City of Antioch (Pop. 96,000) spends 3.1%
and the City of Sunnyvale (Pop. 110,000) spends 6.36% of total revenue on information
technology. In the case of both Sacramento and Antioch, both agencies have made major
commitments for new IT project spending following a comprehensive evaluation of needs and the
development of an IT Strategic Plan that prioritized those needs.
In conducting the assessment phase of this project, we found that the major IT related issues
most frequently discussed by town staff fall into three groups. There are multiple related issues in
each group with interrelations with complex dependencies between them. The major issues can
be summarized as follows:
Information Technology Infrastructure — In general we found that the Town of Los Gatos
operates an Information Technology network that is cost effective and serviceable for existing
needs. There are very few capacity or reliability problems, and the Town has not experienced
any significant security issues in the recent past.
Looking forward in the planning process, there are limitations and vulnerabilities in this
infrastructure that will need to be addressed to help assure successful implementation of the
projects in an IT Strategic Plan and to assure that Los Gatos can continue to meet the changing
needs of the community it serves.
Staffing and Organizational Structure — Staffing and organizational structure in the IT area
present both the greatest challenges and opportunities for the organization. At the present time
there are three major limitations that relate to staffing and organizational structure. First, is the
limited amount of resources in the IT unit that sets its service delivery capacity. Similarly, this
situation is also present in the departments that directly supporting IT functions like the Police,
Library and Public Works. Second, the Town's current IT organizational structure provides no
overlap of technical support services. Without overlap and/or cross training, a Toss of any of the
Town's IT support staff, could directly affect system operations for some time. Finally, the Town
seems to have a very high level of dependence on outside consultants for technical support. This
is particularly critical with the support of the finance/payroll system (Sunguard Pentamation).
Organizational Apprehension — It appears that the staffing and organizational structure issues
mentioned above are also causing a general level of concern among the staff about the major
impacts that would occur when implementing and adapting to new systems. Many town staff
expressed concerns about what they perceive to be serious resource limitations for supporting
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these new IT initiatives and how that would affect their ability to use the new technology as they
go about their daily tasks.
Combined together, the staffing and organizational readiness issues point to the probability that
Los Gatos is likely getting Tess of a return on its current technology investments than otherwise
possible. Further, any new investments are likely to generate limited returns.
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2. Assessment Findings and Observations
The Town of Los Gatos IT Strategic Planning project encompasses four phases. This report
documents our findings at the conclusion of the first phase. In this first phase (Survey and
Assessment), the project team reviewed all the Town's major automated systems. The review
included a combination of interviews with Department Heads and Town staff considered subject
matter experts in the various Town systems.
Along with gaining valuable background information and developing a detailed understanding of
how well these systems support the Town's business functions, we also gained insight into a
collection of three issue groups that will impact the Town's ability to successfully implement the
projects in an IT Strategic Plan. These issue groups that emerged from this analysis are:
Information Technology Infrastructure, Staffing and Organizational Structure and Organizational
Readiness. During the course of the balance of the IT Strategic Planning process, we will further
analyze these issues, identify alternatives and recommend strategies to minimize their future
impact on the Town. The overall goal is to maximize the Town's return on IT investments.
2.1. IS Infrastructure
For an organization of its size, the Town of Los Gatos operates a comprehensive information
technology infrastructure. Logically, the Town's network is well constructed and meets the
current needs of the users. The Town's IT infrastructure consists of several major components.
These major components and their relationships are illustrated in the following diagram.
Desktop Computers
Applications
Core Business Systems
Applications
Line of Business Systems
2. Network
IT
Staff
Network:
This is the lowest common denominator or foundation of the Town's IT
infrastructure. The network includes the wiring, hubs, routers and
switches that interconnect all the other components.
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Applications:
This layer includes all the Town's computers that host the various
applications systems.
The Town's applications fall into two groups. The Core Business
Systems Group support all departments in the Town while the Line of
Business Systems provide support to a single department or small
collection of related departments. An example of a system that supports
a core business function is GroupWise, while a system supporting a
single department would include Computer Aided Dispatch in Police.
The desktop includes the computers and single user applications like
WordPerfect and Excel that are assigned to individual Town employees.
As a result of the assessment phase of the project, we have identified three sub -issue areas
related to IT infrastructure that will need to be addressed at some point in the timeframe of this
plan (present to +4 years). If these broad issues are not addressed in conjunction with the other
parts of the IT Strategic Plan, the Town will not derive full value from future IT investments. The
issues are discussed in what we believe is their order of importance.
The first topic here is IT Network Infrastructure. IT network infrastructure forms the
foundation upon which all IT services are delivered. Problems here exacerbate issues in all other
areas. Generally, we found that the network service levels met the overall needs of the
organization. This includes reliability, performance and security issues. However, despite the
general comfort with these services, several issues were noted during the course of the Phase 1
Assessment.
Redundancy: Little if any redundancy exists in any of the Town's IT infrastructure. This
includes network components (hubs, routers, and cables) as well as servers. Any event
(natural or manmade) that would disrupt or destroy all or part of this network could make
service delivery difficult.
Business Continuity Planning: Sometimes referred to as Disaster Recovery, this issue
is closely related to Redundancy. The Town does not have a tested plan outlining how
core business functions supported by IT services would be restored and operated
following a disruptive event like an earthquake, fire or terrorist attack.
Security: The town has been very fortunate in that there have been no major outbreaks
of computer viruses or attacks by hackers. In part this is due to the Town's use of
GroupWise in lieu of more common e-mail systems like Microsoft Outlook/Exchange.
