HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/04/1995_1, 1 - INFORMATION SYSTEMS MASTER PLAN MEETING DATE:
city Of San L IS OBISpo -y-9-s
Cot AGENDA REPORT ITEM NUMBER:
U
FROM: Bill Statler, Director of Finance 1/
Prepared by: Lori Atwater, Information Systems Coordinator
SUBJECT: INFORMATION SYSTEMS MASTER PLAN
CAO RECOMMENDATION
■ Approve the information and communication systems master plan prepared by KPMG Peat
Marwick.
■ Refer budgetary and organizational issues to staff to be addressed as part of the 1995-97
Financial Plan.
DISCUSSION
Background
Purpose. The purpose of this plan is to set forth an overall strategy and framework for managing
the City's information technology resources. Since the City became active in using technology to
improve productivity_and service delivery in the mid-1980's, this is our first organization-wide
effort in this area. Just as it is necessary to plan infrastructure improvements like water and sewer
lines, effectively managing the growth and use of technology also requires an overall plan. Factors
that make this even more important today than in the past include: increased need for improved
productivity in light of fewer resources and greater demands for services; rapid advances in
technology; and increasing requirements to better share information within as well as outside of the
organization. The information and communication systems master plan sets forth computing and
communications technology requirements and priorities for the City through the year 2000. This
strategic plan will serve as a resource allocation tool for future departmental and citywide
information and communication systems requests for that period.
Process. Using an independent advisor to develop a long range plan for the City's information and
communication systems was approved by the Council as part of 1993-94 Mid Year Review process;
and developing an information systems disaster preparedness and recovery plan was approved by
the Council as part of the 1993-95 Financial Plan. Authorization to request proposals combining
both plans was approved by Council on May, 3, 1994, and the Council awarded the contract to
KPMG Peat Marwick for this work on August 16, 1994.
During the planning project, information gathering included interviews with City Council members,
City Administrative Officer, Department Heads, technical support staff, departmental users and
various functional groups. Over 50 separate interviews were conducted involving staff at every
level. The consultants delivered a report on the current status of.the City's information and -
communication systems on January 31, 1995 and prepared a report with recommendations and
alteratives on February 23, 1995. These reports were extensively reviewed by the CAO,
Department Heads, the MIS Steering Committee and key staff. The CAO, Department Heads and
MIS Steering Committee attended an all-day work session on March 6, 1995, where the
my of san is oBl spo _
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
recommendation and alternatives were discussed and consensus obtained, which is now included
in the Information and Communication Systems Master Plan.
Workscope As set forth in the request for proposals approved by the Council, key objectives for
the information and communication systems master plan project include:
■ Defining the City's requirements in a broad range of information technology areas, including
but not limited to: general office automation, geographic information systems, networking,
connecting to information systems outside of the City, providing community access to the
City's information systems, financial management systems, public safety applications, and
telecommunication systems.
■ Analyzing the wide range of available alternatives for information and communication
systems and identifying the best available approaches for the City.
■ Evaluating the organization, training and support needed to successfully implement and
maintain the existing and new systems.
■ Identifying the costs and benefits of the planned approach.
!_ Developing a phased implementation schedule to effectively meet the City's long-term
objectives based on agreed-upon priorities.
■ Preparing a comprehensive information systems master plan which will guide the City in
implementing a comprehensive data, telecommunications, and networking strategy through
the balance of the 1990's
■ Receiving Council approval of the plan so that it can be used in programming its
implementation in the 1995-97 and 1997-99 Financial Plan.
Summary of Findings
KPMG Peat Marwick's findings and recommendations are comprehensively set forth in the
enclosed report, and they will further brief the Council at the meeting. The following is an
overview of their key findings and recommendations:
Seven Strategic Initiatives. Steps required to develop systems with organization-wide impacts that
are fully integrated and effectively used in improving productivity and the delivery of City services
were identified in the following seven major initiatives, presented in priority order:
■ Windows upgrade. The purpose of this initiative is to migrate the current DOS-based
applications to a Windows environment. Computer systems initiatives identified in this
document require a Windows environment for operation of software.
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COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
■ Public safety records/dispatch. The purpose of this initiative is to provide integrated
dispatching capabilities for both Police and Fire operations and to develop integrated
investigation, case management and records management tools.
■ Replacement of financial management system. Hardware that currently supports the City's
financial applications and utility billing is obsolete, the applications no longer service the
current financial system service needs of the City, and they can not be integrated with other
City databases. The purpose of this initiative is to replace hardware before failure occurs,
analyze current and future financial management requirements, and acquire applications
which will be integrated and provide flexible inquiry tools.
■ Geographic information systems (GIS). The purpose of this initiative is to provide
integration between the City's electronic maps, infrastructure inventories, open space areas,
parcel-based data from the land use inventory, public safety records, utility billing and other
City databases. This system should be accessible by all City departments and coordinate
with a larger GIS system on the Cal Poly campus.
■ Radio/telecommunications. The City has made good decisions about the types of
communications technology to use. This initiative provides direction on how those technical
systems should be managed and supported.
■ Records management. Each department spends considerable time and effort filing,
researching, duplicating and exchanging paper documents internally and externally. This
initiative addresses the need to automate archival and retrieval of documents in providing
convenient access to all departments and reducing duplication of effort.
■ Electronic public access. The purpose of this initiative is to provide increased access by
the public to City information by providing community-based, on-line services, expanding
use of local information kiosks, and participating in developing an electronic village in the
San Luis Obispo area.
Organizational Issues. KPMG Peat Marwick concludes that the City's maintenance and support
structure for its information and communication systems is inadequate in meeting current and future
demands for services. They recommend that the City formalize its strategy for supporting its
technology needs summarized as follows:
■ Centralized versus decentralized information systems organization Many strategic and
mission-critical technical support functions currently performed by individual departments
should be consolidated in a central support information systems function. Department
should continue to be responsible for less "mission-critical" or specialized systems.
■ Criteria for decision-making. The plan establishes specific criteria for determining which
systems should be acquired through a centralized decision-making process and those which
should be within the jurisdiction of the department.
city of San L_AS OBISPO
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COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
■ Staffing strategy. The plan identifies the problems associated with the City's current
staffing and organization of technical support resources for its information and
communication systems. Three alternatives for centralized technical support are:
1. Information Systems remains in the Finance Department and the mission of Finance
is changed to formally include responsibility for organization-wide support of
information and communication systems.
2. Information Systems becomes an operational division within Administration.
3. A new, separate department is formed to provide centralized information and
communication systems support for all departments.
The need for staffing resources that are commensurate with the support requirements of the
City's information and communications systems is one of the greatest challenges to the City
presented in the plan. We will be comprehensively reviewing current staffing levels and
alternatives and will return to the Council with specific staffing and organizational
recommendations as part of the 1995-97 Financial Plan.
Neat Steps
■ 1995-97 Financial Plan. As noted above, the budgetary and organizational issues raised
in the plan will be addressed as part of the 1995-97 Financial Plan process.
■ Disaster preparedness and recovery plan. Once.the master plan.is adopted, KPMG Peat
Marwick will complete the plan for preventing information system disasters and for
recovering from them when they do occur.
CONCURRENCES
The MIS Steering Committee and Department Heads concur with this recommendation.
FISCAL EMPACT
There are no specific fiscal impacts associated with adopting this plan - adoption in and of itself
does not appropriate any funds for implementation. However, if adopted by the Council, it will
become a major. input into the 1995-97 Financial Plan process.
ENCLOSURES
■ Information and Communication Systems Master.Plan
■ Current System Assessment
I
C A L I F O R N I A /J
MEETING AGENDA
DATE ITEM #
April 1, 1995
ROMOTE AND DEFEND
THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW IW
COUNCILDD DIR`
Ia CAO N DIR
VACAO ❑ FIRE CHIEF
Honorable Members of the City Council 6rATMRNEY ❑ Pw DIR
City of San Luis ObispoLERIUORrCi ❑ POUCE CHF
990 Palm Street Q MONY T� ❑ REC DIR
O C A4 FIIJE O UTIL DIR
DIRECTOR
IV P.O. Box 8100
Terry Francke San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8100 -.110
: ° PERS DIR
926 J Street Sults 1406 L. .4rWA R,
Sacramento,CA 95614
Tel:(916)447-2322 RE: Proposed Information Systems Master Plan
F=(916)447-2328
OFFICERS Dear Members of the Council,
Bruce Brugmann
President
Iry Kass At the suggestion of the San Luis Obispo County Telegram-
Vice President Tribune, a member of our Coalition, I am writing to ask
Secretary d'Sry you to consider one aspect of the proposed Information
Mel 0 otowsky Systems Master Plan which does not,based on Mr. Bill
Treasurer
Statler's agenda report summary for this meeting, appear
DIRECTORS to be addressed so far.
Richard Bergholz
Vic Biondi
'a�g Eric, „ If this were a process for the rearrangement and improved
AurraygFromson management of paper files and paper communication
Bob In e
Bill Johnson
Andy Upmann procedures, the absence of any reference to the California
Milli Martinez
Allen McCombs public.Records Act or issues arising under that law would
` Wtch ` be understandable. By now there are relatively..obvious
Rowland Rebele
Marlys Robertson and settled notions as to how the public's right.to'inspect
and obtain copies of governmental records applies in the
paper context. There are to be sure occasional disputes
MEMBER
ORGANIZATIONS about what information is accessible, how much a public
Associated Press agency may be allowed to charge for making copies and
News Executives of
California and Nevada the like.
California Broadcasters
Association
California Newspaper But the application of the Act to electronic records.is
Publishers Association nowhere near as settled or obvious, and the result, absent
California Society
of Newspaper Editors some careful and specific policy-level decisions,is a risk
Radio-Television that a master plan such as the one in view here may
News Association design the public out of the information loop by converting
Radio-Televislon News
Directors Association public information to a medium which is if anything less
Soeiery of Professional accessible than in a paper regime.
Jouma1ISIS
. I am aware of the proposal's reference to electronic access,
kiosks and the like,but am concerned that these RECEIVED
APR 3 1995
CITY COUNCIL
UN LUIS ORKWO,CA
City Council of San Luis Obispo
April 1, 1995
Page 2 of 5
instrumentalities are to be confined to either information which the city
decides it wants the public to get, in a public relations sense, or
information so much in demand that it will save the city time and
expense in providing cafeteria-style, or both. There is nothing to be said
against these purposes or motivations, and much to be said for them. But
the city, we believe, will be missing a very important point and a very
important opportunity if it assumes that self-service facilities established
to automate only a limited range of city-originated public information
items is really adequate to the implications of the project.
My point is this: to the extent that city information is "going electronic",
unless specific policy decisions are made at the earliest stage,public
access in the sense of the Public Records Act is most likely not to be
advanced but to be retarded or even eliminated altogether.
Items:
• Certain "records" may no longer be kept as discrete,
accessible documents. Where in a paper regime, that is, there might
be a very large number of documents in a given file, each essentially a
form or format into which item-specific information is inserted, and each
of which could be reviewed and copied under the Public Records Act
(unless exempt from disclosure), the conversion to a system of electronic
data bases abandons both the mode of documentation and the mode of
access. What then becomes of a citizen's request to "inspect" or obtain a
°COPY" of a "record"?
Certain laborious but feasible public interest analysis
may become obsolete. As a corollary of the first point, supposing that
a person under a paper regime asks for a "report" on how much a public
agency paid for certain services, to certain contractors, for certain periods
and under certain other fixed circumstances. Clearly the public agency is
under no duty to research the matter and synthesize such a report. But if
the citizen takes the trouble to educate himself as to which records
contain the elements of the information he wants, and then personally
consults these records one by one (or asks for copies to review
elsewhere), he or she can create the kind of informative report that is
desired. Under a data base regime,what becomes of this capacity? Is a
query to a database never open to citizen request under the.Public
City Council of San Luis Obispo
April 1, 1995
Page 3 of 5
Records Act,because a query essentially "creates" a record and the law
does not require the creation of a record? Or are citizen query requests
honored only to the extent that they are routinely employed by the
public agency for its own purposes? Or are the agency's data bases
arranged so that citizen queries are.freely.possible, even to synthesize
"reports" (or "create" records) that the agency itself never has occasion to
generate for its own purposes?
- . ..•A failure to provide a ready and reliableredaction
capability maypreclude any citizen-originated information
searches. Even if the agency were otherwise willing to allow citizens to
"serve themselves" not just with respect to pre-packaged information
"products" likely to be.put in kiosks or bulletin boards,but by accessing
all agency public records to serve their particular interests, the
commingling of information which is and is not accessible under the
Public Records Act in the same data base means that to protect the latter,
even the former will remain unavailable. Again, the result will be less
information than in a paper regime, because in a paper regime the
confidential portion of an otherwise publicly accessible record not only
must(under the Public Records Act)be deleted or effaced in order to
allow release of the non-exempt portion, it can be,with a little manual
effort. But in an electronic regime,ready redaction or its equivalent must
be designed in from the outset.
• If access charges are not carefully controlled, even a
relatively open system will probably not pass on its economies
to citizen users. One of the principal advantages to any electronic
information system, public or private, is the reduction in labor costs
associated with manually recording, storing, sorting, manipulating,
analyzing and reproducing information. These are precisely the costs
that make compliance with Public Records Act requests in a paper regime
so burdensome to public agencies, because they are almost entirely
"unfunded mandates" in that by law none of them are recoverable from
the requester(except in a small number of situations where the
Legislature has set statutory fees) except the "direct cost" of"duplication."
Case law establishes that these terms mean just what they say —the cost
of copying a record,not the cost of finding, editing or replacing it. Under
. an electronic regime, the costs of all these functions are greatly reduced,
and for "duplication" the-cost should be indeed low if the requester
City Council of San Luis Obispo
April 1, 1995 f
Page 4 of 5
supplies the medium (disk or tape, for example) onto which the
information is to be transferred. The temptation will be great(and in our
experience is already visible elsewhere), however, to make electronic
"duplication" expensive to the requester either as a disincentive or as a
means of accelerating recovery of capital costs for the system.
These are just some of the more obvious sources of uneasiness we
experience when presented with proposals for a radical transformation in
-the way in which government deals:with its information resources,
without any detectable consideration of the implications for interests
protected by the Public Records Act. We do not.discount privacy or
security concerns,but we do believe that anyone seriously considering
them to be obstacles to public electronic access should be specific in
framing the threat perceived so that policy (and technical expertise) may
address a specific solution. Privacy and security should not be raised as
vague nostrums, in other words,with no purpose other than to excuse
inaction on the access question.
Here is a simple way of putting our concerns—and it applies to any r
major electronic information system design for any governmental agency,
not just the one you are considering:
Is the end result - the house of government—to be more like a
conventional building with opaque walls and a few windows displaying
that which, and only that which, the occupants choose to make visible?
Or is it more like a house of glass,with only certain rooms, corridors and
storage units removed from.fr4blic view? As technology makes it more
possible to have something approaching a house of government
essentially transparent to its "owners" outside,we believe that a failure
to include the owners and their independent needs for scrutiny in the
design leads to an architecture not of inclusion but of its opposite. The
technology that makes internal "information management" radically
easier will make freedom of information—the bedrock of an informed
democratic control—that much harder.
The transparency we see as ideal, or anything approaching it, does not
happen by accident. And it is not primarily a matter of technical
determination. The technical questions come later, once the policy '
questions are carefully considered and answered.
City Council of San Luis Obispo
April 1, 1995
Page 5 of 5
We would strongly urge that you develop a mechanism to address these
policy questions,with the widest possible public participation,in time to
contribute to, rather than be marginalized by, a commitment to a specific
technical design.
If we can be of any assistance on these issues,please let me know at your
convenience.
