Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Selection Advisory Services Copyrighted
September 3, 2019
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 13.
ITEM TITLE: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) SelectionAdvisory
Services
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending approval to negotiate a
contract with Government Finance Officers Association
(GFOA) Research and Consulting Centerforconsulting for
enterprise resource planning (ERP)system assessments,
procurement, contract negotiation, and implementation
advisory service.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receiveand File;Approve
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo Ordinance
Staff Memo Staff Memo
GFOA Proposal Supporting Documentation
Dubuque
THE CITY OF �
All-America City
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Selection Advisory Services
DATE: August 25, 2019
Director of Finance and Budget Jennifer Larson is recommending approval to negotiate
a contract for $158,500 with Government Finance Officers Association Research and
Consulting Center for consulting for enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
assessments, procurement, contract negotiation, and implementation advisory service.
The Fiscal Year 2020 First Budget Amendment contains an amendment for ERP
consulting services funded by Fiscal Year 2019 general fund operating savings.
The Fiscal Year 2021 and 2022 planned capital budget includes $1,000,000 to
purchase and implement a new ERP financial system. The planning process to being
selecting a new ERP financial system has begun. Based on initial research, the
selection and implementation of a new system will take approximately 3 years. The first
six months will entail reviewing and revising business processes. The next six months
will be determining what is needed in the ERP and writing an RFP, doing software
demonstrations and selecting a software vendor. The second year will be implementing
the main financial core of the system. The third year will be implementing the human
resources and other modules of the system.
Due to the highly technical and complicated components of reviewing business
processes, determining organization readiness for implementation, determining the
components of the ERP system, writing an RFP and selecting and implementing a
software, it is recommended that the City hires ERP selection advisory services. There
is limited staff capacity in both the Finance Department and the Information Services
Department.
I concur with the recommendation and respectFully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
�•�'� �k'"���UP��`
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jml
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Jennifer Larson, Director of Finance and Budget
Jennifer Raber, Finance Manager
Chris Kohlmann, Information Services Manager
2
Dubuque
THE CITY OF �
All-America City
DuB E ;���� �,
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jennifer Larson, Director of Finance and Budget
SUBJECT: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Selection Advisory Services
DATE: August 25, 2019
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memorandum is to request approval to hire Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) Selection Advisor Services.
BACKGROUND
The Fiscal Year 2021 and 2022 planned capital budget includes $1,000,000 to purchase and
implement a new ERP financial system.
DISCUSSION
The planning process to being selecting a new ERP financial system has begun. Based on
initial research, the selection and implementation of a new system will take approximately 3
years. The first six months will entail reviewing and revising business processes. The next six
months will be determining what is needed in the ERP and writing an RFP, doing software
demonstrations and selecting a software vendor. The second year will be implementing the
main financial core of the system. The third year will be implementing the human resources
and other modules of the system.
Due to the highly technical and complicated components of reviewing business processes,
determining organization readiness for implementation, determining the components of the
ERP system, writing an RFP and selecting and implementing a software, it is recommended
that the City hires ERP selection advisory services. There is limited staff capacity in both the
Finance Department and the Information Services Department.
After research of technical services offered for ERP assistance, it has been determined that
Government Finance Officers Association Research and Consulting Center has the most
relevant and technical experience with assisting ERP implementation for governments the
same size as the City of Dubuque. Approximately 20 years ago, GFOA began consulting for
enterprise resource planning (ERP) system assessments, procurement, contract negotiation,
and implementation advisory services. This practice now represents the majority of all GFOA
engagements and GFOA has built a reputation as the unparalleled leader in the field of
providing objective, independent advice for ERP procurement and implementation projects.
GFOA's approach to ERP projects focuses on business process improvement, effective
governance, and building organizational readiness throughout each stage of the procurement
process. GFOA's strategic focus includes:
1 . GFOA will bring many resources to this project. Best practices, ever-evolving
templates, lessons learned, tools, and most importantly, knowledgeable consultants.
2. GFOA prioritizes training throughout a consulting approach. Consultants will provide
training on the ERP market, process analysis, ERP proposal evaluation,
implementation, project management, and more to help increase your chance of long-
term success.
3. GFOA's strength is in their network of past clients and overall members. Every
government is different, and every project has a unique set of circumstances. GFOA's
consultants are the conduit to this network.
4. GFOA will champion best practices, work to identify and mitigate risk, and work hard to
ensure the best deal possible from the vendor selected that allows this ERP project to
be an investment that the City can benefit for many years.
The goals of the project will include:
1 . Understand City of Dubuque needs and challenges and work to meet project goals
2. Provide accurate, timely, and relevant information and gain trust as a key member of
the Dubuque team.
3. Provide honest recommendations that are solely influenced by the best interests of the
City.
4. Serve as the City's advocate throughout the project. In both short and long-term,
GFOA will be a passionate champion for best practice and ensuring the City gets the
best possible project outcomes.