As a result, few staff members felt that IT security was something that they needed to
worry about. In and of itself, this overall level of complacency towards security issues
could become problematic for the Town in the future. Security awareness and
compliance with stated policies should be a high priority for Town management and staff
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alike. Some of the best practices that should be on the Town's radar screen and
monitored in this area include:
• Limit the installation and use of modems for outside dial -up access as much as
possible, as modems can serve as an unsecured point of entry for attacks.
• Enforce password standards.
• Enforce virus protection use and regular updates by all staff.
• Limit the use of computer remote control software like PCAnywhere.
The second topic area that emerged during the projects assessment phase is related to Core
Business Systems in use at the Town. The issues identified here include:
Conversion from WordPerfect to Word: Most staff members were confused about
whether or not a final decision had been made by Town management on the Town's
conversion from WordPerfect to Word. Despite the confusion over the Town's direction
here, nearly everyone mentioned that they were anxious for firm resolution. A minimal
number of staff members expressed any significant concern about the possible change.
Functionality of Sunguard Pentamation: Opinions on the value and functionality of the
Sunguard Pentamation system varied widely throughout the organization. Manager's
generally see the system as being inflexible and not meeting the needs their needs while
analysts who understand the system say that they can get what they need, but
acknowledge that there are shortcomings. Some of the shortcomings mentioned include:
• Unfriendly user interface (not Windows GUI)
• Lack of a flexible query tool
• Inflexibility of the chart of accounts
• Limitations on reports
• Variations in data entry formats
• Limitations in checking for duplicate payments
• No forecasting capability
• Problems with the Position Control module
In addition to the general concerns about functionality, several other issues were
discussed with respect to the financial system. First, the Town's installed version is two
or more generations behind the vendor's current release. This raises a concern for
maintainability vendor support. Second, the Town relies mainly on an outside consultant
for technical support. Finally, the presence of several Los Gatos specific customizations
in the application itself that were developed by the consultant, raise concerns about
upgradeability.
Web Site: The general consensus of Town staff was that the Town's web site was
lacking in content and in need of a serious overhaul. Concern was also expressed about
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the role the Town should play as an information provider to the community, and that the
Town's web site was an important source for everyone and critical for bridging the gap
between the information "haves" and information "have-nots."
Throughout the IT Strategic Planning process, we will expand upon these issues, evaluate
alternatives were appropriate and recommend direction.
The third sub -issue is New Functionality. Nearly everyone that participated in the assessment
process had ideas and opinions about IT projects and services that would help the Town. A
complete list of the staffs ideas for new projects and technical upgrades is included in Section 4
of this report.
2.2. Staffing and Organizational Structure
This issue encompasses both the level of staff resources that are assigned to support IT and the
internal organizational structure and the resulting relationships in affect that affect service
delivery. There are several related topics that fall under the Staffing and Organizational Structure
issue.
IT Staff Resources: The IT staff in the Town of Los Gatos consists of a full-time IT Manager and
an Administrative support person. The IT Manager is responsible for all functions normally
performed by an IT Department, with a few exceptions. These exceptions include:
• Telecommunications (infrastructure and support) are handled by Public Works.
• Technical support for the Library's system (Epixtech) is handled by a Librarian.
• The Police Department has part-time IT support from an MIS Technician
• An outside consultant provides most technical and functional support for the Sunguard
Pentamation system.
• Other technical services are provided by a collection of outside consultants.
• The Town's web site is supported by two staff members (one in Finance and one in the
Library) on a part-time basis.
Without exception, Town staff rates the services and support received from the IT Manager as
outstanding. At the same time, nearly everyone expressed concern that the Town cannot or
should not plan any major IT projects given the lack of resources in this area.
Departmental IT Resources: As noted earlier, there are four (4) major departments who's key
systems are supported and managed by staff members that have been diverted from other
functional areas within those departments or by consultants. In all cases, the support available
for these key systems is very limited (i.e.: part-time), and more importantly, there is no backup for
these individuals. Despite the limitations, no major complaints about the support services
provided were noted.
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Given the issues raised here, it would be in the Town's best interest to take a look at the
alternatives available to address these limitations at some point in the IT Strategic Planning
process.
2.3. Organizational Apprehension
As we went through the assessment process discussing current issues and future needs with
each department, a somewhat subtle but consistent theme emerged. Overall, staff members
seemed apprehensive or concerned about moving aggressively with new systems projects
because they were concerned about the limited IT staff resources available in the Town.
Staff members also questioned whether they would have the time to learn how to use new
systems and technology. Upon further investigation of these concerns, they stem from a variety
of causes including past experiences with new systems, a perceived lack of focus on training
and/or a lack of time to focus on the major organizational changes that these projects would bring
to the Town.
At the present state of staffing and organizational readiness, it is highly probable that the Town is
not realizing a full return on its' IT investments. Further, any new projects would likely deliver
marginal results, or in some cases cause more disruption and frustration than necessary if the
organizational issues are not addressed up front.
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3. Systems Assessment
The project team conducted a detailed assessment of the Town's major business systems. This
portion of the report documents our observations of these systems and summarizes the key
issues.