Sincerely,
T Fra cke
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City of San. Luis Obispo. :
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-:' TE'C'HNOLOGY MA8TERTLAN
March 27, 1995
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City of :San Luis Obispo
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1 TECHNOLOGY ,MASTER PLAN
1' March 27,..1995
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.....................................................:...........................................................1
' 1.1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT..................................................................................................1
1.2. CURRENT SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT.........................................................................................................1
1.3.TECHNOLOGY MASTER PLAN...............................................................................................................4
' 2.INTRODUCTION....................»........................................................................................................8
2.1.PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT..............................................................................................................8
2.2. METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................................................8
' 2.3. SUMMARY OF CURRENT SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT..................................................................................10
3. FUTURE ENVIRONMENT.............................................................................................................12
' 3.1. BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE ON USE OF TECHNOLOGY...............................................................................12
3.2. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TECHNOLOGY...................................................................14
3.3. MAJOR INUTIATTVES To ATTAIN FUTURE ENVIRONMENT.....................................................................15
' 3.4. DEPARTMENTAL SYSTEMS.................................................................................................................17
3.5. RESULTS OF THE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP......................................................................................17
4.WINDOWS UPGRADE INITIATIVE..............................._........................................................19
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4.1. OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................19
4.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................19
4.3. RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................21
' 4.4. ADDITIONAL ISSUES..........................................................................................................................21
4.5. PROJECT PLAN AND ESTIMATED BUDGET...........................................................................................22
5. PUBLIC SAFETY RECORDSIDISPATCH INITIATIVE......................................_.....................24
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5.1. OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................24
5.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................25
5.3. RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................28
5.4. PROJECT PLAN AND BUDGET.............................................................................................................32
6. IBM SYSTEM136 REPLACEMENT-FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS INITIATIVE.............._.34
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6.1. OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................34
6.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................35
6.3. CURRENT VENDOR ENVIRONMENT....................................................................................................38
6.4. PROJECT PLAN AND BUDGET.............................................................................................................39
' 6.5. RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................40
7. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM INITIATIVE............................................................42
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7.1.OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................42
7.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................43
7.3. RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................47
7.4. PROJECT PLAN AND BUDGET.............................................................................................................48
' 8. RADIOlTELECOMMUNICATIONS INITIATIVE.......................................................................50
8.1. OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................50
' 8.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................51
8.3. RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................60
8.4. PROJECT PLAN AND BUDGET.............................................................................................................62
' 9. RECORDS MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE....................................................................................64
9.1. OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................64
9.2. ALTERNATIVES.................................................................................................................................65
' 9.2.1. System Functionality................................................................................................................65
' xPMG�Peat Marwick LLP
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
9.2.2. Documents to be Managed.......................................................................................................66
9.2.3. Computer Platform...................................................................................................................66
' 9.3.REcommENDATioNs.........................................................................................................................67
9.4. PROJECT PLAN AND BUDGET.............................................................................................................68
10.PUBLIC ACCESS/ELECTRONIC VILLAGE..............................................................................70
' 10.1. REcommENDAnoNS.......................................................................................................................71
11.TECHNOLOGY PLAN BUDGET AND SCHEDULE..................................................................73
1 12.SYSTEM ACQUISITION/DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.........................................................75
12.1.1.Recommendations...................................................................................................................76
' 12.2. STAFFING STRATEGY.......................................................................................................................80
12.1.1. Current Organization Costs and Problems..............................................................................80
12.2.2. Staffing Requirements.............................................................................................................80
' 12.2.3.Alternatives.....**,*...*,***.....*.....*""*'****...**"*'****.......... 84
12.2.4. Recommendations...................................................................................................................85
12.3. ORGANizAnoNAL STRATEGY..........................................................................................................86
12.3.1.Reporting of Technology Services...........................................................................................86
12.3.2.Additional Organizational Recommendations.........................................................................87
11.3.3. Training.................................................................................................................................88
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' WlPlW1G-4eat Marwick LLP
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
1. Executive Summary
' I.I. Scope and Purpose of the Project
This document represents the results of the technology planning process undertaken by the
City of San Luis Obispo. Priorities, schedules and recommendations were developed by
the City's management team, based on analysis and research performed by KPMG to
address the specific needs identified in the City of San Luis Obispo's Current Systems
' Assessment Report.
The plan defines major technology initiatives to group major projects the City can
undertake during the four year scope of the plan. Recommendations are presented for a
technology support organization to ensure the long-term success of the use of technology
in the City. The support level recommendations are critical if major systems are to be
' implemented and used effectively.
1.2. Current Systems Assessment
Starting in September, 1994, KPMG consultants interviewed City Council, the Mayor, the
City Administrative Officer(CAO) and all City department heads and conducted group
' sessions for staff in each department. Additional group sessions were held by function,
including Geographic Information Systems, system administrators, and office automation
users.
These interviews helped measure the level of success of existing systems, overlaps and
duplications of effort, ability to access and interpret information, and flexibility of systems
' and tools in meeting the changing requirements of each department.
On the basis of the information gathered in this process, KPMG prepared the Current
' Systems Assessment Report. We worked directly with City management and staff to
finalize the document, culminating in the presentation of the Assessment to the CAO,
Assistant CAO, Finance Director and Information Systems Coordinator on January 22 and
' to the Steering Committee in their meeting of February 2.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The Current Systems Assessment evaluated the City's environment from the perspectives
of technical infrastructure, applications systems strategies, user and technical support
' strategies, and the success level of the City's current applications. The City was judged to
have done an excellent or good job, when compared to other cities and similar sized
' agencies in:
Strategy Observations
Developing a data communications ■ Almost universal use of LAN
infrastructure interconnectivity
■ Well established WAN
' ■ Standards for networking stems
Developing standards for desktop systems ■ Decision to migrate to Windows
and office automation ■ Widespread use of Word Perfect and
Lotus
■ No graphics standard
■ Unclear enforcement authority
' ■ Need Windows migration plan
Defining a strategy for Radio and ■ Public Works system at capacity limit
' Telephone Systems ■ Public Safety have not implemented
mobile data technology
■ Emergency and public safety radio
serving well
■ E-911 is state of the art
■ Use of Centrex to avoid maintenance
' problems of ownership
■ Some ISDN features not implemented
■ No City standard for paging
' ■ No voice mail
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Some areas for improvement were noted in:
' Strategy Observations
Applications Acquisition, Development and ■ All systems from outside vendors
' Support ■ No formal in-house programming
support
■ Significant support issues with major
systems
■ Use of single contractor for locally
developed systems
' Local Area Network and User Support ■ Departmental system administrators
■ Inconsistent levels of technical knowledge
■ Inconsistent operations
' ■ Conflicts in priorities
■ Central information systems support
■ Limited responsibility for departmental
' systems
■ No authority to enforce standards
The Organizational Structure of ■ Reports to Finance Department-inherent
' Information Services conflict in reporting to an operating
department
■ Mission limited to Finance support, WAN
' and City Hall LAN
■ No authority outside Finance
Keeping Systems and Applications Current ■ Limited budgets for capital acquisition
' with Technology ■ Widespread use of 286 and 386
computers
■ IBM System/36
■ Underconfiguration of CRIS system
■ Delay in migration to Windows
' Significant needs for improvement were identified in:
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Strategy Observations
User Training ■ Affects of budget cuts
■ Need to re-train with Windows migration
' ■ Big new systems - GIS, Records
Management, Public Safety, Finance-
will require significant training
' Support for Radio and Telephone ■ One support technician in Utilities
Communications ■ Contract support for all other radio
systems
' ■ 10% of IS Coordinator for telephone
systems
■ No back-up to key personnel
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Among major applications serving the City, the most serious deficiencies were noted in the
following areas:
'
System Observations
Public Safety Records and Dispatch (Fire) ■ Dispatch does not serve Fire Department
well
' ■ Police records system is highly
customized, so cannot upgrade to current
vendor system
' ■ Support limited to a single staff member
■ Users poorly trained on system
capabilities
' Payroll ■ System is old, supported by a single
programmer at vendor's office
■ System has reached limit of deductions
' and benefits it can track
■ System does not provide distribution and
budget history information
The main computer supporting administrative systems (general accounting systems, utility
billing, and business tax in addition to payroll) is an IBM System/36, which is several
generations behind current technology. The System/36 will not support modem
applications with graphical interfaces, user-friendly reporting and analysis tools, and
' relational databases. The computer itself is nearing the limits of its capacity for disk
storage and user access.
' Many systems have been developed locally and meet current departmental requirements,
including building permits and land use.
' 1.3. Technology Master Plan
On the basis of the information and analysis described above and the adopted Council
' Goal Priorities, the consultants worked with the City management team to develop the
future vision description, the major initiatives and the organizational recommendations
contained in this document.
The future vision of technology is for a fully integrated set of systems to serve the City,
providing access via the LAN/WAN to all who need that information and have clearance
to access it. The infrastructure to support those systems is already in place. A series of
major technology initiatives were defined to implement appropriate applications
' technologies over the four year period of this Plan.
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' Technology Master Plan
Alternatives were developed for the major initiatives based on our knowledge of the
industry. On March 6, KPMG facilitated a management workshop in which the CAO, all
' department heads, the MIS steering committee, and the Information Services Coordinator
participated. That session developed management consensus as the the priorities of the
projects, the specific alteratives to be pursued, and the level of support required to be
successful. Management also agreed with KPMG's recommendations to adopt strategies
regarding the decision to develop vs. acquire new systems and defining where departments
' can be empowered to pursue their own technology solutions.
The initiatives, in the priority order defined by the management team, are:
' Initiative Objectives
1. Windows Upgrade ■ Upgrade desktop systems to current
' technology
■ Upgrade office automation standards to
modern, graphical applications
' ■ Implement scheduling and appointment
systems
■ Pre-requisite for other major systems
' implementations
2. Public Safety Records/Dispatch ■ Meet Fire Department dispatch
' requirements
■ Install modern system with full vendor
support
' ■ Eliminate unnecessary customization
efforts
■ Train key staff in full capabilities of the
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system
3. IBM System/36 Replacement - ■ Implement current technology computer
Financial Systems and applications
' ■ Provide flexibility and better information
from payroll system
■ Implement financial package to give full
' budget inquiry and control capabilities to
the departments
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
' Initiative Objectives
4. Geographic Information Systems ■ Standardize City mapping functions
■ Track progress on Council Goals, land
' use and General Plans
■ Develop accurate infrastructure
inventory, maintenance and update plans
■ Integrate existing, address based
information
■ Provide flexible analysis of disparate data
' in multiple departments
■ Provide accurate location-based
information to the public
5. Radio/Telecommunications ■ Upgrade Public Works radio system
■ Ensure proper coverage and emergency
preparedness for communications system
■ Implement voice mail and paging systems
■ Provide proper support to all
' communications and telemetry systems
6. Records Management ■ Provide rapid, accurate access to all City
vital records
' ■ Provide access to records of the City
across the network
■ Eliminate duplicate files
' ■ Provide archival storage and disaster
recovery capabilities for City records
7. Public Access/Electronic Village ■ Meet requirements of Public Records Act
' ■ Provide public access to City information,
schedules, programs and services
■ Provide electronic communications with
' I the County, Cal Poly, and other agencies
Implementing and supporting all of these systems will require a series of specialized
' resources, some for limited duration and some on an ongoing basis. Based on the size and
scope of systems to serve the City of San Luis Obispo, we have developed a series of
recommendations for technical support services. The key recommendation is:
' Centralize support of technology by eliminating the departmental
' system administrator role and developing a single technology
support organization.
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Specific roles for support staff are described in the Organizational Issues section of this
plan. Key roles include:
■ General Management
i ■ Project Management
■ Network Administration
■ Communications/Radio/Telemetry Support
■ Operations
' ■ Help Desk
■ Technical Support/Programming
These roles were designed to allow individuals to back up other functions, eliminating the
current situation in which vital City systems are dependent on a single person.
' This plan includes a four-year budget for each of the initiatives, based on the alternative
and scheduling agreed upon by the City management team. Major technology projects
' should be budgeted as capital improvement items, to assure a consistent level of funding
over the course of a multi-year implementation effort.
' This plan also includes charts indicating our recommendations for the size, structure and
composition ofthe central technology support organization. Based on changing
' requirements over the course of the plan, we have also indicated where use of contract
personnel could provide the City with additional flexibility in meeting budget objectives.
' We recognize that implementation of new systems and development of a new organization
are processes that will take time and effort. The transition will take place over the four
year lifetime of this plan, and may involve redefining positions, reassigning individuals, and
recruiting for specific skills. We have recommended a mission for the Steering Committee
to serve to monitor progress on each initiative and to modify the plan as changing
organizational, regulatory, technical and budgetary environments may require.
' The City should also recognize that the potential for new technology is endless. As the
initiatives described in this plan are implemented, opportunities for new systems and
' emergence of new technologies will continue to drive the cycle. The City should
anticipate, embrace and budget for new technology that will continue to improve its ability
to serve its residents, day visitors and businesses.
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WP Marwick LLP
' City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
2. Introduction
' 2.1. Purpose of This Document
This document represents the results of the technology planning process undertaken by the
' City of San Luis Obispo. Priorities, schedules and recommendations were developed by
the City's management team, based on analysis and research performed by KPMG to
address the specific needs identified in the City of San Luis Obispo's Current Systems
' Assessment Report.
The plan is based on a series of technology initiatives which logically group major projects
to address identified business needs. Each initiative presents a series of alternatives, with
KPMG's evaluation of the positive and negative aspects of each. Based on the priorities,
schedules and workplans adopted at the management workshop, we have developed
' proposed project plans for each initiative. Where possible, we have contacted potential
vendors for major systems to provide realistic ranges for budgeting purposes. Until
' specific system requirements are developed, prices cannot be estimated more accurately.
We have also developed a suggested technology support organization, and developed
alternatives for meeting the support needs which currently exist and which will increase as
new systems are implemented.
' 2.2. Methodology
Over the course of several weeks, starting at the beginning of September, 1994, KPMG
consultants interviewed City Council, the Mayor, the City Administrative Officer(CAO)
' and all City department heads. These high level interviews were designed to gather
information on the goals, objectives and business direction of the City. Additionally, we
inquired as to the ability of top City management to access and interpret information
' critical to their decision making and strategic evaluation processes. These interviews form
the framework not only for the Current Systems Analysis, but also for the future vision for
information systems for the City.
Our consultants also conducted group sessions for staff in each department. Questions in
these interviews were aimed at determining the level of success of existing systems in
supporting the performance of day-to-day operations. We attempted to determine
overlaps and duplications of effort, ability to access and interpret information needed for
typical staff processes, and flexibility of systems and tools in meeting the changing
' requirements of each department.
' Additional group sessions were held by function, including Geographic Information
Systems, system administrators, and office automation users. These sessions were each
unique in that the organizational level and systems expectations of each group was
' different. Each of these group sessions led to the development of a systems assessment
grouped into the City Wide Systems Assessment presented in the Current Systems
Assessment document.
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City of San Luis Obispo -
' Technology Master Plan
On the basis of the information gathered in this process, KPMG prepared a summary of
findings which was presented to the City's Information Services Steering Committee in
' their meeting of October 19. Feedback provided by the Committee members and their
staff following that meeting was incorporated into a first draft of the Current Systems
' Assessment Report, that was delivered to the City at the end of October.
Written comments received from City management and staff requested follow-up sessions
' and additional interviews to address some discrepancies and inconsistencies in the original
draft. These follow-up sessions were held during December, 1994 and January, 1995,
culminating in the presentation of the second draft to the CAO, Assistant CAO, Finance
' Director and Information Systems Coordinator on January 22 and to the Steering
Committee in their meeting of February 2.
' The Current Systems Assessment was accepted with a reservation for some minor
changes. The consultants developed this document by:
' ■ Analyzing the current environment from a technical and organizational perspective
■ Analyzing the results of interviews with City Council, the CAO and the adopted
Council Goal Priorities
■ Analyzing the results of department head and management interviews to determine the
City's business needs from an automation perspective
This analysis resulted in the development of the future vision description, the major
initiatives and the organizational recommendations contained in this document.
Alternatives were developed for the major initiatives based on our knowledge of the
' industry and the success of peer organizations to the City in implementing similar systems.
Lists of potential vendors for public safety, finance, utility, and records management
systems were contacted to provide software and equipment recommendations and budget
estimates. In the case of geographic information systems, we worked with a technical
representative from ESRI, the indicated vendor of choice for the City, to develop the
' alternatives and budget estimates presented.
On March 6, KPMG facilitated a management workshop in which the CAO, all
' department heads, the MIS steering committee, and the Information Services Coordinator
participated. That session served to:
' ■ Define the City's future vision for the use of technology
■ Analyze the efforts needed to achieve that vision into specific major projects which
' require capital funding
■ Prioritize those projects
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ To develop recommendations for supporting current and proposed systems more
' effectively, specifically;
• Should technology support be centralized?
• How would a technology support group be structured?
• Where should the technology support group report in the City organization?
' • What strategies should be pursued for acquisition of new systems?
• How should the City organize to follow and update the Strategic Plan?
' 2.3. Summary of Current Systems Assessment
The Current Systems Assessment evaluated the City's environment from the perspectives
of technical infrastructure, applications systems strategies, user and technical support
' strategies, and the success level of the City's current applications. The City was judged to
have done an excellent job in:
' ■ Developing a data communications infrastructure
■ Developing standards for desktop systems and office automation
■ Strategy for Radio and Telephone Systems
' Some areas for improvement were noted in:
■ Applications Acquisition, Development and Support
■ Local Area Network and User Support
' ■ The Organizational Structure of Information Services
■ Keeping Systems and Applications Current with Technology
Significant needs for improvement were identified in:
I ■ User Training
' ■ Support for Radio and Telephone Communications
Among major applications serving the City, the most serious deficiencies were noted in the
' following areas.-
Public
reas:Public Safety Records and Dispatch (Fire)
■ Payroll
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Other major systems were operating at a level which allowed the department to function,
but were old-technology, non-user-friendly systems with limited analysis and reporting
' capabilities. In this category are the general accounting systems, utility billing, and
business tax.
Parks and Recreation is served by a registration package that is in the process of being
implemented, but seems to have the capabilities required to support the department's
major functions. Many other systems have been developed locally and meet current
departmental requirements, including building permits and land use.
' Most of the needs defined by the City's management team were for integrating
technologies- systems that transcend departmental boundaries and allow access to wide
varieties of data that can be combined in meaningful fashion. These requests gave rise to
' most of the technology initiatives in this document.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
3. Future Environment
' 3.1. Business Perspective on Use of Technology
In light of the City's fiscal realities, the City's ability to successfully acquire, develop,
' implement and maintain systems in a cost effective manner is crucial. Risks of failure must
be minimized. The maximum productive use must be obtained from both current and
future investments in technology.
The City has recognized a series of factors which made the development of a systems plan
necessary:
' ■ Slower growth in revenues and increasing demands for services. After years of
hardy growth in the 1980's, governments in the state of California are now
experiencing flat or shrinking revenues, while the demand for services continues to
increase. In a limited resource environment, government has to make tough choices -
' and use every dollar wisely. The City has already gone through staff cutbacks and
has no plans to increase staffing levels in operating departments. Somehow, the City
must leverage their current staff to get more productive work out of a constant staff
' level.
■ Advances in information technology. The rapid pace of change in information
technology places new demands on government to act decisively and move quickly.
Major systems such as geographic information systems (GIS) and image-based
records management span departmental boundaries and integrate City-wide
' information. The cost of computer equipment has plummeted, putting sophisticated
systems within the reach of cities the size of San Luis Obispo. While automation can
present long-term service improvements and savings, the process of establishing
' effective systems presents potential pitfalls that must be effectively managed to get
government heading in the right direction.