The project scope includes:
1 . Project Planning
a. Governance Support. This would include identifying the model for a steering
committee, project team, and any business process improvement functions. As
part of the business process analysis sessions, it is expected that many change
issues will be discussed and GFOA consultants will monitor the potential
impacts and provide guidance and appropriate ways to structure change
management efforts. Making decisions often requires an effective (and well
understood) process.
b. Project Plan. GFOA will prepare a project plan in Microsoft Project. This
document identifies all the detailed tasks for the project, the person responsible
for executing those tasks, the estimated time required to complete them, and
any dependencies that a given task may have relative to other tasks.
c. Project Documentation. If the City uses a website or other collaboration tool for
project and document management, we will discuss early on in the project how
we can use this for sharing documents and information across the larger project
team. If desired, GFOA can also host a website with collaboration tools
specifically for this project.
d. Project Management. GFOA will participate in regular project management
meetings and provide a regular (monthly) status report for the project. We
2
expect our project manager to serve as a coach, guide, and advisor throughout
the project. They will maintain regular communication to address issues, point
out risks, provide lessons learned, and ultimately work to help the project be a
success. Ongoing costs and effort for all project management activities are
built into GFOA's milestones and deliverables.
2. Needs Assessment / Process Analysis.
a. GFOA uses the three-part approach depicted in the graphic above to guide
business process improvement. For the first part, GFOA will facilitate business
process mapping sessions to document the City's as-is process. GFOA's
mapping process is a highly collaborative one and will involve participation of a
wide variety of stakeholders. This step is extremely important to the success of
the project and allows various stakeholders to better understand existing
processes (including limitations and inefficiencies).
b. Once maps are developed, GFOA consultants will conduct part 2, consisting of
an analysis to benchmark the existing processes against recognized public
sector best practices, ERP functionality, other organizations, and the City's
project goals. We will facilitate sessions that are similar to "Lean" process
improvement workshops to discuss improvement strategies with City staff.
c. After conducting the analysis in Task 2, GFOA will work with the City to prepare
a plan of action or needs assessment. This report will identify a recommended
strategy for moving forward. While it will probably be clear that the City could
benefit from a new system, the report will beyond this high-level
recommendation and address specific issues with scope, timing, vendor
competition, and risk identification.
3. Develop Request for Proposal (RFP)
a. In this phase, GFOA will develop a detailed Request for Proposals (RFP)
document for the City. The GFOA RFP format is designed to remove disparity
between proposals and to provide as close to an apples-to-apples comparison
as possible. In addition, GFOA develops all RFP's with the end goal in mind — a
successful contract that mitigates risk and leads to a successful project. GFOA
has a template RFP that was specifically designed for ERP procurements and
that we have continually updated as required by changes in the ERP market.
b. When complete, the RFP document will incorporate information developed with
many of the other deliverables from this project including:
i. Procurement terms and conditions
ii. Detailed vendor response templates
iii. Functional Requirements
iv. Interface Definition
v. Technical Documentation
vi. Key Objectives / Goals / Critical Success Factors for the Project
vii. Service Level Agreements
viii. Other information necessary for vendors to prepare detailed response
that meets the City's needs.
c. A key part of the RFP will be the development of detailed functional
requirements that will be important throughout the selection project and
throughout implementation. For the processes that are determined to be in
3
scope, GFOA consultants will work with the City project team members to
review, validate and ultimately make decisions on the high-level to-be process
definition. This second part of the GFOA approach to business process
improvement requires that the City begin thinking about future process so
functional requirements can be based on intended future process, not its
existing legacy environment.
4. Evaluation and Selection of Vendor
a. Through defined steps, vendors will be evaluated and scored according to pre-
defined criteria with the top vendors moving on to compete at the next step.
Each step is an opportunity to negotiate terms, address risks, and provide
methods for holding stakeholders accountable. Overall, our approach is
focused on identifying and mitigating risks throughout the procurement process.
GFOA's RFP template provides the opportunity to focus the evaluation on key
risk factors in the implementation and separates actual proposal from marketing
buzzwords.
5. Contract Negotiations
a. GFOA will be involved with the negotiation of any applicable software license
contract, software maintenance agreement, hosting / SaaS agreement or
implementation services agreement. In addition, GFOA will lead the
development of the statement of work. The statement of work is the critical
document that outlines responsibility for the implementation. GFOA will ensure
that the City's statement of work is defined to a fine level of detail to prevent any
unnecessary issues or misunderstandings during implementation.
REQUEST
I respectfully request approval to negotiate a contract for $158,500 with Government Finance
Officers Association Research and Consulting Center for consulting for enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system assessments, procurement, contract negotiation, and implementation
advisory service. The Fiscal Year 2020 First Budget Amendment contains an amendment for
ERP consulting services funded by Fiscal Year 2019 general fund operating savings.
JML
Attachment
4
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Research and Consultin Center
Prepared for:
THG CITY OF
DUB E City of Dubuque, IA
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
ERP Advisory Services
August 14, 2019
/ Government Finance Officers Association
V 203 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2700
Chicago, IL 60601-1210
312.977.9700 fax: 312.977.4806
August 14, 2019
City of Dubuque
Attn: Jenny Larson, Director of Finance and Budget
50 W. 13th Street
Dubuque, lA 52001
EMAIL: Jlarson@cityofdubuque.org
DearJenny,
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is pleased to present this proposal
to the City of Dubuque, IA (The City). We understand the great opportunity that an ERP
system replacement project provides and focus on using that chance to make lasting
improvements to policies, business processes, and outcomes for the City. We also
understand the risks that it can present and will work with the City to ensure readiness,
proper preparation, and that essential governance structures are established.
Over 500 governments, have found value in our experience, expertise, and detailed
approach to ERP projects. In addition to facilitating the procurement process leading to
a favorable contract and detailed statement of work, we focus on business process
improvement and organizational readiness to increase the likelihood of project success.
As one of the premier membership associations for public-sector professionals, GFOA
can offer independent, objective, and best practice focused consulting services
consistent with our mission to improve government management.