3.1. Police Department
The Los Gatos Police Department is organized into two major units, Operations and Support
Services. The Department has a compliment of 46 sworn officers and 31 non -sworn support staff
that provide police services to both the Town of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno. The major
systems that support business in the Los Gatos Police Department are as follows:
• Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)
• Records Management (RMS)
• Mug Shots
• Fingerprint System
• Mobile Data Terminals
• County & State Systems
• File and Print sharing
• E-mail and Calendaring
The Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management Systems have been purchased from a
company called Tiberon. According to Police management, the CAD/RMS was upgraded in April
2002. We noted no serious or major functional issues in these core police systems, however,
there was keen interest in ongoing functional upgrades to improve the overall effectiveness of law
enforcement personnel with a major emphasis being on getting more data to the officer on the
street.
The Town's criminal justice systems also support interfaces to regional law enforcement systems
at the County, State and Federal levels.
Police Systems Issues:
• Police Management indicated a strong concern about the customer support that they
receive from the CAD/RMS vendor.
• The system is currently being upgraded to support report writing in the field.
• Time keeping was sighted as a major issue by Police management.
• The Police department would like greater access to other Town systems such as
Business Licenses.
• There are technical problems with Uniform Crime Reporting functions that need to be
addressed.
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• The police department would like to evaluate the use of Automated Vehicle Location
(AVL) using geo-positioning technology.
• There is limited (part-time) technical support for Police systems and technology.
3.2. Finance Department
The Town's finance system that supports the core business functions of the Finance Department
is licensed from Sunguard Pentamation and is commonly referred to as "Pentamation." The
Town first licensed the system in 1992-93. Modules in use at the Town include General Ledger,
Accounts Payable, Encumbrances, Report Writing, Payroll, Business Licenses, Budgeting and
Purchasing.
In general, the Finance Department and other Town departments do not see the Pentamation
system as meeting their needs. The system is viewed as hard to use, not accessible, contains
limited detailed information, cumbersome, and unable to do forecasting or comparisons.
Because the system is viewed in this way, the Finance Department feels that Town departments
avoid accepting full accountability for financial control.
Financial Systems Issues:
• The Town's relationship with the vendor is limited. This problem is further exacerbated
by the fact that the Town's system is at least two (2) versions behind the vendor's current
release.
• The Town relies on a "consultant" for technical support. The consultant is a former
employee of Pentamation and there was an indication of relationship issues between the
consultant and Pentamation that may not be in the Town's best interest.
• Users throughout the Town stated that they don't like the system and "avoid" it whenever
possible.
• Knowledge of how the system works is concentrated in a small number of employees in
the Finance Department.
• Through the consultant, the Town has made several customized changes to the system
(customizations) that probably will have a negative impact on upgrading to a newer
release of the software.
• There were several functional deficiencies in the system noted including: lack of flexibility
in the Chart of Accounts, lack of standard and "ad hoc" reports, no ability to check for
duplicate payments, no forecasting capability, lack of standards and policies in
purchasing, and technical problems with Position Control.
3.3. Human Resource Department
The Town's Human Resource Department currently has been limited to inquiry access only in the
Pentamation system for Human Resource related functions. The HR staff expressed a strong
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belief that the system was and still is geared to the Finance Department and the Finance
Department staff agreed with this assessment. HR staff members primarily use manual
processes to perform several core business activities including; performance evaluations, step
increases, benefits administration, and recruitment.
Human Resource System Issues:
• Manual processes are cumbersome and ineffective.
■ The HR Department cannot produce reports directly from the system to meet their needs.
■ A decision was made at some point in the past by the Finance Department to deny HR
staff on-line access to update the system.
3.4. Parks and Public Works Department
The Public Works Department is supported by a number of core systems. These include Fleet
Management/Fuel (Perigren), Sewer Maintenance (COSMO), Pavement Management, and a
Geographic Information System. In addition, to the Town's telecommunications systems, this
department manages including voice switches, voice -mail, and a fiber-optic network for traffic
control.
Public Works' System Issues:
• The collection of systems that supports the core business functions of Public Works lacks
overall integration.
• A number of core business functions are supported by manual processes or automated
processes that don't work (Sewer Maintenance, Street Sweeping, Tree Inventory and
permits)
• Public Works has identified functional limitations in the systems that support core
business processes. As a result, the department has issued an RFP for an integrated
asset management system. The Town has received responses from vendors and
evaluation of those responses is currently on hold.
The Town is using GIS technology in a very limited fashion for the production of thematic maps.
These maps are used to varying degrees in Public Works, Planning, and the Police Department.
The primary software for GIS in Public Works is AutoCAD while others in the Town are using
Arcview by ESRI. According to the Town Engineer, the limited use of GIS is due mainly to an
overall lack of accuracy in the Town's map and a lack of survey monumentation in the field linked
to the map.
GIS Issues:
• GIS thematic layers have been developed, as they are needed by the various projects.
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• The Town Engineer has an overall plan for developing a GIS system. The plan is well
conceived and thorough. The Town Engineer has substantial relevant experience in this
area that will benefit the project. To date, other departments that could benefit from the
use of GIS technology have not been as involved in the decision making process as they
could be. Active participation by Police, Planning and others could increase the benefits
available for the sharing of GIS data across department lines in the future.
• Fully functional Arcview software licenses are relatively expensive to give to the casual
GIS user.
The Parks Division of Public Works uses a system supplied by Sierra Digital called RecWare.
The system supports a wide range of activity scheduling including classes, leagues, facilities and
events. The Parks Division uses the system primarily to schedule and manage reservations for
the Town's park and picnic areas.
Recreation Systems Issues
• The RecWare system does not easily interface to the Town's accounting system. This
exacerbates problems issuing refund checks for canceled reservations.