■ Business process re-engineering movement American business learned some hard
lessons in the 1980's and emerged stronger and more competitive for it. Just as
corporations were forced to move away from control to customer service, flatter
' organizations and empowering employees, the nation's governments are now having
to rethink their missions and focus on their core service requirements.
' The cost effective management of information technology systems which increase
effectiveness and efficiency will be key to relieving the pressures which are facing San Luis
' Obispo in maintaining quality services without increasing budgets.
In order for the City of San Luis Obispo to establish a technological environment which
' addresses the needs of individual departments, the goal and objectives of the City and the
demands of the public they will need to consider: where they are currently; where they
want to go in the future; and how they will get there. Goals for the use of technology in
San Luis Obispo include:
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ Full Systems Integration -Data should be entered once and only once. Information
' should be available to all with a need to know and sufficient security clearance.
■ Cooperative Ventures-Taking systems integration even further, the City should
' encourage and support shared efforts with Cal Poly, the County, other cities, agencies
and the private sector to best leverage investments and decrease duplicated efforts.
■ Use of Integrating Technologies -Modern systems such as geographic information
systems(GIS) and finance systems can serve to integrate multiple databases already
' employed by the City. GIS will allow access to data based on location via a graphical
map interface. Finance can track performance measures and costs of activities which
are recorded throughout the City.
' ■ Enterprise Prioritization -Priorities established in the planning process should take a
holistic view of the City organization to best apply dollars and resources to the
' business of managing the City.
■ User Training and Support -The City cannot take full advantage of its investment in
' technology unless the user community is fully versed in the capabilities and operation
of the systems.
' ■ Data Processing and Communications Support-Data and communications
processing support need to be addressed in order for technology tools to be used to
their fullest potential. If support levels, both quantity and quality, are too low, the
chances are that the City will see failed implementations, under utilized technology and
a reactive work environment instead of a proactive environment.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Goals for specific system recommendations include:
' ■ Data Access and Sharing- Systems must allow information to be accessed via the
City's data communication infrastructure by all users with need and justification for
that information. The City currently spends a great deal of time in each department
tracking down information requests from other departments.
' Additionally, consideration must be given to public access to City information. How
can the City best make its information base available to its constituents? What
information should be available, to whom and via what access method(s)?
' ■ Management Reporting- Systems must support the management team in making
accurate decisions. True management reporting includes the flexibility to recombine
' data from separate applications into meaningful correlation's and comparisons, and to
display the results in ways that make sense to management, the City Administrative
Office, the Council and the public.
■ Modular and Flexible Systems - Given that San Luis Obispo can not support the
staff size necessary for major systems development, the City must select systems that
are modular so only those functions required by the City are implemented, and flexible
to allow the City to define policies and procedures that best fit the community.
3.2. Conceptual Model of San Luis Obispo Technology
In meeting all of the objectives outlined above, San Luis Obispo will be creating a true
enterprise database: an integrated electronic representation of the information contained
in the organization. While each department or function will still maintain specific
' information regarding its programs and services, these individual databases will be tied
together by the major integrating systems: GIS and Finance.
' Data with a location component (any record or activity in which location plays a specific
part) can be indexed using the GIS base maps. Each such database thus becomes a"layer"
of the City's GIS system.
' Data with a financial component (any record or activity with costs, personnel time, and/or
revenue associated with it) can be indexed using the financial systems. Financial systems
' in the near future will have to track performance budgets and performance measures to
meet GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) requirements. Cost accounting
systems can be a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of City services and for measuring
' real improvements with changes in procedures or technology.
Even the physical documents currently stored in multiple filing cabinets throughout City
departments will become a part of the data base as scanned images stored electronically
are indexed to data records in each of the individual systems.
' KPMG�Peat Marwick LLP 14
' City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
Ideally, the end result would look like the diagram below:
City of San Luis Obispo
' Conceptual Model
Scanned Documents
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LOCATIONS BUDGETS
o°
.Qs
=o
CL
' Access to the systems can be provided over the City WAN to all users connected to the
data communications environment. By using budgets and locations to correlate data
among multiple systems, significant research and management information can be
generated. Examples are limited only by the imagination: Compare accident rates by area
where liquor licenses exist; determine the cost of road repair in different locations; find
' copies of all City ordinances referring to a specific area of downtown, etc.
3.3. Major Initiatives to Attain Future Environment
' Building a systems environment like the one described above requires an appropriate
technology infrastructure and large scale systems which are compatible with each other
and integrated with individual applications. The City has already taken excellent first steps
' in the development of the LAN/WAN environment and is considering the adoption of
Windows as the desktop standard. Additional steps which need to be taken are addressed
in the major initiatives described in the remainder of this section:
' ■ Windows Upgrade: Windows has rapidly become the desktop standard in most major
business organizations. Consequently, most software development designed to
operate on a desktop personal computer has concentrated on the Windows
environment. Access to GIS, records management and even most modem finance and
database applications requires the use of Windows. Unfortunately, many of the
' systems still in use in the City are not sufficiently powerful to run Windows software,
necessitating significant hardware upgrades.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ Geographic Information Systems: Developing a series of base maps of the City and
providing the ability to index all location-based data by using those maps is a powerful
' management tool which can help the City track progress toward many of its adopted
Council goals. The widespread use of FoxPro as the City's database standard will
make the job of integrating existing databases into a GIS environment sampler than if
no such standard existed.
■ IBMSystem/36 Replacement-Financial Applications: The IBM System/36 has
' reached the end of its productive life. That computer is no longer in the
manufacturer's catalog, and support for both the hardware and software are becoming
' expensive and problematic. The payroll system, especially, has limited the City's
ability to provide flexible benefits to its employees and useful information to its budget
managers. The System/36 and its older architecture applications are difficult to
' integrate into the envisioned open systems environment. Modern systems can provide
flexibility and analytical capabilities far beyond those of the current system, and can
enable the performancelcost evaluations envisioned in the future model.
' ■ Records Management: Scanned images can be stored, indexed, and retrieved
electronically, eliminating much of the need for filing cabinets, multi-part internal
forms, duplicated files, and rummaging through files. Recently developed technology,
especially the use of compact disk storage devices, has made electronic storage of
images affordable to organizations the size of San Luis Obispo. Proper system
' selection will allow documents to be linked to related data records on City systems
(e.g. police reports with incident records, applications with building permit records,
vendor invoices with payables records, etc.).
' ■ Public Safely Records/Dispatch: The City's public safety systems are not meeting the
reporting and analysis needs of those departments. Much of the problem is
attributable to insufficient training and support, although there are system deficiencies
in dispatching that are causing problems for the Fire Department. The police system's
software vendor is migrating that application to Windows, but the City must make
some fundamental decisions prior to attempting that upgrade.
■ RadiolTelecommunications: The City's use of radio and telephone communications
' is fragmented, and support is lacking in many respects. The recent fires have
exacerbated the condition by knocking out a significant equipment location. Radio
communications can be linked to the data processing environment in the form of
' mobile terminals in police cars, fire trucks, and other field operations vehicles.
■ Public Access and the Electronic Village: This initiative was added at the
' management workshop to address issues regarding the public's ability to access
electronically stored records; the ability of service departments to disseminate
' information to the public and the ability of the City to communicate with peer and
other organizations and agencies, most specifically to the County and Cal Poly.
' WPIWIPeatMarwick LLP 16
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
3.4. Departmental Systems
' The system initiatives listed above are not intended to be a comprehensive list of all
systems which might well serve the City of San Luis Obispo. The initiatives are
specifically designed to be multi-departmental in nature, serving to support either large
' functional areas(e.g. public safety) or the entire City organization (e.g. GIS, Records
Management, Finance). In addition, each department in the City has a need for specialized
applications that support the services and functions of that department. These applications
range from large, mission-critical applications (for example, recreation registration)to
small, extremely specialized programs (e.g. engineering pipe network analysis).
' Up to this point, departments have had full control over their data processing
environment. Thus, if they could justify the systems and their budgets, they could acquire
or contract for the development of these systems. The Steering Committee structure has
imposed some requirements on these systems (such as adhering to City desktop standards
for PCs and FoxPro), but overall the decision making process has been decentralized.
' This decentralized approach has had a number of notable successes in the City. While this
plan is recommending a centralization of data processing support, we nonetheless believe
' that departments should continue to be empowered to make certain systems decisions on a
decentralized basis. There is a role for centralized support in this process, but it is mainly
quality assurance and technical oversight rather than a veto of the process
' 3.5. Results of the Management Workshop
On March 6, KPMG facilitated a full-day workshop for the management team of the City
' of San Luis Obispo. Participants in the workshop were the CAO, all department heads,
the MIS steering committee and the Information Services Coordinator. During the course
of that session, the department heads achieved consensus on a broad array of topics
' directly related to this technology plan:
■ Public access and the concept of an electronic village were added to the major
initiatives list. The management group agreed that public access would likely not be a
major system in and of itself, but should be an important consideration for each system
implementation.
■ System prioritization criteria were established. These criteria, which were considered
in determining relative priorities of each of the major initiatives, included a mix of
' internal and external factors. The group attempted to prioritize systems which would:
■ Improve public safety and the livability of the community
' ■ Increase employee productivity
■ Meet public expectations of high service quality- convenience and responsiveness
' of City services
■ Respond to regulatory mandates
■ Meet the City's need for compatibility and connectivity of systems and integration
tof databases
' k�YVG Peat Marwick LLP 17
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ Major technology initiatives were prioritized. The management team viewed these
' initiatives in the following order of importance:
' 1. Windows Upgrade
2. Public Safety Records
3. IBM System/36 Replacement/Financial Applications
' 4. Geographic Information Systems
5. Radio and Telecommunications
6. Records Management
' 7. Public Access/Electronic Village
■ The management team agreed that user and technical support were the most serious
' impediment to successfully implementing new systems. While expressing some
reservation over the staff count required to fulfill documented requirements, there was
overall consensus on the staffing and organizational strategy recommendations
' contained in this document. Highlights of the recommendations are:
■ Adoption of a strategy for deciding whether to develop or acquire needed systems
' ■ Adoption of a strategy for determining whether a system acquisition decision
should be made centrally or departmentally
■ Development of a central technology resource support organization, whose scope
' will include computers and data networks, telecommunications and radio
communications
■ Adoption of the role of a Steering Committee to review, monitor and update the
' plan
In addition to these items, the management team gave a great deal of consideration to the
' organizational support and cost issues involved in introducing a new technology to the
City portfolio. Specifically addressed were the possibilities of introducing a UNIX based
system in support of any of the major initiatives, or the introduction of either Windows 95
' as a desktop standard beyond the current Windows initiative or Windows NT as a file
server operating system. While no overall consensus was reached, the management team
is realistically appraising each of these options in terms of the technical and user support
' resources that would be required to make them successful.
KPMG feels the City should hold off on the implementation of leading-edge technology
' until there are good selections of applications available in those environments. Although
the technology press may be touting Windows NT as the environment of the future, few
public sector software applications are currently available in that environment. The City
' should wait for the market and follow its lead in new technologies.
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
4. Windows Upgrade Initiative
' 4.1. Objectives
The City has recently considered Windows as the new standard for desktop operating
' systems, and has determined that Word Perfect for Windows, Lotus for Windows and
Word Perfect Office would be the standard office automation applications. The purpose
of this initiative is to migrate the current, DOS based users and applications to a Windows
environment. Specific objectives include:
■ Position for the future: most other computer systems initiatives identified in this
' document require a Windows environment for the operation of the software.
■ Compute power: provide each user with a computer of sufficient capacity and
' processor speed to be able to effectively handle Windows based software.
t ■ Sharing of information: configure each system in a standard fashion to allow easy
transfer of documents, spreadsheets and other information among all users on the City
WAN.
' ■ User proficiency: provide sufficient training and user support ("Help Desk"
capability) to allow each user to make effective use of the new software in the
' performance of his/her role within the City.
4.2. Alternatives
The alternatives available to the City in the Windows migration are variations in the
project plan which would spread the costs of hardware and software upgrades over
' various time frames. For example:
■ The City could embark on an immediate upgrade process, limited only by time
' available for support personnel to configure and install systems and train users. This
would be the shortest time-frame scenario.
' ■ Users could be evaluated based on their specific use of desktop applications. Those
who would benefit least from the Windows conversion (for example, if the PC were
' used 80-90% of the time to access System/36 applications) would be assigned lowest
priority. Those who already have 486/66 systems(the current City standard) would be
upgraded immediately. New systems would be purchased for those users who most
' need them, with their former computers being"handed down' to lower priority users
with even weaker systems. The goal would be to replace all 286 systems as rapidly as
possible, and to upgrade other systems as budgets become available.
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KP G Peat Marwick «P 19
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ All desktop systems could immediately be upgraded to Windows by simply acquiring
the software and installing it on current systems. The likely outcome would be that
' those users attempting to make heavy use of systems without sufficient power to
operate Windows applications would use funds currently available for departmental
' support of workstations to upgrade those work sites.
While the gradual approach would lessen the immediate budgetary impact, it would
' require provision of support to two extremely different environments, greatly increasing
the burden on support staff. The third option would leave some users with essentially
non-functional equipment until their departments could fund needed upgrades.
' Overall, the most significant issue in the Windows migration is training, both of the users
and of the support staff. Use of Windows software requires a significant shift in the
thought process of users. While Windows software is inherently more user-friendly than
the DOS versions, there is a significant learning curve, especially for personnel required to
use the more advanced features of the new software(heavy word processing users,
' graphics users, development of complex spreadsheets, etc.) Failure to schedule initial
training to coincide with implementation for each user will result in less than optimal use
of the systems.
' One of our most significant recommendations in the staffing section of this document is
the establishment of a Help Desk function. A support person proficient in the use of City
' standard applications should be available to provide help to users over the phone or in
person. It is critical that the designated Help Desk staff be truly proficient in the software,
' not just a"chapter or two ahead" of the users. If users determine that they will not get
support from the Help Desk that is relevant and accurate, the entire concept will fall into
disuse.
' Careful consideration needs to be given to the large inventory of FoxPro applications
currently operating in the City. The new, Windows-based Visual FoxPro offers significant
advantages over the DOS version in user-friendliness of graphic front end software, and in
easy migration paths to larger scale environments(e.g. SQL Server). The new version is
rapidly replacing the DOS environment for software developers. However, given the large
number of applications and the limited base of support available, conversions to Windows
for these applications need to be prioritized and scheduled. As the City has limited
programming resources available to it, conversion of these systems should be scheduled so
as to minimize impact on needed development projects.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
4.3. Recommendations
' To expedite the completion of this highest priority initiative, KPMG has formulated a
series of recommendations as follows:
t1. Establishment of the Windows and office automation standards described at the start
of this chapter.
' 2. Establishment of a Help Desk function for Windows software should parallel the roll
out of the first wave of new installations. The Help Desk should be staffed during all
regular business hours. Based on the ratios of users to support staff discussed in the
current systems environment, the Help Desk should initially be staffed with a full-time
person, backed up by the network administrator and/or operator. The anticipated high
' initial load of support requests could be handled by adding contract staff, especially to
help in the configuration and installation of new systems. (See staffing
recommendations).
3. Users expected to be active participants in the GIS system should be considered
candidates for Pentium systems with at least 16 MB of memory rather than 486
' machines.
4. Any new development in FoxPro should take place in the Windows environment.
' Continued development in the DOS version will only add to the eventual time and cost
requirements for conversion to the new standard. Users of planned Windows-based
' applications(public safety, recreation, and those FoxPro applications designated for
upgrade) should be high priority candidates for system upgrades if the City adopts a
phased upgrade approach.
' 5. The City should negotiate network licenses for each of the standard packages. The
use of a centrally maintained network license could save the City some money in
' licensing fees, and certainly will simplify the task of upgrading almost 200
workstations each time the City adopts a revised standard for applications (as when
significantly improved versions of standard software are released).
4.4. Additional Issues
The subject of useful life for desktop equipment and keeping the City abreast of current
technology generated significant discussion at the management workshop. The City
should realize that PCs have useful fives of five years or less, and consequently this
' initiative could be renamed"Technology Upgrade" and be viewed as an ongoing process.
The City should use some of its per-workstation funding to provide for ongoing hardware
and software up grades as desktop technology improves. The level of funding could
t anticipate a five-year useful life for desktop system, which we feel is a realistic number in a
public sector environment.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Some discussion took place regarding Windows 95, now scheduled for release in the third
quarter of 1995. While the new system will be aggressively marketed as a replacement for
' the current Windows version 3, upgrades to Windows 95 should be considered only after
vendor software has been migrated and adequately tested in that environment and after the
' market has indicated a move toward acceptance of that system.
4.5. Project Plan and Estimated Budget
' The Windows Upgrade initiative was rated as the highest priority by the City's
management team. The workshop participants considered the costs and likely effects of
each of the three alternatives presented.
' The City has developed estimates of the total cost to upgrade all current computers to the
Windows environment. As of May, 1994, the estimate was that $1700 per workstation
' replacement would cover the cost of new hardware, and that software costs would run
approximately $550 per Windows installation. These estimates included FoxPro version
2.6, not the new, Visual FoxPro.
In the interim, some workstations have been upgraded, so the total of almost 100
replacement computers required is now an overstatement. As the number of Windows
' ready computers is changing constantly, it is easier to estimate costs on a per workstation
basis. However, the most recent estimate, presented at the March 6 workshop, still placed
the immediate upgrade costs as close to $200,000.