If there are any questions or you would like to discuss the proposal, please let me know.
Sincerely,
�'��i�"�' /s!G✓`
0
Michael J. Mucha
Director, Research and Consulting Center
Government Finance Officers Association
Phone: 312-977-9700
Fax: 312-977-4806
Email: mmucha(a��foa.or�
Washington, DC Office
660 N. Capital Street, NW� Washington, DC 20001� 202393.8020 fax: 202393.0780
www.gfoa.org
G� Government Finance Officers Association
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ExecutiveSummary..........................................................................................................3
Experience ......................................................................................................................... 5
Experie nce.........................................................................................................................5
Other Products and Services...............................................................................................7
KeyPersonnel.................................................................................................................... 8
ProjectScope................................................................................................................... 11
Task1: Project Planning...................................................................................................11
Task 2: Needs Assessment/GAP Analysis.........................................................................12
Task 3: Develop Request for Proposal (RFP)......................................................................15
Task 4: Evaluation and Selection of Vendor.......................................................................16
Task 5: Contract Negotiations...........................................................................................18
Task 6: Implementation (NOT PROPOSED)........................................................................18
ProjectSchedule..............................................................................................................21
Pricin g..............................................................................................................................22
Contract Requirements..................................................................................................23
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Executive Summary
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is the premier association for
public sector finance professionals in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1906,
GFOA currently has over 20,000 members that look to GFOA as the gold standard for
identifying, developing, and communicating leading practices in government
management. As a non-profit organization, GFOA's mission is to promote excellence in
state and local government financial management. GFOA accomplishes this mission by
identifying and developing policies and practices and promoting them through
education, training, consulting and leadership.
GFOA's Research and Consulting Center (RCC) is nationally recognized for its
comprehensive analytical and advisory services, as well as for research on issues specific
to state and local governments' financial, human resource, procurement, payroll and
operational management. Since beginning operations in 1977, the RCC has assisted
hundreds of cities, counties, public utilities; and other forms of government to create
best practice solutions to meet their unique challenges. Approximately 20 years ago,
GFOA began consulting for enterprise resource planning (ERP) system assessments,
procurement, contract negotiation, and implementation advisory services. This practice
now represents the majority of all GFOA engagements and GFOA has built a reputation
as the unparalleled leader in the field of providing objective, independent advice for ERP
procurement and implementation projects. Our approach to ERP projects focuses on
business process improvement, effective governance, and building organizational
readiness throughout each stage of the procurement process.
• � - • • • • • • •
• • . � -
GFOA's project approach is to start with a complete business process and system
assessment to help inform recommendations on an appropriate scope and strategy for
moving forward. This "needs assessment" goes beyond simply assessing need. It starts
to prepare the organization for action. We then combine the necessary tasks of the
procurement cycle with a focus on organizational readiness and business process
improvement. GFOA has worked to evolve its approach based on lessons learned from
hundreds of other local government clients to address the primary risks of ERP projects,
including:
• Effective project governance and decision making
• ERP market knowledge
• Subject matter expertise and best practice guidance
• Implementation experience
• Public-sector focus
• Overall ERP project readiness
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GFOA's strategic plan identifies four primary roles for the organization. We are a
resource, an educator, a facilitator, and an advocate. With this project, our consulting
services will draw upon each role to provide value for the City and provide a unique set
of services that only GFOA can bring.
•,
� • � - • •
O GFOA will bring many resources to this project. Our best practices,
R250U1'C2. ever-evolving templates, lessons learned, tools, and most
importantly,our knowledgeable consultants.
GFOA prioritizes training throughout our consulting approach. We
want you to be successful and we understand that means having the
� information,skills, and perspective necessary at the City and for the
fV EdUCdt01'. long-term. Our consultants will provide training on the ERP market,
process analysis, ERP proposal evaluation, implementation, project
management,and more to help increase your change of long-term
success.
GFOA's strength is in our network of past clients and overall
members. We know every government is different and that every
O project has a unique set of circumstances. We also know that
FdCl�ltdt0l'. everyone can learn something from others that have just gone
through something similar. GFOA's consultants will be your conduit
to this network.
Above all else, GFOA will be your advocate. We will champion best
O practices. We will work to identify and mitigate risk. We will also
�I' AdVOCdt2. work hard to ensure you get the best deal possible from your vendor
that allows this ERP project be an investment that the City can
benefit for many years.
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Experience
Over the past 20 years, GFOA's technology consulting practice has grown to become the
market leader in assisting local governments through the process of assessing current
systems, understanding the vendor marketplace, facilitating procurement of new
systems, and providing detailed analysis and contract negotiation assistance to protect
the best interests of governments and help reduce implementation risk. We have
assisted approximately 500 cities, counties, school districts, and special district
governments with system selection, contract negotiation, and implementation
readiness for ERP systems.
• � � • • • • - � • � • • � . • � • � -
• � - • � . • � - � • � • .
GFOA does not implement software and has no interest in expanding into this role in
the future. We also have no desire or incentive to make recommendations that increase
our services and costs on the project. Our focus is exclusively on providing honest and
unbiased recommendations to our clients and all GFOA members and public sector
organizations. The ERP market has undergone significant change in recent years and
governments are increasingly more reliant on technology to implement financial
management best practices. With our consulting experience and continued research,
GFOA has been able to improve its approach and generate additional value for our
clients through reduced costs, reduced risk, and best practice recommendations to
improve not only technology, but also business process.