3.5. Community Development Systems
The primary system that supports core business functions in the Community Development
Department is the Permits Plus system from Accela. The system is used by CDD to managing
planning permits, building permits and building inspections. The Engineering Division uses the
system for processing encroachment permits. This department also has access to a parcel
ownership database supplied by Metroscan and uses some basic functions in GIS.
Community Development System Issues
• The Permits Plus was upgraded recently from a text based to a Windows version, and
the users resent the fact that functionality was lost.
• An on-line payment via credit card for permits is available at a cost to the Town. Usage
of this feature has been delayed for both cost reasons and in hopes that some overall
direction on credit card payments might be set for the Town as a whole.
• The Permits Plus system was upgraded with insufficient training.
• The department has identified extensive additional needs for GIS services.
3.6. Community Services Department Systems
The Community Services Department administers a wide range of programs from housing and
arts programs to managing the Neighborhood Center. Overall, the department has very limited
automation capability that supports core business functions other than the functionality provided
by general purpose PC programs like Excel and GroupWise.
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Community Services Department Systems Issues
• The department staff members want to see a regular IT training program developed.
• The department staff believes that there are systems in use in the Town that could be
used by multiple departments to improve efficiency and customer service, and they would
like to see a policy on shared access.
• There is a growing need to offer public access computers in some CSD facilities. Like in
the Library, this raises security, maintenance and usage issues.
3.7. Library Systems
The Library's core business functions are supported by a catalogue and patron management
system supplied by Epixtech. The Library migrated from the earlier Dynix text based system to
the Epixtech version one and a half years ago. In addition, the Library offers public access
Internet computers during business hours and the Librarian has oversight responsibility for the
Town's web site. Because of its public use computers, the Library maintains a separate Internet
connection and its network is outside the Town's security "firewall". There are two PC's in the
Library that are connected to the Town's network that are used for accessing GroupWise and
other management systems.
Library Department Systems Issues
• The Library is planning to implement "Cybrarian" to help control minimize the problems all
libraries face with public access Internet computers. This includes computer reservations
and enforcement of usage time limits.
• The Library has limited technical support to manage a major application.
• Public access computers in the Library pose a constant maintenance challenge as well
as issues over scheduling, security, and filtering.
3.8. Town Clerk Department
The Town Clerk's Office maintains the legislative record back to 1887. All the records that the
Clerk's Office maintains are on paper and located in the Town Hall. As an aid to managing these
records, the Clerk's office uses several indexing tools including WordPerfect, Excel, Clerk's
Index, and Executive Card Manager. Some of the index tools allow shared access by Town
Departments.
The Clerk's Office has been instrumental in initiating a requirements study for acquisition and
implementation of a Document Management System.
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 14
Town of Los Gatos, CA
Town Clerk Systems Issues
• The Town Clerk is responsible for maintaining the Town's record retention schedule. It is
generally felt that Town Departments do not adhere to the retention schedule. This will
present challenges with the implementation of a Document Management System.
3.9. Town Manager
In addition to the Departments listed above that have functional responsibility for specific
business systems, discussions were held with the Town Manager's Office. Comments and
issues generally reflected this office's oversight and management responsibilities.
Town Manager
• Searching for information is a key issue in the Town and given the systems and tools
available, searching is inefficient and "speed" is important.
• Functions supported by GroupWise (e-mail and calendaring) work well and are readily
accepted by Town staff.
• Getting information out on the Town's web site is slow and inefficient.
• There are too many versions of the "customer" in multiple systems and databases.
• Town Council agenda development and assembly process needs improvement.
• Town needs information technology systems that are customer centric not function
centric.
• Improving service delivery using e-government and other technologies is an important
priority.
3.10. Town Attorney
Comments and issues for the Town Attorney's office were similar to comments for the Town
Manager's office. Both departments devote much of their time reviewing documents from other
departments, and the process for reviewing and approving Council reports and other documents
could be improved with the use of technology.
Attorney Issues
• The Town needs to maintain an awareness of the overall impacts of The Brown Act and
other public access requirements and make sure that internal policies and technologies
are compliant.
• Town policies on use of systems (Internet, e-mail etc.) need to be monitored and updated
as needs and technology changes.
• Town policies on use of electronic signatures will be a big issue in the near future.
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 15
Town of Los Gatos, CA
• The Town needs to implement Document Management technologies to improve
efficiency of document review, document retrieval, prevent lost documents, and maintain
the confidentiality necessary for this department.
3.11.Town's Web Site
The Town operates a general government web site under www.town.los-gatos.ca.us. Portions of
the Town's web site are managed by different staff members throughout the Town (Library,
Finance and Police). The Town's web site was originally developed as a joint web site for the
Town and the Chamber of commerce in an effort to show unity. Eventually, the Town decided
that a web site with a more general government orientation was needed and separated the two
entities. This separation has lead to continuing confusion over where the "official" town site is
located. A web search for "Town of Los Gatos" resulted in the following references:
Town Web Site Issues
• The similarity between the Town's web site and the web site sponsored by the Los Gatos
Chamber of commerce creates confusion for the public.
• The site does not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards for accessibility.
• Search engine functions on the site do not meet public's need.
• The content and quality of the information available on the web site is generally viewed
as limited.