' The costs estimated by the City were based on acquiring Pentium replacement systems for
' each desktop currently served by a system smaller than a 386/33. Other systems would be
upgraded by adding memory and disk capacity sufficient to operate in the Windows
environment. As will be indicated in this document, there are work locations where a
' Pentium system even more powerful than those configured in this estimate would be
indicated (e.g. an ARCView GIS workstation, or a main scanning station for records
management). The cost factor for a Pentium system, with at least 16 MB of memory,
' should be included in the estimates for those designated work locations.
The management team, in order to lesser the initial outlay required, recommends the
' second alternative, a phased approach to upgrades, with the provision that all users be
given the option of upgrading their current desktop systems to Windows. Upgrades
would be prioritized based on a set of criteria driven by workstation use. As Public
Works, Community Development and Finance will have upgraded their systems by July of
1995, priority would be given to upgrading Police and Fire workstations in order to
support new records management software considered in their initiatives. Based on
' progress in implementing GIS, specific workstations in Utilities need consideration for
upgrade to a high level Pentium system.
t
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City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
The upgrade process should begin immediately, using funds already available in the
current budget. Estimated cost for initial outlay for hardware and software is $50,000,
t some of which could be funded out of departmental budgets for workstation support.
Second year upgrades to workstations would run approximately $50,000 additional.
' User training would need to be provided for 150-200 users. The recommended approach
is to bring a contract instructor into the City to provide a series of classes, probably over a
' two week initial period, with some follow-up sessions a month to six weeks later. The
total cost of the training should not exceed $10,000.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
5. Public Safety Records/Dispatch Initiative
' 5.1. Objectives
A public safety system must provide integrated dispatching capabilities that supports the
' dispatching needs of both the Fire Department and the Police Department. The system
must also meet the records management needs of the Police Department.
An integrated dispatching system should provide automated support for the
communication center operations, including:
■ Receiving, processing, and tracking calls for service
■ Verifying addresses
■ Dispatching and monitoring units
' ■ Monitoring incident status
' ■ Processing of external database inquiries.
A records management system should provide the Department with an integrated
' investigative and case management tool, not just a records management tool. The system
should provide the Department with timely, and centralized sources of enforcement,
investigative, and activity information. The system should provide automated support in:
' ■ Tracking and reporting on incidents, persons, property, vehicles, and locations
' ■ Case management
■ Records management
■ Crime analysis and investigations
' ■ Statistical and workload reporting.
To truly serve in this capacity, a public safety system must meet a series of criteria,
including:
■ Meet the dispatching needs of the Fire Department and the Police Department.
' ■ Meet the investigative and enforcement information needs of the Police Department.
■ Improve effectiveness, providing both Fire and Police with timely, and centralized
sources of incident response, enforcement, investigative, and activity information.
' KPM7Peat Marwick LLP 24
' Ci hof San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
■ Work with the City's automation tools, so that the incident-based records and the
records management database are accessible to the City's spreadsheet, presentation
' or word processing applications.
■ Integrate with fire inspection and prevention systems so that data collected by these
' systems can be used to assist suppression units.
■ Complement the City's data processing systems to enhance management reporting
and administrative activities such as budgeting, time reporting, etc., and allow data
collected by Public Works, Utilities, etc. to assist suppression units.
' ■ Provide compatibility with the City's GIS capabilities so that the CAD and records
management capabilities can be used in conjunction with the City's GIS data.
5.2. Alternatives
' The success of any action the City takes regarding its public safety automation capabilities
involve the resolution of three issues:
' ■ Documenting and establishing consensus on the requirements for a dispatching system
and for the police records system.
' ■ Providing effective project management and adequate technical support and training.
■ Upgrading Departmental workstations to provide enough capacity to run Windows
' and to meet vendor recommendations.
' It is important to define requirements and get consensus or a "sign-off' by a user
committee. This user committee should be composed of Fire and Police staff from
operations and communications (fire fighters, inspectors, detectives, patrol, and
' administrative staff). This will allow the Fire and Police Departments to accurately
determine how well, or how poorly, any system meets their needs, based on user-agreed-
upon requirements. By detailing specific requirements the City, and vendors, will be able
' to definitively respond to these requirements, and increase the level of confidence in the
selected alternative by the users.
As discussed in the Current System Assessment, many of the difficulties that the
Departments face relate to the ability to provide adequate technical project management
and system support. To be successful any public safety automation effort will need to be
' supported by more than one trained, cross functional individual who can provide (1)
project management and leadership to the implementation efforts and (2) ongoing
technical support to both Departments.
' Both Departments will need to plan for upgrading their workstation hardware as detailed
' in the Windows upgrade initiative.
WPIIOPeat Marwick LLP 25
' City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
One alternative to be considered is to maintain the status quo by not making any
' significant changes to CRIS. As was detailed in the Current Systems Assessment, the
current CAD system generally meets dispatching requirements, although it falls short in
' some important Fire Department areas (move up-algorithms, hazards file, and closest unit
response analysis). Problems with the Police records management component relate to the
Department's technical support and implementation efforts.
' A second alternative would be to upgrade CRIS to the vendor's current release. In doing
so, the City should consider not customizing the new release as they have with the version
' of CRIS that they are currently operating. This would eliminate problems that the
Departments encounter as regulations, statutes and requirements change. With vendor-
provided software, the responsibility to apply the changes will fall on Megg Associates.
' A third alternative would be to procure another CAD/records management system. This
will allow the Departments to select a system that meets their functional CAD and records
' requirements. Based on current transaction volumes, the size of both departments, and
the fact that neither transaction rate nor staff size is expected to increase significantly
during the life of the new system, the Departments can opt for either a PC or UNIX file
' server. A UNIX-based solution may allow much easier connection to anticipated UNIX
systems (GIS and the City's records system).
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of these three options.
' Maintain Status Quo Upgrade to Current Release Procure a New`$ stem
' Maintains the established Provides the opportunity to Greater learning curving
knowledge base, does not hold the vendor accountable required. Both technical and
require learning a new system to the functionality of the users will need to be trained
from the perspective of Police records module. to be proficient in the product.
dispatchers and technical
support staff.
' Relatively decent fit for CAD Provides the opportunity to Requires significant
"baseline" the Police records investment.
system - eliminates the high
' level of customization.
Basically no new costs. Minimizes the risk of lack of May encounter resistance
vendor support by bringing from existing staff.
' the City up to current vendor
releases.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
tTechnology Master Plan
' Maintain Status Quo Upgrade to Current Release Procure a New S stem
Training of users will be Provides an opportunity for Requires a high level of
' required so that all understand the vendor to respond to some commitment by Departmental
how to use the system and its of the Fire Department's CAD management to (1) address
capabilities. needs. change management issues
' and (2) allocate project
resources.
Does not require modifying or Will provide improved
' any rewrites of support functionality for both
programs, i.e., the fire Departments.
incident download.
' Can target specific functional
requirements of the
Departments.
Improves management
reporting capabilities.
'
Improves data accuracy.
Eliminates the duplicate
processing of data, i.e., re-
entering CAD and records
data into other tools to
perform reporting.
5.3. Recommendations
' Given that the current CRIS system generally meets the dispatching needs of the Police
and Fire Departments, although it falls short in some important Fire Department areas, we
suggest the following:
I. Continuing using CRIS as is, for the short term.
' 2. Plan for and participate in the City's Windows upgrade process immediately, so that
workstations have enough capacity to run Windows and meet minimal vendor
' recommendations.
3. Convene a cross-functional team(s) to identify requirements for CAD and police
' records.
4. Conduct a confirmation analysis to determine how well CRIS meets both
department's documented requirements or whether or not they should pursue a new
system.
' iC TGA Peat Marwick LLP 28
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
5. Establish project manager/technical support staff with the authority and skills to
manage the short term and long term public safety automation efforts.
' It is important to document the requirements for CAD and for records and to conduct a
' confirmation analysis in order to accurately determine how well, or how poorly, CRIS
meets user defined needs. By documenting specific requirements the City will be in a
position to allow Megg Associates to respond to shortcomings of CRIS. Since CRIS was
' originally implemented over seven years ago, both departments can document their
current requirements and provide a vehicle for the City to issue an RFP for a new system,
if necessary, so that vendors can definitively respond to these requirements and the City
' can hold vendors accountable at implementation.
After the confirmation analysis is conducted, the Department will be in a position to
' determine the level of effort necessary to "fix" CRIS, whether or not the most current
release of CRIS will meet the functional requirements of the Departments, or whether or
not it is more cost effective to procure a new system that more closely matches both
' Departments requirements.
This requirements documentation and confirmation must be completed whether or not the
Department continues to use CRIS, upgrade to the current release of CRIS or to procure
another system.
' If the City/Department discovers that it is more expeditious to "fix" CRIS, it can then:
■ Accurately identify and prioritize all of the problems that need to be fixed, based on
tthe impact to the Departments and relationship to mission critical functions.
■ Identify the specific training needs of staff, based on system capability and job
requirements.
' ■ Procure any additional appropriate software tools(ad hoc, query, and development).
The City can not procure another system with any assurance that it will work any better
than CRIS without providing adequate technical support and management, and without
documenting its requirements. Furthermore, by utilizing a committee to define these
requirements, it enhances the likelihood that users will (1) gain confidence in CRIS and
' participate in correcting the problems with it, (2) recognize where business practices
should be modified to avoid customization of any system implemented, and (3) concur
with the implementation of another system if that is the alternative the City selects.
1 As discussed earlier, the success of the City's public safety automation efforts requires
effective project management and technical support. The City's emergency dispatch
system is the most critical system in the City and it requires the highest priority in terms of
technical support.
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KWO Peat Marwick LLP 29
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Three issues impact the City's approach to technical support for its public safety systems:
' Timing. It is anticipated that the City will continue to utilize the CRIS system over the
next eighteen months and will need to continue to support the Fire Department's systems.
' This implies that the Police and Fire Departments will need to provide ongoing support
while moving forward with the planning and implementation of a new dispatch and
records system. Two different skills sets will be needed to accomplish this: (1)technical
' support from someone familiar with CRIS system to run reports, complete backups,
perform system maintenance and provide general day-to-day system administration, and
(2) project management to provide leadership during the planning and implementation of a
' new system.
Project management. The charter of the public safety project manager should be to (1)
' plan for and select key public safety computer capabilities, (2) implement those systems,
and (3) ensure the integrity of the systems. The Police and Fire Department will be best
served by having a project manager in place as soon as possible to help identify
' requirements and conduct the confirmation analysis, as well as providing leadership during
the procurement and implementation processes.
' Maintenance and operations. Ongoing technical support is needed currently for the Fire
Department's systems and for the new dispatch/records system after it has been
implemented. This type of support is different from the project manager role since it will
provide more"hands on" system administration support. Primary responsibilities involve
user support functions such as help desk, system back ups, troubleshooting, and report
generation and distribution. Assumptions about the role of ongoing maintenance and
' operations support include:
■ The software vendor will provide primary application support.
■ In-house development will be limited to inquiries, reporting and analysis functions, and
' extracting data to other tools/applications.
WP;WPeat Marwick LLP 30
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
We recommend that a public safety project manager be identified as soon as possible who
is charged with oversight and leadership during the procurement and implementation
' process. This role should be:
■ dedicated to the Police and Fire Departments
' ■ full time
■ accountable for technology coordination, training and usage within the Police and Fire
Departments.
' The requirements for both project management and technical support will evolve as the
departments move forward and implement the new dispatchingtrecords system. During
' procurement and implementation, the project manager will be responsible for the
following:
' ■ Requirements definition
■ Vendor evaluation
■ Implementation planning
■ User procedure development
■ Training
■ Testing
' ■ Vendor contract management and administration
■ User liaison
' Although the project management role, after implementation, will not be a full time role,.it
will provide the departments with:
' ■ Policies, planning, vision, direction, and leadership
■ Technology advocacy
■ Capacity and growth planning
■ Standards enforcement
■ Warrantee and vendor contract management
' ■ Change control and management
■ Security management
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Over the next eighteen months, the Police and Fire Departments need a technical support
staff dedicated to the two departments to provide support for the Fire Department's
systems and for CRIS. This too, will most likely be a full time position between the two
departments. Although the technical support role, after implementation, will not be a full
' time role, it will provide the departments with:
■ Problem reporting and tracking
' ■ Trouble shooting
■ End user support
■ Preventative maintenance
' ■ Daily systems operations
■ Ad hoc report generation
■ System release and installation
' ■ First level PC and CAD/RMS hardware and software support
A decision must be made regarding the most best placement of this technical support. If
technical support is provided out of the City's central data processing organization, the
City will need to guarantee support levels(1) commensurate to the City's most mission
critical system and (2)that provide 24 hour, seven day-a-week support. If technical
support is dedicated to the Police and Fire Departments, these departments have greater
control and confidence that the specific public safety needs will be addressed in the most
expeditious manner.
A high level of user training is critical to the support level decision. A major problem with
the current system has been the lack of user training. This has led to a high level of
' dependency on technical support to perform even basic system tasks, such as inquiries.
Key users in each functional area of police, fire and dispatch must be intimately familiar
' with the system, and capable of generating their own inquiries and analyses. Crime
analysis should be the province of the detectives; statistical reporting the province of
records; inspection scheduling the province of fire prevention; etc. Thorough training of
' the users can significantly decrease dependency on technical support, and reduce the
workload currently required of the Police Department technical resources.
' 5.4. Project Plan and Budget
Workstations in both police and fire must be upgraded to the Windows environment,
including replacement of systems less powerful than a 486/66, as a pre-requisite to moving
' into a more modern system, including the upcoming Windows version of the CRIS system.
This upgrade is a part of the overall Windows Upgrade initiative, but it should be
emphasized that it is a requirement for moving forward on this initiative as well.
' Use of consulting services for developing a combined public safety requirements document
would be a project that would likely span 3 months and cost approximately $20-25,000.
' There was a consensus, supported by both chiefs, at the March 6 management workshop,
that an outside consultant would be necessary to avoid mistakes made in the past in the
' definition and selection of a system.
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' Technology Master Plan
Based on our survey of software vendors currently active in public safety systems,
' software costs for CAD systems range from$50,000 to $200,000. Software costs for a
police records system are comparable. These costs do not include hardware costs, if the
' City were to select a system that operates on a UNIX platform. Such a UNIX
workstation would likely cost $40-70,000, based on the determination of anticipated
system use.
' Given the critical priority of the dispatching function, and the absolute requirement that it
be available on a 24 hour, 7 day basis, we recommend that the CAD system operate on a
' separate platform from the records system, and that the records system platform serve as a
backup computer for CAD when that system goes down. This redundancy, while
expensive, is vital to maintaining continuity of emergency dispatch services. We
recommend budgeting $15-25,000 for a CAD UNIX server if a UNIX system is selected,
or budgeting for a separate high-level file server if a PC system is selected (approximately
$8-10,000 for hardware and software).
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6. IBM System/36 Replacement - Financial Applications Initiative
' San Luis Obispo's financial applications are the currently the heart of the City's enterprise-
wide information systems. All City departments utilize and contribute to the information
' found on these systems. Preparation and tracking of budgets are a vital part of the
business requirements of each department in the City.
' The City's current suite of financial applications run on an IBM System/36.
The term"financial applications" sometimes implies that it is limited only to the core
' accounting applications. The System/36 supports a number of major functions whose
primary users are administratively in the Finance Department. These systems include:
' ■ Core financial applications - This category includes the general ledger,journal
entries, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, purchasinglencumbrance
accounting, fixed assets, bank reconciliation, and inventory control functions.
■ Utility billing- This includes utility invoicing, field recorders, and cashiering.
' ■ Business tax - This includes billing and receivables.
' ■ Payroll - The payroll application includes payroll and human resource functions such
as benefits administration and labor cost distribution.
' The direction of the information system industry has moved toward the widespread use of
open systems environments. Open systems' standards have been developed to allow
applications to run on a variety of hardware and allow for easy integration between
' applications by adhering to a standard Application Program Interface (API). For this
reason, it is no longer necessary to purchase all systems from a single vendor. Creating an
open systems environment, San Luis Obispo can purchase the best available systems to
' support each major function, regardless of the vendor, and then integrate the systems to
create an optimal environment.
6.1. Objectives
The following are critical factors for a financial system for San Luis Obispo:
' ■ Provide fully integrated systems: The applications should be fully integrated with
each other allowing data to move transparently throughout the system and avoiding re-
keying of information.
■ Allow for system flexibility: The applications must provide the versatility to allow the
' City to meet its special needs particularly in the payroll and utility billing applications.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ User friendly data inquiry: Applications should facilitate the ease of use and allow
users to quickly obtain inquiry information. Information should be readily accessible
' to the City's standard office automation tools, to allow desktop analysis of financial
data.
' 6.2. Alternatives
' The alternatives available to San Luis Obispo for their financial applications fall into the
following four categories:
' ■ Immediately begin replacement procedure
■ Short-term investment to relieve system capacity problems with replacement
' procedure to begin almost immediately
■ Longer term resolution of capacity and support issues with replacement procedure to
begin at a future date
■ Keep existing system for the indefinite future
' Each of these options carries its own level of urgency and will vary greatly in cost and
time to implement. When determining which option to choose, the city must consider the
' following question:
Will the current financial system service the needs of the city?
' The question may seem easy to answer: a simple"Yes" or"No". Each of these answers in
turn creates additional questions. If the answer is"Yes", what will it cost to maintain the
system? What are the additional costs to modify the system as the needs of the city
change? And if the answer is"No," a second key question must then be asked:
' Should the City replace the system now or at a future date?
To answer this question, the city must examine its financial goals. On the one hand, an
answer of"at a future date" might save the City money in the short-term. If the purchase
of a new system is inevitable, however, the City must determine the long-term costs of
' maintaining the existing system in addition to purchasing a new one at a later date. In
addition, the costs of having to"live with" the existing system and forego the capabilities
of a newer, more robust system until the current system can be replaced must also be
' taken into account.