The map below represents a sample of GFOA's recent ERP projects.
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�---- _____
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• •
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GFOA has extensive experience with mid-sized cities similar in size to the City. Below is
a representative sample of recent projects similar in size and scope to the City.
� . . . - . -
Roseville, CA 135,000
Vallejo, CA 122,000 Yes
Greeley, CO 105,000
South Bend, IN 102,000
Longmont, CO 94,000
Santa Monica, CA 92,000
Mount Pleasant, SC 85,000 Yes
Weston, FL 70,000
St. Cloud, MN 70,000
Johnson City, TN 66,000 Yes
Springfield, OH 60,000 Yes
Dubuque, IA 60,000
San Luis Obispo, CA 50,000
Danville, CA 45,000
Westerville, OH 40,000
Plant City, FL 38,000
Bartlesville, OK 36,000 Yes
Westerville, OH 35,000
Myrtle Beach, SC 32,000 Yes
Chaska, MN 25,000
Shafter, CA 20,000 Yes
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G� Government Finance Officers Association
GFOA also provides many services to members and other government managers in
addition to consulting services. Our consulting services complement and utilize much of
our research knowledge and membership network to deliver current, relevant, and
proven strategies. The same consultants who regularly advise clients also research and
write white papers and journal articles, author and edit publications, conduct training,
coordinate GFOA's annual conference, and staff best practice committees.
• Research and Publications: GFOA conducts ongoing research with its member
network and communicates information on leading practices, lessons learned,
and trends in financial management such as technology utilization and
governance. GFOA currently has over 40 titles available. The following is a
sampling of products recently written by GFOA consultants.
o Technologies for Government Transformation:ERP
Systems and Beyond
o IT Budgeting and Decision Making:
Maximizing Vour GovernmenYs Technology
Investments
• Government Finance Review: GFOA consultants also regularly contribute
articles and serve as reviewers for GFOA's bi-monthly publication, The
Government Finance Review, along with other leading journals, books, and
white papers.
• Best Practice Committees: GFOA has seven standing committees made up of
leading finance professionals from governments throughout the United States
and Canada that meet regularly to develop best practices to promote and
guide sound financial and overall government management.
• Annual Conference and Training: GFOA's Annual Conference attracts
approximately 5,000-7,000 government finance professionals and provides a
forum to discuss innovative practices, learn best practice examples, network
with peers, and interact with exhibitors. GFOA also provides ongoing training
seminars throughout the country to assist members with continued
professional development. GFOA consultants are regular trainers at these
seminars including seminars on ERP procurement, project management, and
best practices in ERP implementation.
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Key Personnel
All GFOA consultants have managed projects similar to this engagement. As a result,
our consultants are able to understand your unique needs and future goals, and help
provide recommendations and advice from within the team. We understand the current
market and will work to transfer that knowledge to the City so it not only creates a
recommended plan for implementation, but also so the implementation ofthat plan is
successful.
• • � . - . � . . -
• � . .
All of our consultants approach projects with similar goals.
1) Understand your needs and challenges and work with you to meet project goals
2) Provide accurate, timely, and relevant information and gain your trust as a key
member of your team.
3) Provide honest recommendations that are solely influenced by the best interests
ofthe City
4) Serve as the City's advocate throughout the project. In both short and long-term,
we will be a passionate champion for best practice and ensuring the City gets the
best possible project outcomes.
� • � • �
Mike Mucha joined GFOA in 2006 and is now the Director of the Research
and Consulting Center. In this role, Mike oversees GFOA consulting
projects, research activities, the Government Finance Review, planning for
� � GFOA training and conference, the GFOA website, and other strategic
initiatives for GFOA. Mike also leads GFOA's consulting practice and focuses
on providing guidance to local governments on how to use technology
' � more effectively, improve business processes and administrative practices,
and implement best practices in financial management. Mike has managed
projects for both large and small governments, regularly speaks at GFOA
training events,and has written numerous articles on public sector enterprise technology
applications.
Some recent clients included the City of Eugene (OR),City of San Luis Opispo (CA), Pasco County
Schools(FL), Orange County Schools (FL),City of Spokane (WA), City of Longmont(CO), City of
Hayward (CA), Sonoma County (CA),Yolo County (CA), the City of Westerville (OH), and the City
of Aspen (CO).
Education
• B.B.A in Economics, University of lowa
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• M.S. in Public Policy and Management,Carnegie Mellon University
. � • . � -
Craig Lesnerjoined the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of
the U.S. and Canada in 2017 as a Senior Manager in the Research and
= Consulting Center. In this role,Craig works with local governments to help
� navigate the complexities and obstacles that arise through implementing
financial best practices and improving business processes.
� � Prior to joining GFOA, he served for nine years as the Chief Financial Officer
for the Village of Oak Park, IL. During his tenure, the Village initiated a
performance measurement program and received GFOA's Distinguished
Budget Presentation Award for the first time.
For the ten years prior, Craig served in several roles in the City of Chicago's Office of Budget and
Management, progressing to deputy director. While with the City, he helped lead the $5.2
billion annual appropriations process and served as a member of the cash management team.