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 16
Town of Los Gatos, CA
4. Project Ideas
In all the discussions held with Town staff during the assessment phase of the project, we took
time to discuss ideas that staff members had for new projects and other improvements that could
be made using information technology. This section of the report summarizes all of the project
ideas that were discussed. The list is not in priority order, nor does it include cost estimates or
assessments of organizational impact. Future phases of this project will fully consider these
issues.
IT Staffing and Organizational Structure — This project would examine the staffing levels in IT
and other Town departments allocated to supporting IT systems. The project would develop
staffing alternatives including the use of outside consultants and alternatives for the IT
organizational structure including the pro's and con's of each alternative.
Business Recovery Plan — The purpose of this project would be to assess risks to the Town
associated with the lost of major IT systems and/or components. Alternatives for recoverability
including redundancy, alternate back-up sites and business recovery strategies would be
developed.
IT Infrastructure Maintenance & Upgrades — This group includes projects that would maintain
and upgrade the Network and Shared Server layers as illustrated in the diagram in section 2.1 of
this report. These projects generally provide additional capacity, improved redundancy,
increased reliability and/or maintain currency with industry standards.
Civic Center plan for network infrastructure
➢ Internal Infrastructure
• Installation of MS SQL Server
• Upgrade/conversion of Permits Plus from Access To MS SQL
• Additional and Redundant Fiber -Optic network segments
Remote access to Town network for employees (mobile computing)
Technical Security Assessment and Security Upgrade Plan
Wireless Access to Town network
➢ Phone system standards and upgrades
• Voicemail upgrades
• Automated Attendant for citizen access to information via touch-tone
phones
• Voice over Internet Protocol (IP)
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 17
Town of Los Gatos, CA
e-Government — Projects in this group focus on improved use of Internet technology to deliver
services to the community on-line in a secure environment. In most cases, projects provide
alternative access channels for existing Town services. Providing these new access channels
does not minimize the need to continue provide access to Town services in traditional ways, but
offers an alternative that can be available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
Web site redesign (Internet)
➢ Development of an internal Town web site for staff use (Intranet)
On-line payments
➢ On-line Permits (Building, Encroachment, Planning, Street Closure, etc.)
y e-procurement
Public Information
On-line Council Packets
Z On-line forms (applications, service requests, etc.)
Core Business Systems Upgrades and Enhancements — This collection of projects focuses
on functional upgrades or new systems for core Town Business functions.
Y Document Management and Workflow to support internal/external processes including
Agenda Management
Sunguard Pentamation Upgrade or Replacement
o Job Applicant Tracking
o On-line Timecards for Town Staff
➢ Project Management System (industry standard tools)
r On-line Computer Based Training (internal and external)
Customer Relationship Management Systems and Call Center
➢ GIS
➢ Facility and Asset Management with Workflow for Town Infrastructure (Parks and Public
Works)
Field Force Automation (inspectors, public safety, etc.)
➢ Video Streaming and Interactive Conferencing including Council/Commission needs
➢ Radio Frequency ID (RFID) and Techlogic (Library)
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 18
Town of Los Gatos, CA
5. Communities of Interest Project Priorities
At the IT Strategic Planning workshops held November 6th and 7th, 2002, the workshop
participants were divided into four (4) different communities of interest. Communities of interest
are departments with similar interests and/or closely related functions. Each group was asked to
review the list of IT projects and identify their top priorities. The communities of interest groups
and their high priority projects were as follows:
Community Services, Library and Police
IT Staffing and Organizational Structure
➢ E-government
Document Management and Workflow
Sunguard Pentamation Upgrade or Replacement
Technical Security Assessment and Security Upgrade Plan
Phone System Standards and Upgrades
Town Manager, Attorney and Clerk
IT Staffing and Organizational Structure
➢ Facility Asset Management with Workflow
➢ Customer Relationship Management
Document Management and Workflow
E-government
➢ Business Recovery Plan
➢ IT Infrastructure
Community Development and Parks and Public Works
Y GIS
➢ Facility and Asset Management
r IT Infrastructure (MS SQL Server and Upgrade Permits Plus)
Y IT Staffing and Organizational Structure
➢ Document Management and Workflow
Finance and Human Resources
➢ IT Staffing and Organizational Structure
E-government (Intranet, On-line Payments)
;- Sunguard Pentamation Upgrade or Replacement
Document Management & Workflow
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A - Phase 1 - Assessment
MAXIMUS
Page 19
Our People
Make the
Difference
Town of Los Gatos
IT Strategic Planning
August 29, 2002
Steve Ferguson - MAXIMUS, Inc.
"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans
are useless, but planning is indispensable."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"HELPING GOVERNMENT SERVE THE PEOPLE"
"Dedicated to
your success!"
MAXIMUS
Agenda
Strategic Planning Project Overview
Emerging Public Policy Issues & Technology
Managing Organizational Change
Anything Else?
1.
✓faster Plan - Workshop Materials
)endix B 1
"Dedicated 10
your success!"
OW
IT Strategic Planning Project Phases
1. Initial Assessment
2. Vision, Goals and Project Priorities Workshop
3. Feedback/Finalization of the Plan
MAXIMUS
Critical Success Factors:
✓Active Participation
✓Flexibility
✓Honest Communication
2.
"Dedicated to
your success!"
MAXIMUS
"Vision without action is merely
a dream. Action without vision
just passes the time. Vision with
action can change the world."
Joel Barker
Organization's Vision & Goals
IT Goal
Project
•
IT Vision
IT Goal
Project
Project
Project
Prole
roject
IT Goal
Proje_
oject
3.