The following is a description of each of the alternatives and what would be required by
' the city to accomplish each one.
' Immediately Begin Replacement Procedure
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The first option available to the city is to immediately begin seeking a new financial system
' to replace the existing one. This procedure requires the city to:
' ■ Prioritize its financial applications
■ Create and issue Request(s)for Proposals
■ Develop a migration project plan
' The City must first prioritize the major functions listed above when determining the order
of replacement. Since there is a possibility that not all applications will be purchased from
' the same vendor, the initial system's selection will likely limit available choices for the
remaining applications by requiring compliance to standards set by the first selection (e.g.
choice of a database manager). Therefore the City should make certain that the most
' critical application is the first selected and build around it.
After the most critical application has been selected, San Luis Obispo will then create a
' detailed Request for Proposal (RFP). The City may either issue one RFP which would be
formatted to allow the City to select individual applications independently, or issue
separate RFPs for each application. The City must keep in mind that the systems they
' select will require operational and technical support, and thus should make sure that the
environments are similar. For example the City would not want to purchase an AS/400
financial application and a UNIX-based utility billing application due to the extra hardware
' and technical support costs that combination would entail. Similarly, an Oracle financial
system and an Informix utility system would require two license fees for database
' management systems, and two database administrators to maintain the systems.
A set of specific selection criteria should be developed which provides the basis for San
1 Luis Obispo to make their system selections. The selection process should include
reference checking and site visits. Current users at reference sites should be surveyed to
ascertain satisfaction with as well as problems and limitations of proposed systems.
' Finally, a detailed implementation plan should be developed which blueprints the migration
from the existing system to the new system. Factors to be included in the plan include:
' ■ Timetables
■ Milestones
■ System testing
■ Parallel processing
Short-Term Capacity Investment with Replacement Procedure to Begin Almost
Immediately
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This alternative suggests that San Luis Obispo begin preparing to replace its systems
within the next three years. A temporary"patch" will enable the City to extend the life of
' its current system by upgrading the existing IBM System/36 to a used IBM AS/400 or
inexpensive new system which will support System/36 applications. The AS/400 family of
' products is IBM's replacement line for the System/36 series. The temporary AS/400
should have enough capacity to maintain the system until the replacement system is fully
implemented.
Although this upgrade will not increase the functionality of the existing software, it is
supported by IBM and will improve system performance.
' The City should also begin the replacement procedure described in the previous section,
with the goal of implementing the system within the next three years.
' Longer Term Resolution of Capacity and Support Issues with Replacement Procedure to
Begin at a Future Date
1 The third replacement option is similar to the previous alternative except that the patch is
intended to last longer and the replacement procedure process will not begin immediately.
' In this scenario, San Luis Obispo will purchase a RISC based UNIX box such as the
RISC/6000 with a System 36 emulator. This would allow the City to continue utilizing its
existing software and would also provide the City with the ability to migrate to a UNIX
open systems environment in the future.
' Depending on the planned date for acquisition of new applications, the City should
consider migrating RPG applications originally from DLH to more supportable
applications from BRC. The City could likely negotiate a reasonably inexpensive
transition, especially if the current support person were to leave BRC.
' As mentioned in the GIS section, the introduction of UNIX into San Luis Obispo will
require a UNIX administrator for technical support. UNIX solutions are becoming
plentiful in many areas or government today. It is likely that at some point the city will
' have a need for the use of a UNIX host in areas other than finance such as GIS, records
management, etc. A trained UNIX administrator can act as support for multiple systems.
If an UNIX system will already be in place in other areas, use of a UNIX system in
' Finance can allow the current IBM system administrator's position to be used for the
UNIX administrator role.
tKeep Existing System
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' Technology Master Plan
The final option available to San Luis Obispo is to keep its existing financial applications.
If the City selects this option and declines to replace its system, it is recommended that it
upgrade to a new AS/400 with the capacity to handle the City's long-term requirements.
The City will port its existing applications to the AS/400 platform. The use of a third
' party package like the emulator described in the previous alternative, is not recommended
as a permanent solution due to the likely complications in technical support over the long
haul.
The City should also replace the old DLH payroll, business tax, and utility billing
applications with new"vanilla" applications available on the AS/400. A"vanilla" or
generic application is one in which does not contain customizations. The current
applications have been highly customized and therefore have limited support, cannot easily
be upgraded with new versions, and lack the flexibility to meet future requirements. The
' new applications should contain enough flexibility as to not require drastic modification.
6.3. Current Vendor Environment
To understand the current availability of financial software in the marketplace today and
' what some of these systems' costs are, KPMG sent out 22 Requests for Information
(RFIs) to financial systems' vendors. Of these 22 RFIs, we received responses from 9
vendors who expressed interest in the bid process and said that they had systems which fit
San Luis Obispo's needs. The following table summarizes the systems information
supplied by these vendors.
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Platform: 1 - AS/400
' 7 -UNIX
1 -Windows NT or UNIX
' DBMS: 1 -DB2/400 (AS/400)
4 - Informix
' 1 - COBOL
1 - Unidata
1 - VMark Universe
' 1 - Microsoft SQL Server
GUI Interface: 2 - Yes
' 7 - No
Application Availability: 9 - Core financial
' 5 - Utility
5 - Business License
' 7 - Payroll
' By far, the majority of the solutions submitted ran on the UNIX platform. Database
managers varied considerably. Very few offered applications which provided a Graphical
User Interface(GUI). The two which did offer a GUI utilize Microsoft Windows as the
' desktop interface.
1 6.4. Project Plan and Budget
The management workshop reached consensus on recommending the second alternative
for this initiative: acquire an inexpensive replacement for the current computer; keep the
' current applications running for the short term; begin the process of replacing systems in
priority sequence. Under this alternative, the City would acquire a System/36 capable new
system from BM, providing capacity and response times to allow the current application
' suite to continue to function. A project to define system requirements and develop an
RFP for replacement systems would take place during year one of the plan, with
acquisition of the payroll system to take place in year two. Replacement of the core
' financial applications and business tax systems would be in year three, and utility billing
would be replaced in year four.
' Consultant services for development of RFP specifications for the financial applications
will likely cost $20-25,000. Software prices were estimated in ranges as much more detail
' would be needed to develop accurate prices. The following table can supply the City with
an estimate for planning purposes from what was returned by the vendors*:
' Application Price Range Average
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Core Financial Applications $202000 - $100,000 $409000 - $6000
'
Utility Billing $155000- $40,000 $20,000
Business tax and license $5,000 - $35,000 $15,000
Payroll $1,600 - $50,000 $25,000
'
Training $22,500 - $77,740 $40,000
[Support (Percentage of software rice 12 - 18% annually 15% annually
*Note: Two vendors priced by complete package and were not included in this table.
Hardware prices can vary dramatically depending on the capacity and which
' configurations are required for the city. A figure mentioned by a San Luis Obispo
Information Services employee to purchase a replacement for the System/36 was roughly
$30,000. This figure may even be less depending on the City's requirements. IBM is
' scheduled to release a new version of the AS/400 this summer utilizing the Power PC
Chip technology. This is promised to add significantly to the systems performance.
' UNIX based servers also will vary in price somewhere in the $30-50,000 range to support
San Luis Obispo's financial applications. Additionally, a database management system
' would have to be acquired, likely costing $10-15,000. These systems tend to be smaller in
size than a comparable minicomputer, being slightly larger than a PC, and will require less
power to operate.
6.5. Recommendations
' The Current Systems Assessment identified Payroll as one of the City's systems which was
least successful in meeting business requirements, but most of the remaining financial
applications were judged as at least allowing basic functions to continue. Assuming that
' the City does not select Finance as its top priority for a system replacement project, we
suggest the following:
' 1. Continuing using BRC financial applications on an upgraded IBM/400 computer
platform, for the short term.
' 2. Complete the Department's plan to upgrade workstations so that they have enough
capacity to run Windows and meet minimal vendor recommendations.
' 3. Plan to start a controlled migration from the BRC software over the next three years,
starting with a replacement of the payroll application.
' 4. Establish project manager/technical support staff with the authority and skills to
manage the short term and long term finance systems implementation efforts.
' 5. Initiate the project for payroll system requirement definition
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
While the acquisition of a replacement system to support current applications is a
relatively straightforward process (define hardware requirements, obtain quotations,
' evaluate results), the definition of system requirements will be a significant effort in which
key people from both Finance and Personnel should play lead roles, and in which each
' department should participate to make sure that all requirements are accounted for(police
overtime, fire special shift handling, public works and utilities costing, etc.). Additionally,
recognizing the City-wide nature of the financial applications, key users from each City
department should participate in the requirements definition for budget preparation and
inquiry, payroll reporting and time entry, accounts payable and purchasing.
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' Technology Master Plan
7. Geographic Information System Initiative
' 7.1. Objectives
A Geographic Information System (GIS) in a city government environment is an
integrating technology, meaning that its main function is to interconnect databases
' maintained elsewhere in a meaningful way. In terminology familiar to many computer
users, a GIS serves as an indexing function, where the index is based on graphical
elements rather than textual or numerical information.
A GIS consists of a set of base maps which contain"hooks" that can be used to attach
' textual data. The data linked to these maps can be a part of the GIS, or can point to
other, compatible databases stored anywhere on the network. For example, in San Luis
Obispo the GIS might store census and demographic data, and graphical depictions of the
' City's water and sewer systems, which are not currently on a City database, and might
contain pointers to building permit, business tax and utility records.
The GIS is constructed in"layers" much like transparent overlays on top of the original
maps. Those layers can either be graphic (as in the water and sewer system example) or
' textual (census tract data). Layers can be added continuously over the life of the system,
so the City does not have to anticipate all future needs for geographic information at initial
implementation time as long as the system is planned in such a way as to allow
' expandability and easy integration with other systems.
Objectives for a GIS system for San Luis Obispo include:
' ■ Provide complete coverage: Provide base maps covering the entire City, including
those areas likely to be annexed in the reasonable future
' ■ Integrate with existing and planned City databases: Develop address- or parcel-based
links to data stores in public safety records, building permits, land use, business tax,
' utility billing and other geographically based systems
■ Maintain currency of maps: Provide technical capabilities and develop procedures to
' make sure that the system reflects current reality
■ Communicate with other agencies: Develop links to other regional organizations with
1 uses for geographic information(Cal Poly, the County, other cities, utilities, etc.)
■ Provide true City-wide access: Access provided to all City departments, with data
' available from other departments within reasonable security constraints
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
As a functioning GIS is constantly adding layers and functionality, the role of a Project
Manager is ongoing. The Project Manager for GIS (often referred to as a GIS
' Coordinator) must have sufficient knowledge of user requirements from the point of view
of the major land-based services (Public Works, Community Development, Utilities,
Police and Fire), and also sufficient knowledge of the capabilities of the software from
both a user and database perspective.
GIS is a major system which will have an enormous impact on each of the departments
that use it. A GIS rapidly becomes less useful if the information it contains is not kept up
to date in an extremely timely fashion. Therefore, one of the major functions of the GIS
' Coordinator will be to determine appropriate candidate data layers for inclusion in the GIS
and to help develop standards and procedures which will incorporate database updates
into the standard workflow of the department charged with maintaining that information.
' Thus the GIS Coordinator is at once both an advocate for the system and its capabilities
and also a gatekeeper to make certain that the data included will be up-to-date and
accurate.
' 7.2. Alternatives
Alternatives available to the City for the implementation of a GIS revolve around two
' significant issues:
■ What degree of accuracy is required on the base maps at the core of the system?
' ■ Where should the main repository of information be located?
' Unlike other major systems, there is a clear vendor of choice for the primary software to
be used for the UIS - ESRI of Redlands, California, who developed and support the
' ARCInfo, ARCView and ARCCAD software packages. While there are multiple other
vendors who have software packages available, including Atlas which is in use at the Land
Conservancy, ESRI has become a de facto standard for mapping applications in California.
' Each of the ESRI packages has specific uses in the eventual GIS configuration for San
Luis Obispo. ARCView is a software package designed to be run on high-powered
Windows PCs. ESRI recommends a minimum 486-66MHz configuration with 16 MB of
memory, although a Pentium with even more memory would allow faster response and
more flexibility for database manipulation and is recommended for anyone who will be
more than a casual GIS user. ARCView has as its main function inquiry and analysis into
geographically configured data. It allows inquiry and manipulation of databases linked to
maps, and has significant abilities to combine multiple databases to develop spatially based
' correlations. However, the package is not designed to allow creation of databases or
tables, nor is it equipped to allow development or modification to the graphical elements
of the maps.
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ARCInfo, the flagship of the SSRI software, is designed to cover both functions not
implemented in ARCVew. Additionally, it has greater power for location-based queries
' which can prove important in specific cases. ARCInfo runs in a UNIX environment,
requiring a workstation of significant power and data storage capabilities. Maps and
' databases generated in ARCInfo are accessible from ARCVew terminals on the same
network.
' ARCCAD is a PC-based package that allows the import and manipulation of maps
generated using AutoCAD, which is the package currently in use in San Luis Obispo for
maps drawn by Public Works and the Fire Department.
' Accuracy Alternatives
The City can either implement a relatively low accuracy system, based on parcels,
' addresses and street center fines, or a relatively high accuracy system based on maps
accurate to within a foot or less. There are advantages and disadvantages to each
alternative:
' Lower Accuracy Higher Accuracy
Requires relatively less storage space and Requires high storage capacity(disk storage
' computing power requirements increase geometrically with
accuracy) and computing ower
Relatively quick to implement with more Requires significant advanced preparation
easily available data (County assessor of accurate base maps as a prerequisite for
information, Thomas Guide map data, implementation
' census tract information, etc.
Capable of generating graphic and data Has same capabilities for address-based
displays of all address-based information in data
' the City (building permit, utility billing,
business tax, police and fire incidents, etc.
Will not provide accurate maps required for Can meet mapping needs of public works
' ublic works and utility infrastructure and utility
Most needed information can be Will require frequent access to UNIX based
manipulated and presented using Windows- software for map and graphic updates
' based software
The City's GIS consultant reports that the mapping work taking place in Public Works
using AutoCAD may be of sufficient accuracy that the second option would be
approximately as easy to implement from an organizational standpoint. He will be
' conducting further analysis of these maps to make sure that they are in a form which is
easily imported into ESRI's software.
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Technology Master Plan
Hardware and operating system implications for the more accurate option mean that there
will be higher capital and ongoing costs associated with it. The lower accuracy option
' does not require frequent use of the UNIX software, and the City could probably
implement successfully(at least initially)with a designated key user (likely the GIS
' Coordinator)using a powerful PC and a UNIX X-Windows emulator to access ARCInfo
on a host UNIX machine. Other users could use ARCView as an analysis and inquiry
tool. Needed new databases could be linked after either being purchased or developed in
' FoxPro.
The higher accuracy option would require mapping capabilities in a number of locations.
Key users in each department would require at least the capabilities described above.
Even that option may prove insufficient, and the City should consider acquisition of
smaller UNIX workstations for key users, at least in Public Works, Community
' Development and Utilities. These UNIX workstations would also have the advantage of
allowing users to run libraries of engineering software which have been developed for that
environment, which could meet some of the unique needs identified in those areas.
' Packages such as network flow models for water and wastewater systems are available
which integrate directly into the ARCInfo environment.
' Repository Alternatives
While Windows-based PCs can be used for analysis and inquiry, a UNIX system is still
required as the main information repository, and as the environment for operating
' ARCInfo for maintaining maps and generating database information. ESRI does have a
configuration available using PC-based software(ARCCAD and AutoCAD) to maintain
maps, but ESRI estimated that such a configuration would not provide sufficient computer
' power to meet San Luis Obispo's requirements.
' Introduction of a UNIX system for GIS in San Luis Obispo at this point presents some
significant issues:
' ■ No one on City staff has the training and skills required to be a UNIX administrator, a
task of significant technical complexity
' ■ As there are no other UNIX systems in the City, the UNIX administrator would be
required only for the GIS workstation
' While it might seem possible to assign the GIS Coordinator the role of UNIX
administrator, we feel that this would be a difficult combination for a single individual to
fulfill, especially in the first several months of a new system implementation. Additionally,
' that would repeat the problem identified in the Current Systems Assessment of making key
City functions dependent on a single individual.
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Fortunately, San Luis Obispo has an option available to it: Cal Poly has had a large UNIX
system donated to it, with the purpose of hosting a GIS system at the university. The City
thas installed an ISDN line to that system, and thus is capable of operating software
running on that machine. As one of the overall goals of the system plan is to increase the
use of cooperative or joint venture opportunities in implementing expensive systems, this
would seem to be an ideal solution- Cal Poly would provide the computer and the
administrator(s) required to keep it running; the City would provide the maps and data
' needed to build a functioning application.
Several potential problems with this scenario must be considered in deciding whether to
pursue this alternative:
■ The University may not provide sufficient resources to operate in the full-year
' environment required by the City government. University holidays like Christmas
break may impact their staffing levels.
■ Use of the University system is limited by the capacity of the network lines which
connect it to the City. GIS analysis develops extremely high levels of network traffic,
as large amounts of data are uploaded onto PCs for use by ARCView. The maps
' themselves are large data items which must be transported from the host to the local
computer for display or printing.
' ■ Use of the University system leaves the City in a position of not being fully
independent in its operations. Agreements would have to be developed for how much
data storage and compute power the City would use. Mechanisms for upgrading the
' system over time need to be established.
' Security constraints can also be an issue, especially if students are provided with access to
the system, and links are maintained with police incident report databases.