Craig has led GFOA projects for the City of Myrtle Beach (SC), Dodge County (WI), City of San
Luis Obispo (CA),and Town of Winterville (NC)
Education
• B.A in Economics and Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago
• M.P.P in Public Policy, University of Chicago
• • �
Eva Olsaker joined GFOA in 2005 and is now a Senior Manager in the Research
and Consulting Center. Eva brings years of experience in technology and
management consulting projects,specializing in, organizational reviews,
_ technology needs assessments and business case reviews, business process
,_ _ analysis, software selection methodologies, and implementation advisory
./ assistance. Eva manages projects for both large and small governments,with
an emphasis on improving organizations business processes, specializing in
human resources, payroll,and finance functions and processes.
Prior to joining GFOA she served as a senior consultant with a private management-consulting
firm for ten years. Eva consulted with private and public sector organizations to implement
customer relationship management software, improve business processes, productivity and
methodologies.
Eva has managed GFOA's projects in City of Roseville (CA), City of South Bend (IN),City of Plant
City (FL), Volusia County Public Schools (FL), City of Warrenville (IL),City of St. Petersburg, (FL),
Town of Hillsborough (NC), and others.
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Education
• B.A in Political Science, Ball State University
• � . � -
Barry McMeekin is the Consulting Practice Manager for GFOA's Research and
Consulting Center. Over the past ten years, Barry has managed many of
GFOA's ERP needs assessment and system selection projects for large and
�� � mid-sized governments. Barry has a broad range of expertise in financial,
�� purchasing,fleet,facilities, and inventory operational areas both as
consultant and practitioner. Prior to coming to GFOA, Barry worked for the
City of Pittsburgh, PA and Allegheny County, PA where he served as in various
roles including on the project team for an ERP implementation.
Some recent clients included the Emerald Coast Utiltiy Agency (FL), City of Beverly Hills (CA),
Pasco County Schools (FL),San Bernardino County(CA), Napa County (CA), Bernalillo County
(NM), Larimer County (CO), Placer County Water Agency (CA), Board of Water Works of Pueblo,
(CO).
Education
• B.A. University of Pittsburgh
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Project Scope
No project can be successful without proper planning and tools to manage the effort.
Working together,the GFOA and the City project manager will prepare the following
tools that will be essential to project coordination. GFOA will also work to ensure
representatives from the other local governments in scope are part of the overall
project planning efforts.
• Governance Support—GFOA recognizes that the success of any large enterprise
project depends on the ability to adapt to the changes that technology brings to
both business process and organizational culture. We are proposing to assist the
City with the development of a governance structure for the project (if the City
already has a governance structure, we would assist with developing or
reviewing project charter, communication plans, decision making matrix, and
other planning documents). This would include identifying the model for a
steering committee, project team, and any business process improvement
functions. As part ofthe business process analysis sessions, it is expected that
many change issues will be discussed and GFOA consultants will monitor the
potential impacts and provide guidance and appropriate ways to structure
change management efforts. Making decisions often requires an effective (and
well understood) process.
• Prolect Plan —GFOA will prepare a project plan in Microsoft Project. This
document identifies all the detailed tasks for the project,the person responsible
for executing those tasks, the estimated time required to complete them, and
any dependencies that a given task may have relative to other tasks.
• Proiect Documentation - Ifthe City uses a website or other collaboration tool for
project and document management, we will discuss early on in the project how
we can use this for sharing documents and information across the larger project
team. If desired, GFOA can also host a website with collaboration tools
specifically for this project.
• Proiect Mana¢ement—GFOA will participate in regular project management
meetings and provide a regular (monthly) status report for the project. We
expect our project manager to serve as a coach, guide, and advisor throughout
the project. They will maintain regular communication to address issues, point
out risks, provide lessons learned, and ultimately work to help the project be a
success. Ongoing costs and effort for all project management activities are built
into GFOA's milestones and deliverables.
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Many consulting firms take the approach to wait on business process improvement
activities until after the software vendor is on board. GFOA strongly disagrees with this
approach. Relying 100%on software vendors to develop a to-be definition requires the
City to buy software prior to truly identifying its needs. Software vendors also will focus
on configuring software and are prone to re-creating existing (bad or outdated)
processes in the new system. Our experience with software vendors can point to
countless examples where this has occurred. Our proposal includes services for GFOA to
take a lead role in identifying business process change prior to and along with the
development ofthe RFP.
Project Goals
Part#1 �� Part#2 Part Jt3
As-Is Mapping
� To-Be Vision &
I Requirements
� �
Best Practice / Process Analysis Business Process Decision
GFOA uses the three-part approach depicted in the graphic above to guide business
process improvement. For the first part, GFOA will facilitate business process mapping
sessions to document the City's as-is process. GFOA's mapping process is a highly
collaborative one and will involve participation of a wide variety of stakeholders. This
step is extremely important to the success of the project and allows various
stakeholders to better understand existing processes (including limitations and
inefficiencies).
While there is significant value in having processes documented, the major benefit from
these sessions is that stakeholders from across the City will share a common
understanding of the current process and can explore together the current challenges,
weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By discussing changes in the open, it is also a
critical change management strategy to help the organization begin the transition to a
new process.
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The following processes are in scope for this project. As part of Task 1, we will confirm
this scope and make modifications if necessary. Even though not all elements listed in
the scope may be combined on a single RFP, we would prefer to conduct the analysis
together to best determine the strategy for moving ahead.