}
IT
Strategic
Plan
IT
Tactical
Plan
(Budget)
✓faster Plan - Workshop Materials
�endix B 2
"Dedicated to
your success!"
MAXIMUS
The Role of Goals in the IT Strategic
Planning Process
Focus the Vision
Describe how the Vision will be achieved
Must be relevant to business and customer
needs
Usually fall into one of the following areas:
•Customer Service
•Partnerships (Internal & External)
•Information Integration
•IT Infrastructure
4.
MAXIMUS
Internet Based Staff Survey
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Please Nick on'our region to ngwn
"Esil&nd Communities...
Embracing ohmtge...
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• North • North Sheri,
• South • Sou.n Sr.%re
• .South Centrui • St. ZI_Si_e
• Northwest
• Central C'enlmtl Libraries
• Northeast • Donnell
• Fordham • Mid -Manhattan
,Murthallmm • Performmq Art Circulating
• Lower East Side Collections
• Midtown South • slat. Circulating collectors
• Central Hallam • Andrew Herskell
• WOOS Std@
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5.
C Master Plan - Workshop Materials
.ppendix B 3
"Dedicated to
your success!"
Key Deliverables for Town of Los Gatos
•Assessment Report that includes analysis of key
issues, plus the consultant's SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.
•Visioning workshop
•IT Strategic Plan including recommended
Strategic IT Vision & Goals, Project Priorities
Matrix and documentation of implementation
issues.
•Web based plan review process
•Cost estimates will include all Town requirements
plus identification of sourcing options.
6.
"Dedicated to
your success!"
Emerging Public Policy Issues & Technology
MAXIMUS
What are the key IT related policy
issues in the public sector today,
and what role is technology playing
in addressing these issues?
What new technologies are
emerging today, and how will they
impact our business?
Group Exercise!
7.
Master Plan - Workshop Materials
Dpendix B 4
"Dedicated 10
your success!"
How the Public Sector is Changing
Tracstional Public
Sector — pre Y2K
Transitional Petiod
— Y2K to 2004 a.on
Internet Economy —
Bricks &Mortar
N./Ai-Modal
Mrtual avemt turf
Silo Agencies
Evolving Partnerships
Seaniess Services
Citizens
Evolving 0istorrers
Custarers
Centralized Information
Corer
Information Sharing
Netvorked Stores of
Kedge
Fierarchical Nhnagerrent
Assertive V bridoroe
Matrix Mfanagerrent and
Errpmerrrent
MAXIMUS
8.
"Dedicated to
your .success!"
MAXIMUS
Top Emerging Strategic Issues in Public
Sector IT Today
• Greater Integration in Core Business Systems -
Enterprise Resource Packages (ERP)
Alb Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Competition for Resources — Spending Trends
▪ Centralization - Decentralization - Centralization
• Internet Portals - e-government
• Technical Skills (IT & Staff — Emergence of ASP's)
Security and Privacy
9.
Master Plan - Workshop Materials
)pendix B 5
Government IT Spending Trend
1vAXIMUS
IT Spending
as
A Percentage
of Total
Annual
Revenue*
Progressive — 11 %
Mainstream — 5.5%
Conservative — 3.7%
Most Cities that are increasing their investments in
Information Technology are doing so at an average rate of
8% per year.
10.
Gartner Group, Inc. 2001
"Dedicated to
your success!"
Emerging Technologies
•Wireless Networks
•Digital Assistants
•Content Management
•File Sharing Networks
•Global Positioning
•Displays
•Internet Appliances
•Language and Translation
Software
•Bio-Integration
11.
Master Plan - Workshop Materials
pendix B 6
"Dedicated to
pour success!"
Emerging Technologies
Wireless Networks
MAXIMUS
What: Secure connectivity to internal and external networks
without the need for a physical connection.
When: Available today & commercial offerings expanding.
Impact: Field force automation explodes.
High value in older structures
Overall security (information and devices)
Personal real estate
12.
"Dedicated to
rrnu•successr"
Emerging Technologies
Digital Assistants
MAXIMUS
What: Software modules that enhance the interface
between humans and information (Bots, expert
systems, virtual assistants, etc.
When: Available today, exponential growth in the next 24 —
36 months.
Impact: Extensive potential to share information.
Research potential
24X7 service
Filtering out garbage
13.
Master Plan - Workshop Materials
pendix B 7
"Dedicated to
your success!"
NIAXIMUS
Emerging Technologies
Content Management
What: Technology that assists in producing, locating,
accessing and controlling organizational work products
coupled with "smart" documents.
When: Document and workflow management tools that are
available today will continue to improve in
functionality and drop in price.
Impact: Copyright issues.
Indexing and cataloging will become less labor
intensive.
Compound documents will become the norm.
Public Records issues
14.
"Dedicated to
your success!"
Emerging Technologies
File Sharing Networks
What: Network distribution explodes and users will
participate as both "Client" and "Server" on these
networks based upon Peer -to -Peer technology.
When: Available today
.� Impact: Security and Privacy
Copyright issues
Accuracy and reliability of material
MAXIMUS
15.
✓faster Plan - Workshop Materials
►endix B 8
"Dedicated to
your success!"
MAXIMUS
Emerging Technologies
Global Positioning
What: Ability to "accurately" determine a location or
position in three dimensional space.
When: Devices with limited accuracy are available today.
Accuracy will continue to improve and cost will
continue to drop rapidly into the foreseen future.
Impact: GPS devices will be imbedded in nearly all
commercial products.