' Three identifiable alternatives are available, differing in the determination of if and when
the City acquires independent UNIX capabilities:
' ■ The City can acquire one or more UNIX workstations as part of the initial
implementation. A workstation capable of serving as a repository for the City's GIS
information, could be obtained for somewhere in the $20-30,000 range. This option
' would require immediate designation/hiring and training of a UNIX administrator.
■ The City can conduct its initial implementation using the University's UNIX
' capabilities. At a designated point in the future, likely determined by system load,
response time, and the need for multiple users to perform complex map updates, the
City can acquire a UNIX workstation to either supplement or replace the University's
' system. At that point, the City might already have a UNIX system supporting either
financial or records management applications, and a shared UNIX administrator would
' then be a possibility.
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■ The City can use the University's UNIX capabilities for the foreseeable future,
' entering into agreements where possible to meet anticipated problems, and living
within other limitations that might be imposed by the arrangement.
' 7.3. Recommendations
' The City first needs to decide what the specific mission of this project will be. What
business questions are expected to be answered by the implementation of a GIS system?
Based on that mission, the City can make a determination of which of the accuracy
alternatives should be pursued.
One of the goals of this systems plan is to increase inter-agency cooperation to allow the
City to leverage its investments in technology and supporting staff. Administration is
already working with"the Five C's" - City, County, Cuesta, Cal Poly and the Chamber-
in support of interagency cooperative efforts. The use of Cal Poly's UNIX system as the
' repository for the City's GIS maps and underlying data provides a perfect opportunity to
create a cooperative venture. Near-term acquisition of a UNIX capability, in the absence
of other UNIX systems being supported by the City, would be expensive in terms of
' required staffing and training. The City's initial implementation effort should be to
negotiate an arrangement with the University that will meet its support and expansion
requirements.
' The City should designate a specific project manager(the GIS Coordinator) who will
' serve full-time or nearly full-time in that capacity over the long term. That person will be
responsible for:
' ■ Establishing City standards for GIS data accuracy, integrity and accessibility
■ Evaluating and determining appropriate layers for addition to the GIS system
' ■ Serving as an advocate for the system where it can serve an appropriate and useful
function; serving as liaison between City management and City Council to champion
' the system
■ Working with departments to develop policies and procedures that will assure the
' timely update of GIS databases and maps
■ Being fluent in the use of the ARCView and ARCInfo tools for analysis and inquiry
' ■ Evaluating and determining the needs for additional access to the system, both for
inquiry and for update purposes
' ■ Monitoring the use of the system and evaluating on a periodic basis the success of the
' cooperative venture with the University
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■ Serving as the City's representative to the University, County, other cities and
' agencies for the purposes of sharing GIS data and capabilities
■ Establishing security and priority requirements for access to each data layer
' ■ Working with the departments and the Steering Committee in selection of new data
' systems by evaluating the need for integration into GIS of proposed systems and the
compatibility of proposed systems with the City's GIS standards
' We feel it is important for the GIS coordination to be in place during the initial
implementation as this phase will set standards for future additions to the systems.
' 7.4. Project Plan and Budget
The management team came to a consensus that the most reasonable option for
implementing GIS in San Luis Obispo would be to plan to have Cal Poly provide the
UNIX platform for the foreseeable future. The costs of implementing and maintaining a
UNIX capability in City Hall were greater than the risks of having the support for this
function outside the organization. The first step in the process would be to negotiate an
' MOU with the University to provide support on an ongoing basis. Issues that must be
addressed in the MOU include:
' ■ Level of support and availability, including system operations and access during
University holidays and vacations
1 ■ Security for City data stored on the University system
' ■ Coordination with the MOU established between the University and the County
■ Specifications for storage space, access capability, processing power, and trigger
' points for upgrades, including formulas for bearing the costs of those upgrades
■ Responsibilities for communications issues(additional lines, trouble shooting, etc.)
' The current ISDN line to the University might have to be supplemented with others to
service other key GIS users(Public Works, Utilities, Public Safety). The Information
' Services Coordinator estimated the cost of those lines to be $200 for installation and $35
per month for lease costs. Additionally, there is a support cost involved with setting the
line up and establishing communications between the City and the University system.
' Additional costs for initial GIS implementation include:
' Project Step Estimated Costs
Hire/Designate GIS Coordinator $401000+benefits per
year
' KPIOPeat Marwick«P 48
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Single User License for ARCInfo * $19,000
' Three Licenses for ARCView $31000
GIS Coordinator License for Avenue $2,600
development environment
' Consulting support for initial base map $20,000
implementation and establishing standards
for database integration
* Cal Poly currently has licensing for ARCInfo in their environment, but that license is
designated for an educational institution. The $19,000 in the table is a worst case
scenario, assuming that the City must purchase a single user license for its own use, and
not participate in some discount arrangement through the University.
' ARCView users can be added for $1,000 each, assuming each has sufficient capacity on
their PC.
ESRI training courses are available for rates in the $1,500 range, plus expenses. It is
recommended that at least one key user in each department be fully trained on the use of
' ARCView, and that the person charged with responsibility for maintaining the maps be
trained in ARCInfo. The GIS Coordinator should be fluent in both systems, as well as in
the Avenue development environment, which allows him to create custom menus and
standard inquiry options for ARCView users.
' WPMG'Peat Marwick u.v 49 '
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
8. Radio/Telecommunications Initiative
8.1. Objectives
The following are proposed objectives for a major initiative to improve the City's radio
and telephone systems and services:
■ Strengthen Support Services: Enhance the City's ability to plan, engineer, and
' maintain its radio systems and administer its telephone system. Ensure adequate
backup to key staff.
' ■ Extend Radio Coverage: Extend the geographic coverage of the mobile radio
systems to ensure that each channel provides at least 97% probability of coverage
(place and time) of its intended service area.
1 ■ Restore Paging Service: Establish a uniform, flexible and cost effective radio paging
system or service, integrated with the City's radio, telephone, and electronic mail
systems and available to all departments.
' ■ Upgrade Public Works Radio System: Improve the functional, coverage, and channel
loading performance of the public works radio system.
' ■ Implement Voice Mail. Establish a voice mail system or service, integrated with the
City telephone system and available to all departments.
' ■ Implement Mobile Data Communications: Establish a radio system or service,
available to all departments, enabling the City's computer aided dispatch (CAD)
system and other fixed computer systems and networks to intercommunicate with
' mobile and portable data terminals and computers in the field. The system must
ensure the privacy and security of all transmissions, particularly public safety data.
' ■ Manage Radio Frequencies: Acquire new radio frequencies needed for system
improvements and expansions, and prepare for radio frequency changes mandated by
Federal legislation.
' KPMG'Peat Marwick LLP 50
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
8.2. Alternatives
' Associated with each of the above objectives are a set of alternatives for attainment of the
objective, as discussed below.
' Strengthen Support Services
Improved support services is the single most critical need in the radio and telephone
systems area; all of the other objectives are dependent upon it. The Information Services
Coordinator is currently assigned 10% - 15% part-time responsibility for telephone system
' administration. A Utilities Department staff technician maintains the utility telemetry
system. Neither person has a trained assistant or back-up. Mobile radio planning is done
by ad-hoc staff committees, and engineering and maintenance is contracted out. The
1 result has been overloading of the assigned staff, poorly coordinated engineering and
maintenance, over-dependence on the continued availability of key individuals, and a weak
overall level of service. The following are alternatives:
Contract Out Most or All Services
The City could consider contracting for telephone, telemetry, and mobile radio system
planning, engineering, maintenance and administration services from a commercial
provider or some other governmental entity, such as the County. The contractor would
' provide a centralized focus and point of accountability for all of the services, and would
presumably have appropriate equipment, skills, and back-up resources. However,
' contracting with the County or similar government agency would introduce difficult
political and administrative issues. It is unlikely that a suitable commercial contractor
could be found in the San Luis Obispo area. In addition, the City would loose direct
' control over critical services, and the service would not likely be cost-effective given the
24-hour rapid-response requirement. This alternative is not recommended.
' Provide Staff Assistants
The City could hire a staff person to assist with or take over telephone system
' administration. That person and the Information Services Coordinator would provide
mutual back-up for that function. Similarly, the City could hire a radio technician to assist
with telemetry system engineering and maintenance, take responsibility for the other
' mobile radio systems, and provide back-up to the Utilities technician. However, neither
new position would likely have a full-time workload. In addition, maintaining separate
radio and telephone support operations creates an artificial barrier in the increasingly
frequent situations requiring integration of multiple or all of the areas of communications
technology. This alternative is not recommended.
PMG'Peat Marwick «v 51
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Centralize Most or All Services
' The City could hire a technician or engineer with broad skills in telephone and radio
engineering, maintenance and administration. This person would spend approximately
25%time on telephone system administration, 25%time on telemetry work off-loaded
' from the current Utilities technician, and 50%time on mobile radio planning, engineering,
and maintenance work currently being contracted out or not being done. This person,
combined with the Utilities technician, would establish a Communications Services
Section(organizational structure and placement to be determined) serving all City
Departments. The section would plan and engineer telecommunications systems, and
' coordinate the activities of consultants and contractors as necessary. They would take
over administration of the telephone system and maintenance of the telemetry and mobile
radio systems. However, in the area of data communications networks their responsibility
would extend only to the physical cable and wire systems, not "logical" network design
and software issues. Also, in the mobile radio area they might continue to contract out the
removal, repair, and re-installation of mobile radios in vehicles, depending on the cost-
effectiveness of local repair services. This approach would leverage one new staff position
to greatly enhance the level of service currently provided, and is the recommended
alternative.
Extend Radio Coverage
' Mobile radio coverage is generally poor on all channels at various locations throughout
the City, and in the Fire Department's extended service area outside the City. The City
has already commissioned and received a detailed engineering study of the problem, and is
proceeding with solutions recommended in the study. The following is a summary of the
options(which are not mutually exclusive).
Complete the Voting Receiver System
' One part of the overall coverage problem appears to be lack of adequate coverage for
talk-back from portable radios. The solution to this part of the problem is generally to
supplement the receivers at the main radio sites with additional "satellite" receivers at
other selected locations, and to connect all of the base and satellite receivers on each
channel to a voting selector unit which selects the strongest signal for presentation to the
repeaters and consoles. The connections are established by telephone lines or, preferably,
' microwave links. The City currently has a FireNet project underway to interconnect
voting receivers via microwave(and also to transport fire station alerting signals).
Successful completion of this project should substantially relieve the portable talk-back
' portion of the coverage problem.
' KP Peat Marwick LLP 52 '
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Restore or Replace the Tasayara Peak Site
. Another part of the overall coverage problem was caused by destruction of the high-
altitude Tasajara Peak radio site in the recent fire. Replacement of the Tasajara repeaters
' and base stations with equipment at lower-altitude sites has apparently created some new
coverage problems. The obvious solution is to restore Tasajara Peak to service or build
an equivalent new high-altitude site. The consultants have not investigated the
' undoubtedly complex financial, engineering and environmental feasibility issues involved in
this option.
' Re-Engineer Existing Sites
The other radio sites still in operation may present opportunities for relatively low-cost
' improvements through re-engineering or repairs. The consultants have not conducted a
detailed technical review of the City's systems, but potential opportunities could include,
for example:
' ■ Check and adjust all system components.
' ■ Increase transmitter power output where appropriate and permitted.
■ Replace older receivers with new high-gain receivers where appropriate.
' ■ Repair or replace any faulty transmitters, receivers, connectors, feedlines, filters,
couplers, and antennas.
■ Replace antenna multi-coupling and combining arrangements with direct antenna
' connections, where feasible and permitted.
■ Relocate antennas to higher locations where feasible and permitted.
' ■ In cases where high-gain antennas create shadows due to excessively narrow vertical
patterns, replace with downtilt or lower-gain antennas where feasible and permitted.
■ In cases where omnidirectional coverage is not needed and the terrain is suitable,
replace omnidirectional antennas with higher-gain directional antennas.
RP;W Peat Marwick ur 53
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Establish New Sites
' If Tasajara Peak cannot be restored and existing sites cannot be improved, or if there
nevertheless remains a need to further improve coverage beyond the capabilities of the
present sites, the alternative is to build new sites. The environmental sensitivity of the San
Luis Obispo area most likely precludes the easy and obvious hilltop solutions. If so, the
alternative is to migrate the radio systems into trunked, simulcast, and/or cellular
' configurations with smaller, more numerous, and less-obtrusive low altitude sites. This
option would require a detailed strategic engineering plan far beyond the scope of the
present study.
' Restore Paging Service
' Loss of Tasajara Peak disabled the City's radio paging system. Some departments remain
without service, and others have entered into contracts for commercial paging services
with various vendors. The resulting hodgepodge of systems is expensive, lacks integration
with other City systems, and is incompatible across departments. The City clearly needs
to recapture control of the paging situation. The following are alternatives.
' Contract With a Single Commercial Vendor
The City could request bids for service and negotiate a single master contract for
' commercial paging service to serve all City departments. This approach could reduce
costs and enforce standardization across the departments. However, it would still be
expensive relative to a City-owned system, and would not support the type of integration
with other City systems that is required. This alternative is not recommended.
Re-Establish a City-Owned Paging System
The City could procure and install a full-featured paging terminal for operation on an
' existing radio system, most likely the (upgraded) Public Works radio system. A modern
paging terminal could support both numeric and alphanumeric paging formats and pagers,
and could activate paging functions in equipped mobile and portable radios. The public-
safety dispatchers could route manually-generated or CAD-generated alphanumeric
messages to response personnel through a hardware interface to the paging terminal.
Other City computer users could route brief electronic mail messages through the City
' data network to the terminal for transmission to any pager. City staff could also access
the terminal from any City or outside telephone for transmission of touch-tone numeric
messages to any pager. This alternative is recommended.
'
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Upgrade Public Works Radio System
' The Public Works radio system has been the subject of numerous complaints because of
its poor coverage, noise and interference, lack of paging capability, and heavy traffic
' loading. The following are non-mutually-exclusive options for correcting these problems:
Correct Coverage Problems
' The coverage problems on the Public Works radio system are the same as those on the
other radio channels, and are addressed by the coverage alternatives previously discussed.
' Correct Noise and Interference Problems
' User perceptions that transmissions on the Public Works system are"weak" and noisy are
symptoms of potential problems such as:
' ■ Co-channel and/or adjacent-channel interference from other systems in the area.
■ Receiver desensitization due to intermodulation interference at radio sites.
■ Harmonic distortion or other noise due to equipment malfunctions, mis-adjustment,
improper installation, or other such conditions.
' Re-Establish Paging Capability
' Loss of the Tasajara Peak site and the paging system has increased the volume of voice
traffic on the Public Works radio system and disabled its selective calling capability.
' Potential solutions are addressed by the paging alternatives previously discussed.
Shift Users Onto Other Systems
' A direct alternative for decreasing the traffic load on the Public Works channel would be
to establish an additional new channel. However, that alternative would be difficult
' because of the need to secure new and generally unavailable frequencies, and expensive
because of the need to procure and install new repeaters, antennas, etc. That alternative is
not recommended as a short-term solution, although it may be viable as a part of a longer-
term strategic engineering plan. Another direct solution, use of commercial cellular
telephone service as a routine substitute for the Public Works radio system, is very
expensive and also not recommended. The consultants believe the best short-term
' alternative is to re-establish paging capability, which would provide immediate relief by
shifting considerable voice traffic back into more efficient digital form.
jWP;W Peat Marwick LLP 55
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Implement Voice Mail
The voice mail system would be an adjunct processor to the City's Centrex telephone
system. The system should provide both automated attendant and voice mail capability.
The automated attendant function would answer incoming calls and guide the caller
through a menu tree to identify and contact the called party. The voice mail function
would greet the caller with a recorded message from the called party, record and store the
' callers message, and provide features for retrieving, reviewing, forwarding, saving and
erasing messages. Potential benefits include more responsive service to incoming calls
from the public; reduced call transfers among City departments, reduced reliance on paper
' messages that can be lost or misrouted, and fewer repeated calls trying to connect with a
called party.
' The City of San Luis Obispo is the local government for almost 45,000 residents, and
many more day visitors (employees, customers, clients, and students). Most of these
residents and day visitors, over time, will have some contact with City Hall. The City
' places a high value on providing quality service and in having a helpful and supportive
relationship with our citizens. Therefore, extreme care must be exercised in the
establishment and implementation of a proper voice mail system for the City. The system
' has to be carefully thought through, to make certain that it meets the needs of both the
City government and the citizens it serves. The system should be easy to use, friendly to
the user, and avoid the negative aspects of some voice systems.
The major voice mail alternatives are to implement a City-owned and operated system
versus contracting for commercial voice mail service. The City-owned alternative is
' clearly preferable for cost-effectiveness and control.
' The other alternatives involve the selection of specific features of the system, sizing of
storage capacity, etc., and can be evaluated during the specification and bid process.
' KPMG'Peat Marwick«v 56
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Implement Mobile Data Communications
' A mobile data communications system would extend computer network connectivity to
mobile computers and terminals in vehicles, and to portable computers equipped with
' radio modems. Mobile data communications is a rapidly evolving technology, with new
concepts and ideas, vendors, systems and equipment being announced continually. The
following are current trends and alternatives:
' Dedicated Versus Shared System
' Early municipal mobile data systems were dedicated to public safety operations and
integrated with police and fire department computer-aided dispatch systems. The trend
now, however, is to implement the mobile data controller as a server on the city data
' communications network, opening up the system to applications in all departments. The
consultants recommend this approach for San Luis Obispo, but acknowledge that careful
attention must be paid to issues of privacy and security(particularly public safety data),
' and system throughput and performance.
Local Versus Regional
San Luis Obispo may have, and if so should evaluate, opportunities for participation in
development of a regional mobile data communications system under a joint powers
agency or other arrangement with the County or other cities, counties or other agencies.