Process Task�Topics
Accounting • ChartofAccounts
• General Ledger Transactions
• Grant/ProjectTracking
• Financial Reporting
Budget • Operating Budget
• CapitallmprovementPlanning(CIP)
• Capital Budget
• BudgetAdjustments/Amendments
Procure—Pay • Vendors
• Purchase Requisitions
o RFP/RFI /RFQ
• PurchaseOrders/Contracts
• P-cards
• Change Order
• Receiving
o Inventory
• Accounts Payable
Customer Billing • Customer File
• PropertyTaxBilling
• Online Bill Pay
• Billing
• Accounts Receivable
Treasury • Cash Receipts
o Online payments
• Disbursements
• InterestAllocation
• Bank Reconciliation
AssetManagement • AssetAcquisition
• Asset Lifecycle
• Depreciation
• Transfer/Disposal/Retirement
Human Resources • Positions
• Employee File
• Benefit Enrollment
• PersonnelEvaluations
• Risk Management(Injury/Workers Comp)
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• • • Training/ Certifications
Personnel Actions • Recruitment
• New Hire
• Personnel Actions(Salary Adjustment/Position Change)
Time Entry—Payroll • Time Entry
• Time Approval
• Payroll Calculations
• Payroll Processing
• Leave Management(FMLA)
CommunityDevelopment/ • PropertyFile/Customer
Permitting • PermitApplication
• Plan Review
• Inspection
• Code Enforcement
• CRM/Service Request
Utility Billing • Customer File
• Property File
• Meterinventory
• Meter Read
• Billing
• AR
• Payment Receipts
• Service Order
Once maps are developed, GFOA consultants will conduct part 2, consisting of an
analysis to benchmark the existing processes against recognized public sector best
practices, ERP functionality, other organizations, and the City's project goals. We will
facilitate sessions that are similar to "Lean" process improvement workshops to discuss
improvement strategies with City staff.
GFOA applies these process improvement strategies to the City's current process and
mark up or revise the process maps as part of discussions and meetings to communicate
potential business process improvements, changes, and future state options. This
documentation will also highlight potential change impacts and identify change
management strategies and success factors for moving forward.
After conducting the analysis in Task 2, GFOA will work with the City to prepare a plan of
action or needs assessment. This report will identify a recommended strategy for
moving forward. While it will probably be clear that the City could benefit from a new
system, the report will beyond this high-level recommendation and address specific
issues with scope, timing, vendor competition, and risk identification.
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Based on our understanding ofthe City's needs, the proposed business case report will
be used to achieve the following:
• Identify recommended timing for project
• Identify both financial and non-financial costs and benefits of alternatives
• Discuss strategic options for potential procurement of system and/or consulting
services
• Determine recommended scope and schedule of system replacement project
• Discuss key next steps and identified risk mitigation strategies for the project
In this phase, GFOA will develop a detailed Request for Proposals (RFP) document for
the City. The GFOA RFP format is designed to remove disparity between proposals and
to provide as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible. In addition, GFOA
develops all RFP's with the end goal in mind —a successful contract that mitigates risk
and leads to a successful project.
GFOA has a template RFP that was specifically designed for ERP procurements and that
we have continually updated as required by changes in the ERP market.
When complete, the RFP document will incorporate information developed with many
ofthe other deliverables from this project including:
1) Procurement terms and conditions
2) Detailed vendor response templates
3) Functional Requirements
4) Interface Definition
5) Technical Documentation
6) Key Objectives/Goals/Critical Success Factors for the Project
7) Service Level Agreements
8) Other information necessary for vendors to prepare detailed response that
meets the City's needs.
A key part ofthe RFP will be the development of detailed functional requirements that
will be important throughout the selection project and throughout implementation. For
the processes that are determined to be in scope, GFOA consultants will work with the
City project team members to review, validate and ultimately make decisions on the
high-level to-be process definition. This second part ofthe GFOA approach to business
process improvement requires that the City begin thinking about future process so
functional requirements can be based on intended future process, not its existing legacy
environment.
The business process decisions will then guide the functional requirements for each
major step in the process. GFOA focuses functional requirements development on
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business process. At each step in the business process we will determine both the
system requirements and implementation requirements and document those using a
Microsoft Excel template that is aligned to our process maps that will be included in the
eventual RFP. Requirements development focuses on functional requirements that
define "what" needs to be completed (such as tasks, outputs, interfaces, calculations,
processing, etc.) and not on "how'the system or the organization handles tasks
currently. This allows for future improvement and full utilization of the system tools
and built in processes to make the City more efficient.
At this stage in the process, it is important for the business process improvement
decisions to be made so the RFP can present a clear direction for the City's project. While
every ERP system has slightly different ways of completing business process transactions
and the full business process can't be defined at a fine level of detail without the
assistance of system consultants, the overall direction and high-level understanding of
the process is important to communicate.
It is expected then that the requirements serve as the base document that establishes a
template for proposal comparisons, the scope ofthe implementation project, the base
level criteria for user acceptance testing, and the standard for post implementation
warranty.
GFOA's system selection and procurement methodology relies on principles of fairness,
attention to detail, and competition, yet remains flexible enough to adapt to local
procurement laws or other unique situations. In addition, the approach is continually
enhanced by feedback from the hundreds of public sector clients that we work with, our
own staff experience, and the vendor community. We strive to get the best deals for our
clients and often go against what the vendor's describe as "industry standards."
Through defined steps, vendors will be evaluated and scored according to pre-defined
criteria with the top vendors moving on to compete at the next step. Each step is an
opportunity to negotiate terms, address risks, and provide methods for holding
stakeholders accountable. Overall, our approach is focused on identifying and
mitigating risks throughout the procurement process. GFOA's RFP template provides
the opportunity to focus the evaluation on key risk factors in the implementation and
separates actual proposal from marketing buzzwords. GFOA's standard evaluation
process includes the three steps described below.