Revolutionize the manufacturing, engineering
and construction industries.
Field force tracking
Privacy
16.
"Dedicated to
your success!"
MAXIMUS
Emerging Technologies
Displays
What: New and improved display technology will continue to
be introduced. Flat screen (LCD) will dominate and
replace CRT devices and be available on almost
everything. 3D projection will evolve and drop in cost.
When: Available today with transition to new technology
over the next 3 years.
Impact: Cost to replace old devices.
Disposal issues.
Space savings
Better portability and usability in the field as "tablet"
technology becomes readily available.
17.
vlaster Plan - Workshop Materials
)endix B
9
"Dedicated to
, your success!"
Emerging Technologies
Internet Appliances
What: Small portable devices information in electronic format.
Examples include: digital media players, "net
appliances", personal digital assistants, next generation
cell phones, pagers and electronic tablet computers.
MAXIMUS
When: Available today with rapid deployment over the next
three years.
Impact: Citizens will expect government to be in the
mainstream of offering these services and interfaces.
Increased pressure on elected and appointed officials
for 24X7 accessibility.
Workforce training & impact on their jobs.
Increases citizen participation through on-line
meetings and expectations for information "push".
18.
"Dedicated to
your success!"
Emerging Technologies
Bio-Integration
What: Integrated electronic devices that replace/replicate
biological functions and electronic devices that can be
controlled in non-traditional ways.
When: Available today, with vast improvements in
functionality into the foreseeable future.
Impact: Quality of life
MAXIMUS
19.
Master Plan - Workshop Materials
)pendix B 10
Town of Los Gatos, Cm Information bystems Strategic Plan
APPENDIX C: Staff Assisting with Plan Development
TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Name
Alana Forrest
Angeline Gay
Bobbi Fries
Chris Gjerde
Gary Rogers
Kevin Rohani
Lisa -Maria Bottoni
Maureen Roll
Maxine Bermudez
Pamela Jacobs
Sandy Wee
Sherri Boyd
Stephanie Gutowski
Stephen Conway
Tom Williams
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Name
Bud Lortz
Debra Figone
Gary Rogers
John Curtis
Marian Cosgrove
Orry Korb
Pamela Jacobs
Peggy Conaway
Regina Falkner
Scott Seaman
Stephen Conway
OTHERS CONTRIBUTORS
Name
Amy Williams
Jenny Haruyama
Jennifer Miller
Mary Furey
Mary Gillespie -Greenberg
MAXIMUS
Department
Police
Community Services
Clerk's Office
Management Information Systems
Human Resources
Parks and Public Works
Attorney's Office
Library
Community Development
Manager's Office
Library
Management Information Systems
Finance
Finance
Community Development
Department
Community Development
Manager's Office
Human Resources
Parks and Public Works
Clerk's Office
Attorney=s Office
Manager's Office
Library
Community Services
Police
Finance
Department
Police
Manager's Office
Community Services
Finance
Parks and Public Works
Appendix C
Town of Los Gatos, CR Information Systems Strategic Plan
Appendix D — Glossary of Technical Terms
Automated Attendant — A telephone service that includes menus for selecting the service that the
caller needs. Automated attendant systems replace operator assisted phone systems.
Backup Equipment — Computer hardware and software components that are used to copy files or
databases to be preserved and restored in case of equipment failure, data problems, or other
catastrophe. Examples are backup drives tapes, hard drives, etc. with the associated backup
software and complete copies of the application software and databases.
Base Map — A common electronic map of geographic features that all data layers in a GIS are
connected to.
Content Management Systems — Systems that help an enterprise inventory and access
knowledge resources, i.e., documents, people skills, experience, and information. Content
management systems provide the tools that allow organizations to store disseminate, exploit, and
re -use corporate/organizational information and experience, with the goal of synthesizing
knowledge to improve operations. These systems are also sometimes referred to as Knowledge
Management or Document Management Systems.
Database — a collection of related electronic information. Typically, databases are managed by
database management software that controls access, security, data integrity and data recovery.
Software systems access databases through a common computer language known as SQL or
Structured Query Language.
Development Environment — The hardware, software, database in a computer that is created and
used by systems developers for programming, writing or modifying computer programs.
Normally, the development functions are preformed on a system that is separate from the system
running a production application.
Disaster Recovery — Reestablishing agency service after an outside event renders facilities and
systems inoperable or inaccessible.
Document Management Systems — See "Content Management Systems."
e-government — Conducting government business with the public through electronic channels
such as the Internet.
Electronic Documents — Documents and other material that is stored in digital format.
Environments — The combination of hardware/software/database that make up a functional
computer system. In databases, this refers to an area created for specified use, e.g.,
development, testing, and production as in "production environment" or "testing environment".
Failover — A backup operational mode in which all the functions of a system (such as a processor,
server, network, application and database) are assumed by a secondary system when the primary
production system becomes unavailable. The production system failure could be caused by an
unplanned event (fire, power failure, hardware failure, software error, etc.) or regularly scheduled
down time for system maintenance. Failover is typically an integral part of mission -critical
systems. The failover procedure can be made seamless to the end user.
Appendix D
MAXIMUS
Town of Los Gatos, CH Information Systems Strategic Plan
GIS — Geographic Information Systems — Computer software that organizes data relative to
physical location. The data is stored in layers or themes that represent a common element like a
street layer, a parcel layer, a water line layer, a crime layer, a building layer, etc. These layers can
be combined on a base map for review and decision -making.