Private Versus Public Infrastructure
' Mobile data systems have traditionally required development of an extensive and
' expensive private supporting infrastructure of radio frequencies, network controllers, land
line or microwave control links, site controllers, radio base stations, and antenna systems.
Large private systems can require elaborate cellular switching and control schemes.
' However, Cities now have the alternative of owning only the mobile components of the
system(the actual terminals and computers) and acquiring"radio transport" as a service
from a network operator, rather than building a private infrastructure. Leading data
' network service providers currently include RAM Mobile Data and Ardis. In addition,
most cellular telephone companies are rapidly developing and deploying data
communications services. There are also specialized vendors serving particular market
niches; Qualcom, for example, provides a satellite-based data communications service for
long-haul trucking companies and other organizations with geographically dispersed
operations. Evaluation of the private versus public alternatives involve issues of security
' and privacy assurance, cost effectiveness, and control. In any case, however, San Luis
Obispo should seriously consider and evaluate the possible use of a public mobile data
communications service before committing to construction of a private infrastructure.
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KPMG'Peat Marwick LLP
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Equipment Options
' The first several generations of mobile data systems used mobile data terminals with small
screens, limited display and storage capacity, and specialized keyboards. Newer system
use laptop or other portable computer equipment, "ruggedized" for the mobile
' environment but designed to open system standards so as to be fully compatible with the
data communications protocols, message and report formats, etc., used in the land line
' networks. These units can be used for database inquiry, field report entry, and other
applications in the same way as any other network computer or terminal, without special
programming. The consultants recommend general purpose mobile computers rather than
' specialized limited-capability mobile terminals for San Luis Obispo.
In conjunction with an overall upgrade of the National Criminal Information Center
' (NCIC), the Federal government has contracted for specification and development of a
new generation of mobile computers with identification unit capability. The NCIC-2000
mobile identification units(NIIU's), when available, will feature high-speed data
' communications, video cameras, fingerprint scanners, and high resolution color graphics
displays for mug shots, documents and other images. San Luis Obispo should monitor
these developments.
Ancillary Systems and Equipment
' Continuing technology improvements and cost reductions are making automatic vehicle
location (AVL) systems an increasingly common adjunct to mobile data communications
systems. AVL systems based on the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) network and
' operated in differential mode can locate a vehicle or hand-held unit to within less than 50
feet, discriminating, for example, the two sides of a divided highway. With this
' information a computer dispatch system can identify the actual closest available units to
respond to an emergency, rather than having to estimate proximity on the basis of police
patrol district or fire first-in district boundaries.
' Other ancillary systems and equipment can include mobile printers and facsimile machines,
and vehicle status sensors.
' Manage Radio Frequencies
' Radio frequencies are a fixed and limited resource. Even if San Luis Obispo projected no
growth nor future need for any additional frequencies, it is unlikely that the City would be
allowed uninterrupted use of its existing frequencies into the indefinite future because of
the growing competition for the resource. The City must therefore manage its radio
frequency resources and plan for inevitable changes.
' The two basic approaches to the problem are to open up new frequency bands and to
make more effective use of the existing bands. The Federal Communications Commission,
which ultimately controls the allocation of radio frequencies, is pursuing both approaches.
' kAW Peat Marwick LLP 58
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The traditional approach has been to open up new frequency bands at ever higher
' frequencies. Early mobile radio systems operated at low-band frequencies in the 40 Mhz-
50 Mhz range (or lower). These frequencies offer long-distance propagation
characteristics and for that reason are valued by geographically dispersed organizations
such as the California Highway Patrol and disaster management agencies. However, they
are subject to atmospheric distortion and to interference from distant sources. In any case
the low band frequencies soon became overcrowded, and municipalities converted to the
Very High Frequency (VHF) band (around 150 MHz), subsequently to the Ultra-High
Frequency (UHF) band (450 MHz), and more recently the near-microwave 800 MHz and
' 900 MHz bands.
At each step the equipment became smaller and more compact, but also more complicated
' and expensive. The higher frequencies offer proportionately higher bandwidths and more
channel-carrying capacity, but shorter transmission ranges and more reflection and
absorption by obstacles and structures. They are also in great demand for systems with
high bandwidth requirements, such as television transmission and satellite
communications. The search for new, higher frequencies is therefore nearing the end of its
potential for municipal mobile radio applications.
The other approach, more efficient use of the existing frequency resources, has been the
object of intensive development and increasing regulation in recent years. Alternatives for
more efficient use of frequencies include:
■ Administrative arrangements for sharing frequencies, such as central dispatch
' operations and community repeater systems.
■ Cellular technology, which replaces high-altitude, high-powered transmitter sites
' having large coverage areas with numerous low-altitude, low-powered transmitter
sites covering only small "cells". The system design juggles frequency assignments
' such that the same frequency can be "re-used" in multiple cells in a region without
interference, and computer technology switches the mobile radios from one frequency
to another as they move about the cells.
' ■ Trunking technology, which groups frequencies into common pools, automatically
assigns a frequency only at the instant a channel is needed for an actual transmission,
' and returns the frequency to the pool immediately upon completion of the
transmission. The concept is similar to the sharing of long-distance telephone trunk
lines, which are selected by switching equipment and assigned to users only for the
duration of individual telephone calls.
■ Narrowband technologies such as amplitude-compandored sideband (ACSB)
' modulation and various types of digital modulation, which can transmit voice and
data signals in channels of only half or less the bandwidth previously required, with
little or no degradation in signal quality.
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KPMG'Peat Marwick LLP
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Actual system designs combine many or even all of the above technologies. Cellular radio
' systems, for example, are generally also trunked and will increasingly use narrowband
radios.
' The problem with all of these approaches is that they generally require complete re-
engineering and replacement of total existing radio systems with much more expensive
' new equipment. In addition, the technologies are evolving and unstable, with numerous
competing standards, so the investment is risky. Beyond that, because of the expense of
the systems and the need to coordinate the allocation of the scarce frequencies, a high
' level of regional interagency cooperation is required, which is sometimes difficult to
achieve.
' The most recent FCC initiative toward "frequency re-farming" has temporarily stalled.
However, the underlying frequency allocation problems remain and will have to be solved
along the lines outlined above. San Luis Obispo should anticipate that it will ultimately be
' forced to migrate its radio systems into more frequency-efficient equipment system
configurations, and that more sharing and interaction with surrounding and neighboring
agencies will be required. The City should therefore monitor technical and regulatory
' developments in this field, participate in regional-scope frequency planning efforts, and
develop its own system migration and frequency management plan.
8.3. Recommendations
The following summarizes the specific recommendations resulting from the analysis of
alternatives presented in the preceding section:
' 1. Establish Communications Services Section
Hire one technician or engineer with broad skills in telephone and radio engineering,
' maintenance and administration. Assign this person and the current Utilities Department
radio technician to establish a Communications Services Section to serve all City
departments. Locate and collect documents to establish a centralized file and library of
' radio licenses, equipment manuals, consulting studies and reports, survey results, etc.
Where needed, prepare new documentation to inventory all of the systems and accurately
identify their configurations. The Section should then take over routine telephone system
' administration and telemetry and mobile radio system(fixed equipment) maintenance. The
Section should also direct or participate in(as appropriate) the implementation of the
remaining recommendations listed below.
2. Resolve Radio Coverage Problems
1
' RPMGl Peat Marwick Lw 60
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Complete the implementation of the FireNet microwave network and associated voting
receiver/selector system. Restore or replace the Tasajara Peak radio site, if feasible.
' Investigate all of the other existing sites for performance improvement opportunities, and
generally"clean up" the sites where necessary. If coverage is still unsatisfactory, initiate
' an engineering study to identify and plan for major improvements (such as new system
configurations, equipment and/or sites)to resolve the problem.
' 3. Restore City-Owned Paging Service
Purchase and install a paging terminal and interface it to the City telephone, emergency
' dispatch, mobile radio, and electronic mail systems as previously discussed.
4. Upgrade Public Works Radio System
' Investigate the performance of the Public Works radio system and resolve its coverage,
noise, and interference problems as previously discussed.
' 5. Implement Voice Mail
' Specify, procure and install a voice mail/automated attendant system. Integrate the system
into the City's Centrex telephone system. As previously discussed, the system must be
carefully thought through prior to installation and implementation to ensure that its uses
' are appropriate, helpful and user friendly.
6. Develop Mobile Data Communications Plan
' Develop a plan for a multi-departmental mobile data communications system which takes
' into account any regional participation opportunities and the infrastructure, equipment,
and ancillary system alternatives previously discussed.
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G�Peat Marwick LLP 61
' Ci hof San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
7. Develop Frequency Management Plan
' Participate in regional frequency allocation and system development planning initiatives.
In coordination with that activity and the mobile data communications planning project
' recommended above, develop a San Luis Obispo frequency management and system
migration plan. The plan should have a long-range focus and consider such alternatives as
new frequencies, and more efficient use of existing frequencies through cellular, trunked,
' and narrowband technologies as discussed above.
' 8.4. Project Plan and Budget
The management workshop agreed that the recommendations in this document should be
carried out. Several departments, most notably Police and Fire, indicated that emergency
' response and public safety, especially in a disaster situation, are entirely dependent on the
ability to provide reliable communications with coverage that extends to the entire City.
Recommendation Schedule Budget
1. Establish Two Months $40,000 base salary plus
' Communications Tinge benefits and overhead
Section
' 2. Resolve Radio Six Months Depends on findings.
Coverage Problems
3. Restore Paging Three Months $50,000, assuming
' Service availability of radio site.
4. Upgrade Public Six Months Depends on findings.
Works System
5. Implement Voice Three Months $50,000 - $100,000
Mail
6. Develop Mobile Six Months N/A(Staff Time)
t Communications
Plan
7. Develop Frequency Six Months N/A(Staff Time)
' Management Plan
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KPMG Peat Marwick LLP62
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Several of the projects recommended below have already received Council approval as of
March 6, and the budgets for those project have already been appropriated. Those
' projects are:
' Resolve Radio Coverage Problems
Restore Paging Service
' Implement Voice Mail
' The management team did not come to consensus on the establishment.of a
Communications Section as a part of the technology support group. Utilities felt that the
needs of their telemetry system already used a full time equivalent, and that by transferring
' that position to a central communications support group, they would be weakening their
ability to support that system. KPMG still recommends the creation of the
Communications Section as described above. We feel that the current support situation in
' Utilities leaves them with no back up to the current staff member assigned to the telemetry
system. If that position were coupled with another position whose primary function
would be the management of the radio and telecommunications systems of the City, they
' could serve as mutual back ups, decreasing the likelihood that the City could be left with
no support for either set of critical systems.
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KPMGIPeat Marwick LLP 63
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
9. Records Management Initiative
' 9.1. Objectives
Managing paper records and important documents is an issue that was raised almost
' universally during our department head interviews. Each department expends
considerable time and energy filing, researching, duplicating and exchanging paper
documents within its own boundaries and with other departments. A City-wide records
' management system, based on the relatively new technology of optical disk storage, could
dramatically reduce the effort required for these clerical tasks.
To truly serve in this capacity, the system must meet a series of criteria, including:
■ Allow access from standard City workstations: Storage, retrieval and display software
' must be compatible with the City's WAN/LAN and desktop standards (486-66MHz
Windows PC)
' ■ Provide truly City-wide records management capability: The system must be
expandable to meet all departments' requirements
' ■ Protect confidentiality of records: The system must provide sufficient security to
allow sensitive documents(e.g. Council correspondence, personnel files, police
records)to be stored without possibility of unauthorized access
■ Improve effectiveness: The system must replace, rather than augment, current files,
' and must reduce research and filing efforts and provide effective disaster recovery
capability for essential City documents.
' ■ Provide flexible access and search: The system must provide flexible indexing
methods such as date, author, title, key word search, full text search, etc.
' ■ Complement City data processing systems: The system must be capable of integration
with existing and planned City databases to allow on-line retrieval of documents
related to data records (e.g. permit application and inspection reports with building
' permit, crime reports and photographs with incident record, etc.)
■ Work with City office automation: The system must be capable of storing and
indexing word processing documents and spreadsheets in computer format
■ Provide convenient access for user departments: Scanning and indexing capability
' must be provided at locations convenient to each department
WP G�Peat Marwick LLP 64
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
9.2. Alternatives
9.2.1. System Functionality
There are two major categories of records management systems from a functionality
' standpoint:
Archival storage and retrieval
An archival system is essentially an electronic replacement for filing cabinets; the system
accepts documents and allows various methods of indexing those documents for retrieval.
' The best of these systems allows user defined indices along with keyword or full-text
searches(the ability to retrieve documents by searching the words in the document rather
than relying on keywords). The input to the system is done by scanning the document,
followed by an indexing procedure in which the operator enters required indexing
information (e.g. date, document type, author, subject, etc.). The document may be run
through OCR(optical character recognition) software to convert the printed page to
' electronic text, which can then be processed by the software to allow full-text searches on
the documents.
' Workflow based systems
' A workflow based system provides for the scanning and classification of documents as
early as possible in the process. These documents then are routed to various electronic"in
baskets" by instructions defined by document type. For example, a vendor invoice may be
scanned in the mail room, and then routed to the department for approval and then to
finance for payment. The final step in the process is to add the completed document to
archival storage.
' Factors to consider in selecting a functionality direction for the records management
system include:
' Archival System Workflow System
Post-processing storage of documents Storage of documents in process
Effectiveness improvements mainly in Effectiveness improvements in processing
research and retrieval applications of documents as well as
filing/research/retrieval
' Relatively easy to implement, requires few Relatively difficult to implement
procedural changes successfully; requires significant procedural
analysis and redesi n
Can be effective in small workgroup Must involve all participants in a process to
settings be fully effective
' KPMG Beat Marwick LLP 65
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
9.2.2. Documents to be Managed
Another functionality issue revolves around the size of documents to be accepted. Most
document imaging systems are designed to accept letter and legal sized paper documents.
However, departments such as Community Development, Public Works and Utilities use
' engineering sized documents such as building plans as a regular part of their work.
Building plans make up a significant portion of the archival requirements for Community
Development. However, the capability to manage such large documents adds greatly to
' the size, complexity and cost of a records management system. Scanners and printers
need to be sized properly to accept and generate the documents. The software itself needs
to be able to recognize and reproduce the larger scaled documents. Many agencies have
found that the increased cost and complexity do not justify the inclusion of plan sized
documents in their records management system.
9.2.3. Computer Platform
While image-based records management systems are available on a number of computer
' platforms, including most of the proprietary operating systems currently on the market,
San Luis Obispo can limit their alternatives to two possible host systems:
' ■ A completely PC-based system in which the image server(and index server) are
powerful PCs in the DOS-Novell environment
' ■ A UNIX based system in which the image and index server is a UNIX workstation,
while the access devices are Windows-based PCs on users' desktops
While PCs are continuously becoming more powerful, there are still inherent limitations on
their ability to service multiple concurrent users requesting or storing the large data
' records represented by document images. UNI{ systems offer almost unlimited upward
mobility in terms of both storage capacity and compute power. The City should give
careful consideration to the potential number of concurrent users as the system grows, and
' to the likely volume of search requests, prior to making a platform decision. If 10-15
users will most likely be the limit for meeting access requirements, a PC based system is
likely to be able to meet their needs with reasonable response times.
1 As with GIS, the introduction of a UNIX system into San Luis Obispo creates the need for
a trained UNIX system administrator to maintain and tune the operating environment.
Again similarly to GIS, it might seem likely that the role of project manager for records
could be combined with the system administrative function, but the skill set requirements
for each side of the job have little significant overlap, making the combination unlikely to
find in a single individual. If one of the other initiatives (public safety, GIS, or finance)
decides on a UNIX host, a single administrator could easily serve multiple systems.
'
66
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' City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
An alternative that might extend the ability of PC systems to support the City would be to
acquire multiple systems (image and index servers), separating them by department or
' function. For example, police and fire records could be maintained on a separate system
from other City records. This option could be explored in terns of overall cost and the
' difficulties it might create in allowing cross-departmental access to related records.
9.3. Recommendations
The City issued an RFP for records management systems late in 1994. Few responses
were received, and, after analysis of the results, all bids were rejected. Bids were not
received from the major players in the records management system arena, for these
' reasons:
■ The project scope was deliberately kept small, perhaps too small to attract these
' vendors
There was insufficient emphasis the eventual build-out of the system. Vendors might
' be unlikely to propose on a system that might be connected to a single, stand-alone
workstation (Option A in the RFP), or a five user cluster(Option B).
■ The budget was unrealistically low
We recommend expansion of the needs assessment and overall records management plan
' to include departments that chose not to participate. Provision should be made for
additional scanning stations in high use areas (Personnel, Community Development,
Finance/Mail Room, Administration, Police Records, etc.) A phased approach should be
used to spread the acquisition costs and implementation effort, but the vendors and the
City should be iware of the scope of the entire project.
As the initial implementation is designed to be an archival.system, the City should also
limit the mission of the project:
' ■ To improve the filing and retrieval capabilities of the City
■ To decrease storage space required
' ■ To safeguard records in long-term storage
' The City should expand their vendors list by contacting other cities of similar size to
determine which vendors have been successful.
The City should also clearly define the role of Records Manager, who will serve as project
manager for the entire system implementation. The Records Manager should be
responsible for:
■ Definition of which documents are to be included in the system
�G�Peat Marwick«r 67
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ Definition of legal and reasonable security constraints placed on access of each
document type
' ■ Determination of records retention and destruction cycles for each document type
■ Definition of system requirements to allow archiving of documents by type(for
' example, allowing certain documents to be written on volumes to be archived, and
others to be written on volumes with specific destruction dates)
■ Determination on an on-going basis of legal requirements for physical records
retention and those areas where original records can be destroyed once they are
' scanned
■ Working with departments to implement security, retention and destruction policies
' ■ If workflow systems are to be used in the future, the Records Manager would be
expected to work with departments to develop procedures that take full advantage of
' the technology
As can be seen, the requirements of this position are decidedly non-technical. Operational
' responsibility for this system should be placed with the City's technical support staff. The
position of Records Manager need not be a part of the technical support organization
described later in this document.
