Title
Public Sector Budgeting Software - Requirements Contract (Ordinance S-45399)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into a contract with Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC to provide a new public sector software system for the Budget and Research Department. The aggregate contract value will not exceed $3,435,436 (including applicable taxes), which includes one-time implementation costs of $2,000,000 and $1,435,436 for 10 years of hosting fees and software maintenance. Further request authorization for the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item.
Report
Summary
The Budget and Research Department currently develops and manages its budget using 20 plus year old Budget Reporting and Analysis System Software (BRASS), a variety of departmental and centralized Access databases, and extensive use of spreadsheets. BRASS interfaces with two City systems: SAP ECC financial system and PeopleSoft personnel management system. Limitations of BRASS, as it's configured, have led to the use of supplemental databases and spreadsheets, both within the Budget and Research Department and in operational departments, which creates opportunities for errors, the need for double entry of data, and prohibits the automation of key reports and published schedules. BRASS is no longer being updated and is not compatible with new computers running the Windows 10 operating system.
The goals for replacing the current budget software include: 1) replace the City's BRASS system and other centrally-maintained budget databases with a sustainable, browser-based, commercial off-the-shelf, cloud-hosted system capable of supporting all of the City's budgeting requirements, with a planned service life of 10 to 20 years; 2) significantly improve the efficiency of budget development, management, and reporting processes; 3) reduce risk of errors through automation; 4) implement an easy to use and robust reporting solution; and 5) produce effective and thorough knowledge transfer materials for system maintenance, system administration, and user training.
Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC will provide and implement its Budget Formulation and Management (BFM) solution, which will be cloud-hosted on the Amazon Web Services hosting platform. BFM will seamlessly interface with the city’s financial and personnel management systems, and use the SAP Business Objects reporting tool for all budgetary reporting, leveraging existing Business Objects licenses owned by the City. BFM also provides streamlined data entry and other features that will improve the efficiency of the budget process. The contract will include implementation services, BFM software licenses, 10 years of software maintenance and cloud-hosting fees, software upgrades, user training and technical support.
This item has been reviewed and approved by the Information Technology Services Department.
Procurement Information
RFP 18-288 was conducted in accordance with Administrative Regulation 3.10. Six offers were received by the Procurement Division on Sept. 14, 2018. One offer was deemed non-responsive.
An evaluation committee comprised of seven voting members and four information technology subject matter experts evaluated the offers. The voting members represented Budget and Research, Finance, Information Technology, and several other departments. The offers were evaluated based on the following criteria: Business Requirements (300 points), Demonstration and Interviews (250 points), Qualifications, Experience and References (250 points), Pricing (100 points), and Method of Approach (100 points). The evaluation committee determined that one firm was within the competitive range and that firm was invited to participate in demonstrations and interviews. After demonstrations and interviews concluded, the evaluation committee reached consensus to move forward with the Best and Final Offer (BAFO) process. After the BAFO process, the evaluation committee recommended awarding a contract to Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC. The offerors and their final scores are as follows:
Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC: 936 points
Performa Software USA, Inc.: 510 points
OpenGov, Inc.: 439 points
Clarity Partners, LLC: 406 points
FreeBalance, Inc.: 357 points
The Deputy Finance Director recommends that the offer from Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC be accepted as the highest scored, responsive and responsible offeror.
It is also recommended that the City Council approve an exception to the limitation of liability provision in City Code 42-18 (A) and (B) to reflect the liability will be no more than three times the aggregate value.
Contract Term
The 12-year contract term shall begin on or about April 1, 2019, and end on May 30, 2031.
Financial Impact
The aggregate contract value will not exceed $3,435,436 (including applicable taxes), which includes one-time implementation costs of $2,000,000 and $1,435,436 for 10 years of hosting fees and software maintenance. Funds are available in the Finance and Budget and Research Department's Operating and CIP budgets.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by City Manager Ed Zuercher and the Budget and Research Department.