Step 1: Conduct Proposal Assessment
Upon receiving the written proposals from vendors, the City's project team will begin an
assessment and analysis of all proposals. GFOA will assist with this assessment by
reviewing proposals and providing comments on potential risks, issues, and any
significant weaknesses/gaps and/or strengths. GFOA can also leverage our extensive
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experience to compare each proposal to industry standards. All key findings will be
documented in a brief proposal assessment report that identifies GFOA's findings. This
report will also identify additional information that will be needed from vendors going
forward.
In addition, at the City's request, GFOA will provide training to the City's evaluation
team on how to evaluate a proposal. GFOA's training will discuss common issues with
proposals, vendor's "tricks," and an overview of important issues to look out for.
GFOA expects that after reviewing proposals, the City elevates a limited number of
vendors for onsite demos/interviews. Typically, governments will elevate three
vendors.
Step 2: Software Demos and Interviews
GFOA staff will develop detailed demo scripts for each vendor. Demo scripts are based
heavily on the requirements and business process decisions built in early tasks. Also,
GFOA's approach to software demos provides a focus on implementation activities.
Typically time devoted to implementation and demo is split 50/50. GFOA believes that it
is critical for vendors to explain HOW the software will be implemented along with the
features of the software. The greatest system in the world will not be useful if it is not
configured and implemented correctly to meet the needs ofthe organization.
GFOA will also facilitate the demos with each vendor. In this role, GFOA would be on-
site to guide the demos, ensure compliance with the demo scripts,take notes, and point
out differentiators.
GFOA expects that after this first round of software demos and interviews, the City
elevate two vendors.
Step 3: Discovery
Discovery acts as the City's final opportunity to clarify unresolved issues before it makes
its final elevation. Prior to Discovery, GFOA will develop a Request for Clarification (RFC)
letter for each vendor that was elevated. Then, during Discovery, each remaining vendor
is invited back on-site for one more day of presentation. During this presentation, any
remaining issues with software functionality, implementation approach, data
conversion, or scope are clarified and vendors are asked to make any necessary
revisions to their proposal. The main focus of this session is to plan the implementation
so that the City and vendor can later develop a detailed statement of work. GFOA will
facilitate the Discovery session for two proposal teams. Additionally, by clarifying
outstanding issues at Discovery, development ofthe statement of work becomes easier.
At the conclusion of Discovery, the City will enter contract negotiations with one
vendor.
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GFOA expects that after Discovery, the City identify a finalist vendor. If it is not possible
for the City to identify a finalist vendor, GFOA will facilitate additional clarification
rounds.
GFOA will be involved with the negotiation of any applicable software license contract,
software maintenance agreement, hosting/SaaS agreement or implementation
services agreement. In addition, GFOA will lead the development of the statement of
work. The statement of work is the critical document that outlines responsibility for the
implementation. GFOA will ensure that the City's statement of work is defined to a fine
level of detail to prevent any unnecessary issues or misunderstandings during
implementation.
Also, for cloud contracts, it is essential that the City identify and negotiation appropriate
service level agreements and other contractual provisions that establish performance
standards and identify role responsibility. GFOA will take the lead in establishing this
documentation. GFOA assumes that the City will be negotiating one contract (or a
contract for one proposal ifthat proposal contains multiple contracts for software,
implementation, hosting, etc.).
No two GFOA clients are the same and GFOA will try to fit services where they provide
most value for the client. About 50%of GFOA clients will engage GFOA to provide
services throughout the implementation. We believe the best time to discuss our
specific scope is after the RFP has been released and the City would have a better idea
on scope, staffing needs, or specific risks in the project. Our implementation advisory
services could include:
Contract Monitoring
GFOA has in-depth detailed knowledge of the contract and statement of work and can
continue to track project progress against acceptance criteria and payment milestones.
This is a critical task in ERP implementations. Based on GFOA's experience, ERP vendors
often find it convenient to ignore key contract requirements. GFOA will monitor
deliverable activity and if necessary can also review project invoices for contract
compliance.
In addition, while we believe our procurement approach significantly reduces the
chance that contractual issues will arise during implementation, the City must still be
prepared. Because of our detailed knowledge of the statement of work, and our
contract negotiation experience and expertise, we are often able to resolve issues or
negotiate the scope of necessary change orders saving the City both time and money.
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As part of these services, GFOA would be available to assist as issues were identified.
The process used to resolve issues may involve phone calls, site visits, document review,
and/or other activities.
Overall Project Oversight
Development of a thorough implementation plan is an important component to the
development of an effective project structure. Furthermore, throughout an ERP system
implementation, plans must be revised and appropriate controls must be present as
part of effective project management to minimize deviations from the timeline and/or
budget. GFOA can work with vendor and the City project managers to monitor project
status, resolve project scope and approach issues, and provide input on improving the
logic of the overall plan if necessary. We would also keep the vendor on-track with the
overall objectives of the organization as established in the contract agreements.
Essentially, GFOA's role could be to provide an "early warning mechanism," to your
project manager at various points in the implementation process by tracking the
progress of activities within the project plan and identifying risk areas.