Integration — A process which separately developed software components or systems are
combined and interactions are addressed together into a smoothly working system.
Integrity — The assurance that information can only be accessed and modified only by those
authorized to do so. Measures taken to ensure integrity include controlling the physical
environment of networked workstations and servers, restricting access to data, and procedures
that allow only valid transactions submitted by authenticated users to make updates to the data.
Interface — A computer program developed so that two or more different systems or applications
may communicate or work together and share information.
Internet — A worldwide network (also known as the World Wide Web or WWW) that allows
individuals to communicate with each other via electronic mail, share electronic information and
post information for others to access on Web Pages.
IT Infrastructure — The physical hardware used to interconnect computers and users, and the
software used to send, receive, and manage the signals that are transmitted. Infrastructure
includes computers, software, power, telephone lines, cable television lines, satellites, antennas,
routers, etc.
Kiosks — Self service electronic terminals that can be used for accessing electronic government
services.
Leading Edge Technology — Technology that employs new and advanced knowledge, technical
processes methods, or products. Adoption and deployment of leading edge technologies is
typically limited to organizations that are trying to achieve improved customer relations, improved
profitability, competitiveness, technical advancement and are willing to assume a higher level of
risks associated with adopting such technologies.
Legacy System — The systems that are currently supporting the organizations business
processes, like payroll, finance, permits, etc.
Mainstream Technology — Technology with a proven track record that follows prevailing or widely
used standards, methods, or products in the industry.
Major Version Upgrade — A modified version of a system or application software that includes
significant changes to design, architecture, or functionality of the system.
Mean Time to Repair — The average time it takes to repair/replace a computer system or
component in order to make the component operational and restore the functions of the complete
system.
Minor Software Release — A modified version of a system or application software that involves
minor changes to design, architecture, or functionality. Minor releases may also be done to
correct software bugs or implement minor business rule changes.
Multi -modal — Using a number of different formats to provide the same service. Generally this
includes walk-up counters, telephone service, mail and/or the Internet.
Off -the -Shelf Software/Systems — Software or application packages that are sold on retail
shelves, through the mail, or by direct selling. The software is designed to provide general or
MAXIMUS
Town of Los Gatos, CM Information Systems Strategic Plan
common functions rather than custom software. Modern Off -the -Shelf Software is generally
flexible enough to allow an organization to make configuration changes that implement internal
business rules. An example would be a payroll system that permits an organization to define the
rules for overtime pay without having to change or customize the application itself.
Problem Escalation — The internal process of tracking a problem and elevating the problem
analysis/resolution task to a higher level based on the severity or type of the problem or a delay in
resolution.
Production Environment — The hardware, software, database in a computer system that is created
and used for operational, ongoing, and real -life transactions.
Redundancy or Redundant — The capability of a system, computer, or network components to
have backup resources installed in case of failure. Computer or network component examples
where redundancy is critical are fans, hard disk drives, servers, operating systems, switches,
software, databases, and telecommunication links.
Re -engineer — Modifying existing business processes to improve efficiency, integration and overall
workflow.
Reliability — The ability of any computer related component (software, or hardware, or network) to
consistently perform according to its specification. Reliability is normally expressed as "mean time
between failures" or as "uptime". Highly reliable systems will provide service 99.999% of the time.
Reliability at this level means that a system would be unavailable less than 6 minutes in an entire
year.
Response Time — The time it talks for a user transaction to be sent to the computer, processed
and a response returned to the user's workstation. Response time is a function of network
capacity; computer capacity and how many users are on the system making requests.
Scalability — The ability of a computer system to continue to function well as the size or volume of
the number of transactions is increased. Hardware capacity and/or the design of the application
itself can limit scalability.
Search Algorithms — A procedure or formula for solving a problem, or specifically a procedure for
searching and finding information requested through a search program.
Search Engines — Programs that receive search requests, compares it to entries in its index, find
information and returns the results to the requestor. The program creates a huge index or catalog
by going to every page or representative page of every searchable web site, reading, and using
hyperlinks to discover and read a site's other pages.
Telephony — Standard telephone service provided via either the switched wired or wireless
networks. Here a user enters (dials) a number to connect to a specific user or location. Generally
includes some form of voice mail.
Video Streaming — An agency sending out a constant stream of video information over the
Internet so that parties in other locations can receive that programming. Common uses in local
government include broadcasting of Council meetings.
Voice Over IP — Using the Internet and Internet Protocol (IP) to carry voice conversations between
parties. This is an alternative to telephone company services.
Voicemail — A system that answers a phone call when the caller is unavailable and records a
message. The owner of the voicemail box can retrieve messages from a remote location.
MAXIMUS
Town of Los Gatos, CM Information Systems Strategic Plan
Web Portals — Points of entry into an organizations Internet
services. Commonly includes links to other related services.
Web Site — A specific location on the Web that is maintained by
and conducting business with the sponsoring entity like a local go
Wireless Networks — Connecting computers, telephones and
secure radio signals in lieu of hard -wired connections or cables.
based information sources and
an entity for sharing information
vernment.
other electronic devices using
Workflow — An application used in business that provides mechanisms to support exchange of
information and management of the information structure in real time. These applications allow
geographically dispersed colleagues to work together on a common project under a consistent set
of business rules. The system facilitates the sharing and modifying of information on a project.
Examples are enterprises/organizations, suppliers, and partners working in the product
development lifecycle.
XML — extended Mark-up Language. A common computer language used to build Internet web
pages and applications.
MAXIMUS