Business Process Design
With many processes, GFOA assumes that the City will be making significant changes
that flow from GFOA's readiness work and business process improvement services
during the RFP development. GFOA will participate in the business process design
sessions with the City's ERP vendor to ensure that the City will deploy best business
practices rather than "re-creating the old system." Additionally, as part of the design
process, GFOA can provide research into best business practices and communicate both
advantages and disadvantages of specific design decisions that have not been made yet
based on our implementation experience and/or lessons learned from our member
network.
Testing Support
GFOA consultants can assist the implementer and the City project manager in reviewing
the testing plans (e.g., unit, integration, user acceptance, etc.), test scripts and required
resources to complete testing within the required timeframes.
Participation in Project Management Meetings
GFOA's team can participate in project management meetings and steering committee
meetings to provide updates to key stakeholders and help resolve any outstanding
issues. If GFOA is not scheduled to be on-site, GFOA will be available to participate by
phone (if required).
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Deliverable Review
The City's contract will require completion of a number of deliverables for the City to
review and sign off. GFOA can be involved with reviewing deliverables for contract
compliance as well as quality of information (or relevance of recommendations in the
deliverables). With all deliverable reviews, GFOA will prepare a short report identifying
any issues and can participate in discussion with the ERP vendor on resolving issues.
Project Risk Assessment
At key points in the project (or on a regular schedule (example quarterly)), GFOA can
conduct a risk assessment of the project. Risk assessments involve a review of
deliverables, status reports, project plan, issues log, and other project documents. GFOA
will also interview key stakeholders to assess project progress, change management
issues, or other potential risks. Finding or highlights will be communicated to the City
through a brief report.
Other Implementation Services
GFOA is often asked to provide other types of services to clients during implementation.
Some of these services have included serving as a subject matter expert, providing
additional change management assistance, developing training materials, conducting
research, and/or facilitating additional training sessions. If these services are requested,
GFOA will work with the City's project manager to develop an appropriate scope within
the assumptions ofthis proposal.
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GFOA has proposed the following high-level schedule to complete all work described in
this proposal. Readiness and selection activities typically take between eight and twelve
months for GFOA projects of this size and scope.
GFOA typically is available to begin projects when the City would be ready. We start
every project by gather documents and becoming more familiar with the City's policies,
structure, and overall background information while we are preparing the project plan
an initial agendas. Typically we host a kick-off meeting and begin process analysis
approximately one month after contract signing.
. . . - . - . -
1 2 3 9 5 6 J g q 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 9 5 6
Task 1: Project Planning
Task 2: Process Analysis
Task 3: RFP
Task 4:Vendor Selection
Task 5:Contract Negotiations
Task6: lmplementation T B D
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Pricing
Unless noted, all pricing is provided as a fixed fee inclusive of all travel costs incurred by
GFOA staff. GFOA will invoice for project deliverables upon completion of project
deliverables. We also understand that projects may face delays, require additional
analysis than what was originally planned, or may require additional effort to address
risks as they come up during the project. We commit to honoring our fixed price to
deliver a successful project.
��
1 Project Planning
1 Project Management Documents $10,000
2 Needs Assessment/Process Analysis
2 Process Maps $45,000
3 ProcessAnalysis Included
4 Needs Assessment /Plan of Action $10,000
3 Develop RFP
5 RFP SZZ,500
6 Functional Requirements Included
4 Evaluation and Selection of Vendor
7 Proposal Assessment (including Evaluation Plan) $16,000
8 DemoScripts Included
9 Demo Facilitation/Demo Notes $20,000
10 Discovery $15,500
5 Contract Negotiations
11 Contract Negotiations $15,500
12 Contract Implementation Guide $4,000
6 Implementation
Implementation Assistance at$250/hour(onsite)$200/hour(offsite) TBD
� ii
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Contract Requirements
• GFOA is a nonprofit membership association made up of inembers representing
organizations like the City. Therefore,the GFOA's liability and indemnification
under any agreement reached with your organization will be limited to the
extent of claims paid by insurance coverage currently in force.
• The City's staff will be reasonably available for interviews and will participate in
the project as agreed upon and appropriate. The City agrees not to cancel
meetings once established (which would increase our travel costs).
• Unless otherwise stated,the City agrees to confirm acceptance of deliverables
within a mutually agreed upon number of business days. If a deliverable is not
accepted, the City must state in writing to the GFOA Project Manager the
changes needed to the deliverable to gain acceptance.
• The GFOA conducts the majority of the engagement work on a fixed-fee
engagement, where payment is due upon completion of deliverables. If any work
is to be billed using a time and expense method,the time and expense portion of
the engagement will be billed on a monthly basis at the hourly rate of
$225/hour, unless otherwise noted.
o Note:All services are currently proposed as fixed price.
• When performing work on-site, GFOA staff will be provided appropriate
workspace and access to copiers, projectors, workspace, and miscellaneous
office supplies if necessary.
• GFOA is scoped to prepare one RFP document and conduct the evaluation
process for that one RFP. If it is determined to be in the City's best interested to
release multiple RFPs, GFOA will develop those RFPs at no additional cost.
Proposal evaluation and system selection services for multiple RFPs may require
additional cost.
• As an educational, nonprofit, professional membership association,the GFOA
reserves the right to publish non-confidential documents describing the results
of, or created during, the services described in this scope of work. The GFOA will
not publish any item with the name of the City without obtaining prior written
consent ofthe government.
• The City recognizes that GFOA's role is to provide information, analysis and
advisory services. As such, GFOA bears no responsibility for the performance of
the software, hardware, or implementation service suppliers.
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