' The designation of a Records Manager as described in this document should precede the
implementation of the pilot project. While the City Clerk is currently leading the effort.to
' acquire a records management system, the City must decide if the City Clerk will have
sufficient time available to meet all of the requirements of the Records Manager, could
meet the requirements with the availability of contracted help, or would require an
additional designated person in that role.
9.4. Project Plan and Budget
While the management workshop did not assign a high priority to the City-wide Records
' Management initiative, it was generally recognized that implementing an archival system
for the City Clerk's Office is critical to the function of that Office. The consensus of the
management team is that this initiative should start slowly, with initial implementation
' limited to the City Clerk's Office, but with a clear direction that other departments could
be added to the system as soon as funding became available.
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City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
An initial implementation in the City Clerk's Office would eliminate the need to continue
the microfilming process for City Council records. The City Clerk's immediate needs are
' for an archival system which would allow widespread access in other areas for
departments to do research. Longer-term, the City can consider a workflow management
' system to serve as an enabling technology as part of an overall business process redesign
effort. The management team was divided as to whether such an initiative would be well
received and successful in the City.
The City Clerk has indicated that the RFP previously issued could be revised to include
departments who chose not to participate in the initial effort without the need for external
' consulting services. KPMG feels that, given a requirement for the system to be accessible
to all departments via the City WAN, and given the desire of a number of other
departments to participate in the system in the near future, the City should budget for the
' acquisition of a high quality archival system which can serve as a platform for growth. We
feel that a budget of$70,000 would cover the costs of implementing such a system in the
City Clerk's Office and providing some access by other departments. Future upgrades to
' the system would depend on acquiring additional equipment, and upgrading the system
license to accurately reflect the number of simultaneous users expected.
KPMG has obtained cost estimates from several major vendors for such an
implementation. The basic cost of software for document management, storage and
retrieval, OCR and full text search capabilities, for two to five concurrent users, has
' ranged from $20,000 to $30,000. Hardware costs to upgrade a workstation for scanning,
compressing and indexing documents would bean additional $10,000. Some systems
(e.g. Excalibur) require and others(e.g. Data Max) recommend a UNIX workstation as
' the main server, which would cost an additional $15-25,000 for the equipment.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
10. Public Access/Electronic Village
' The City has established public access to information as a major goal. Keeping the public
informed and active in civic affairs is seen as a priority for the organization.
Several pilot projects have been started to provide electronic access to City information:
SLONET, the information kiosk, and Internet e-mail access. These projects are all in the
' evaluation stage.
San Luis Obispo would seem to be an ideal environment for providing electronic access: a
' relatively small community with a large, high-tech university in its midst. However, the
basic question for electronic access still remains: How many constituents have and use a
personal computer and modem for the purpose of accessing information? And, of those,
' how many are interested enough in the information the City provides to make the effort to
get it?
The information kiosk gets around these questions by placing a personal computer in a
public place. The current system is not connected to the City's networks, and therefore all
' information it can provide is contained within the kiosk. This configuration raises two
questions: currency of information and effort required to maintain the system. The best
possible arrangement would be for the kiosk to have direct (though very strictly limited)
' access to the City's database, so information becomes available on the kiosk at the same
time it is posted to the City's systems. Once the original menu of access programs is
designed and built, no additional maintenance time is required above and beyond ordinary
City operations. There would be significant costs involved in the establishment of data
lines and in the initial set-up and programming of the system. Such an approach might be
more useful once a records management system is operational if the kiosk had sufficient
' power and communications capability to allow public access to Council Agendas and the
City's public records.
The Internet is being touted as the prototype"information superhighway". Most major
corporations, most universities, many public interest groups, the federal government and
many state governments maintain Internet connections and provide vast amounts of
' information. The.Internet has over 15 million users and is increasing in size and scope
daily. However, its sheer size argues against major involvement as an Internet provider by
a small city. The City of Sunnyvale maintains what is called a World Wide Web (WVM
' page, which provides a graphical interface to City information. However, it is by far the
exception, as most cities are not heavily involved in Internet service provision.
' The City of Santa Monica has had a public e-mail system available for a number of years.
It has developed a small but dedicated core of frequent users, who debate policy on public
' bulletin boards and send messages to designated City officials and management. The City
is quite proud of its effort as a part of its public outreach policy. Terminals are available in
the library for those without computers at home.
' WPM7Peat Marwick UP 70
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Publishing e-mail addresses for City officials might generate a certain amount of important
electronic traffic, but it might also generate a lot of unnecessary and unwanted messages
' (e.g. those from out of the area). Creation of a local e-mail system, like that in Santa
Monica, requires significant investments in hardware and system administrative time.
' On the other hand, the concept of linking various public and private organizations in a
regional e-mail network has some significant possibilities. The ability to communicate via
' e-mail to the County, for example, could speed the permit process, improve
communication between Community Development and the Assessor, between the Sheriff
and City Police, between City and County Fire. Enabling such a system would require the
' County to adapt a standard for e-mail compatible with the City's, and would require
network access between the two organizations. Expanding the network to include the
University, as well as other cities and not-for-profit organizations could give the local e-
mail network significant capabilities to facilitate multi-agency communication and
cooperation.
The Internet can play a significant role as an e-mail carrier. The University probably has
Internet addresses for most faculty and staff, if the County and other local agencies joined
in providing Internet addresses to their key staff people, the Internet could provide the
inter-agency connections envisioned.
The Internet is also a great source of information. Creative use of Internet access can
' provide information on legislation, both proposed and adopted, at both the State and
Federal levels. Many State and Federal agencies are accessible on the Internet, both as
information providers and as e-mail addresses. The use of the Internet can help the City
' communicate directly with those agencies.
' 10.1. Recommendations
We recommend a thorough evaluation of all current electronic public access projects, from
the following perspectives:
■ How many people actually use the system?
' ■ For those who use the system, is it their primary source of City information?
' ■ What other information services could be provided that would entice other users to try
it?
' ■ Would people use an interactive kiosk, SLONET or the Internet, to register for
classes, fill in a permit application, or even pay a utility bill with a credit card?
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' Technology Master Plan
Developments coming in the near future will warrant monitoring and evaluation. Several
schemes have been proposed for allowing secure financial transactions to take place using
' the Internet. If one of these systems becomes widespread in use, the City might be able to
accept utility and other payments via the Internet, using credit card accounts. The ability
' of Internet users(via a process called"ftp")to request specific files for download from a
service provider might also be an opportunity for the City. If an ftp site were established
where users could request copies of City forms(e.g. permit and license applications), and
t then there were an e-mail address where the completed electronic forms could be
submitted or a fax number where filled in forms could be sent, there might be a demand
for those services.
' Certain technologies are already accessible and can prove quite useful to the City today.
The ability to use e-mail to communicate with the County and other local cities can have
' an immediate positive impact on inter-agency communication and cooperation, and should
be pursued. The use of the Internet as an information source, especially on legislative
tracking, should also be implemented in the near term. Internet addresses for state and
national agencies should be cataloged and used to facilitate communication with them.
t
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
11. Technology Plan Budget and Schedule
' Implementing this Technology Plan requires a commitment of dollars and personnel
resources over the next four to five years. Budget estimates by fiscal year are presented in
' the chart below. The costs presented are for software and hardware acquisition, and do
not include project management, conversion or operations costs.
' Initiative Process 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 Total
Windows Upgrade Software 25,000 25,000
Trm'm*ng 10,000 10,000
' Total 359000 359000
Public Safety Requirements 25,000 25,000
analysis
Software 175,000 175,000
Workstation 64,800 64,800
'
upgrades
Hardware 95,000 95,000
see note 1
'
Training 10,000 107000
Total 89,800 2809000 3699800
Financial Requirements 25,000 25,000
Applications analysis
Software
Payroll 25,000 25,000
Core finance 60,000 60,000
Utility billing 20,000 20,000
Business Tax 15,000 15,000
Hardware 25,000 301000 30,000 20,000 105,000
see note 1
'
Training 52000 5,000 5,000 5,000 20,000
Total 559000 609000 959000 609000 2709000
' GIS Requirement 20,000 20,000
analysis
Software 25,000 3,000 10,000 6,000 44,000
' Hardware 301000 10,000 40,000
see note 1
Training 7,000 4,500 6,000 4,500 22,000
' Total 529000 79500 46,000 20,500 126,000
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Radio/Telecomm Coverage n/a
Pa ' n/a
Public Works To be determined
' Voice Mail n/a
Records Initial System 65,000 65,000
'
Management
Workstation 8,400 8,400
upgrades
'
Expansion 30,000 60,000 60,000 150,000
Training 5,000 3,000 5,000 6,000 19,000
' Total 789400 339000 65,000 669000 242,000
Public Access Mail handling 52000 5,000
server
Expanded Kiosks 40,000 needs beyond 402000
1995-97
' Communications 252000 to be determined 25,000
server
Training 2,000 2,000
Total 79000 659000 729000
TOTAL 315,200 3809500 2069000 1469500 190489200
' Notes:
1. Hardware costs for these applications will vary depending on the system architecture
' ultimately selected. They may be less if the City relies completely only on Netware as
its operating system; on the other hand,fewer application software choices will be
available in this case.
' 2. Costs for these applications have been previously funded.
3. ,S35,000 of the costs for this initial system has been previously funded.
' The City should plan on approximately 15% of software and hardware costs for on-going
maintenance and technical support. These costs will be incurred starting at the end of the
warranty period, which varies from vendor to vendor.
In terms of scheduling, the overall plan is presented in the following Gantt chart:
WP;W1Peat Marwick LLP 74
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
12. System Acquisition/Development Strategy
' The initiatives described in this document will require significant outlay in applications
systems, including acquisition of packages, development of specific, local systems, and
' integration of multiple systems into a City-wide information resource(connecting with
GIS, records management and finance applications).
' The current City strategy has been developed based on individual departmental
acquisitions, which can be either acquired from outside vendors (Finance, CRIS,
RecWare) or developed using contract programming resources (Building Permits, Land
' Use, CFIRS and many others).
The major systems initiatives require a re-thinking and formalization of the strategies
' employed. First and foremost, these systems will affect multiple departments, so the
individual decision making that has been employed will not be effective. Second, these
' systems will rapidly be integrated into policies and procedures in order to take advantage
of the work-saving possibilities they open up. Thus, these systems will be more mission
critical than most current applications. Third, these systems will develop and maintain
' databases much larger in size and scope than any currently employed by the City. Fourth,
many of these systems will employ technologies with which few if any City staff are
familiar.
' Each of these factors increase the risks associated with systems implementation. Risk is
measured both in terms of the likelihood for a systems project to fail and the costs to the
' organization that failure would represent. In evaluating the risk of a system designed to
function over a relatively long period of time, both initial and on-going risks need to be
taken into consideration. A system can meet initial expectations, but, if support for that
' system is not available and requirements change, that system will fail to meet the new
requirements.
' The definition of a mission critical application we are employing is that the operation of
the function served by that system would be severely impaired, if not prohibited, should
that system become non-operational. For example:
■ Public Safety Dispatch(CAD) is a system which is woven into the procedures of the
dispatchers, and the accuracy of the data derived is depended on by the officers and
firemen dispatched into the field. If that system were to fail, the manual back-up
procedures would allow the office to function at a severely reduced rate of
' effectiveness. While those manual procedures are necessary in the case of a severe
hardware malfunction, if the software itself were to encounter a major fault which
might require days or weeks of vendor support time to correct, the function of the
' dispatch office would be compromised. This is a mission-critical system.
' P;W Peat Marwick uv 75
Ci hof San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ Tracking training statistics and records of individuals in police and fire is an important
function, and the computerization of those records helps both departments maintain
' appropriate certifications and meet state and federal training requirements. However,
if that system were to fail and be unavailable for several weeks, a manual system could
' be employed that would be an inconvenience to the person assigned to do the tracking,
but would not compromise the work of the departments. This is a non-mission-critical
system.
' Systems fall on a continuum between these two extremes in terms of mission criticality.
For example, is recreation registration a mission-critical system? CFIRS reporting?
' Journal entry creation? Utility billing?
The other risk factors are more self-evident:
■ GIS, Records Management, Public Safety Dispatch, and Finance all directly affect
areas beyond the boundaries of individual departments. The increase in risk is
apparent with the current public safety dispatch system which meets the Police
Department's requirements, but has caused problems in the Fire Department.
' ■ The size of the database which GIS or Records Management will encompass is limited
only by the imagination of City management in defining creative uses for the systems.
Modern financial applications track far more information (purchase requests, vendor
performance, payroll distribution history, position budgets, performance budgets, etc.)
than the current BRC applications. The same applies to public safety records systems.
' ■ Few in the City are familiar with the OCR and image scanning technologies to be
employed id Records Management. Few are familiar with the graphics maintenance
1 and storage capabilities in the GIS system, let alone the complex relational database
transactions required for inquiry and analysis functions. Acquisition of a true client-
server financial or public safety application would involve database and networking
' technologies that have not yet been employed in San Luis Obispo. And, as has been
mentioned several times in this report, migration of any of the major systems to a
UNIX based server would add yet another technology to the mix.
All of these factors must be considered in developing a strategy for systems acquisition,
maintenance and support.
' 12.1.1. Recommendations
In selecting between the local development and package acquisition strategies, it is best to
' consider the pros and cons of each strategy first. The following table provides an
evaluation of both strategies. It is important to note that local development includes both
the option of hiring a development programmer as a City employee or contracting for
' program development services from a small, local vendor. We did not feel it appropriate
to consider contracting with major system development organizations, as the cost would
be prohibitive for a City the size of San Luis Obispo.
KPMG 7 Beat Marwick LLP 76
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' Technology Master Plan
Local Development System Acquisition
' Program completely customized to meet Package provides pre-defined functionality;
local requirements modifications limited to formatting issues
'
Relatively lower cost Relatively higher cost
Can meet specific City programming and Can be selected to meet City database
database standards standards
Design limited to local knowledge Design can be combination of efforts of
multiple customer agencies
Support limited to small, local organization, Support provided by vendor and potentially
' often a single person by user group
Changes in requirements must be identified User group and vendor can develop
and managed locally required modifications to meet changing
requirements
Risks inherent in new development effort: Can acquire system which is already
■ Incorrect or incomplete design operational and can do reference checking
' ■ Faulty programming prior to system acquisition
■ Incomplete or improper testing
Tendency to"pave the cow path" by Tendency to force re-looking at polices and
programming to current City policies and procedures as part of the implementation
' procedures I process
We recommend that the City consider the risk factors outlined earlier in deciding which of
' these two strategies to pursue on a case-by-case basis. The strengths of package
acquisition are mainly in risk avoidance and mitigation, those of local development are
mainly in lower cost and meeting specific San Luis Obispo requirements.
Grading systems on the risk factors identified would lead to the following matrix to
determine which strategy to pursue:
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' Technology Master Plan
System Acquisition Strategy
'
High Risk Low Risk
Mission-Criticality
' Highly Mission-Critical Non-Mission-Critical
' Technical Complexity
New Technology Familiar Technology
' Organizational Complexity
0900
City-Wide Single Department
Application Size
Extremely Large and Small, Simple Database
' Complex
Package System Local Development
' Those systems where organizational risk of failure are high should be acquired from a
vendor with a track record for success, with the financial wherewithal to be able to
provide adequate support, and with a sufficient user base to be able to generate support
' during a transition should the vendor fail.
' Those systems where the risk of failure are relatively low are reasonable candidates for
local development.
' At the management workshop, the issue of current systems that were developed prior to
adoption of these decision criteria was discussed. The conclusion drawn was that current
systems that are running well and meeting departmental needs should not be replaced
' solely to meet these criteria. The risk of replacing a system is always higher than the risk
of leaving a functional system in place.
' KPMG�Peat Marwick ��r 78
City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The City should establish a series of parameters which determine the ability to make
' decentralized decisions for departmental systems. Issues to be considered include:
Decentralized Decision Centralized Decision
' System is not part of a strategic systems System is a part of a strategic systems
initiative initiative
System can be supported on current City- System requires introduction of new
standard computers, operating systems and technology
networks stems
All system users are in one department System users are in more than one
'
department
All information for input into the system is Information for input is generated in more
generated in one department than one department
' System output is not required for the System output is required by systems in
operation of other systems outside the other departments
proposing department
Interfaces to existing or proposed systems May need to interface or integrate with
are well defined and requirements can be existing systems in other departments
' met I beyond well defined standards
The interface requirement mentioned above would allow a system to be chosen by a
' department in spite of a need to generate financial transactions if the finance system
provides a well defined method of accepting transactions across the network and if the
proposed system can meet those standards.
The department planning to implement a decentralized system needs to develop an
implementation plan that includes consideration of:
■ User support and training
■ Requirements (if any) for technical and operational support from centralized data
processing
' ■ Impact on the City's computer infrastructure(will additional computers or disk
capacity be required? Will network traffic dramatically increase?)
' ■ A plan for long-term system support (vendor support, contract maintenance, etc.)
The information systems manager will be responsible for assuring that City standards are
being met, and for an assessment of the overall reasonableness of the implementation plan.
The Steering Committee will approve the project based on the reasonableness of the
' project plan and selected system acquisition method, but will not have the authority to
question a departmental decision that falls within the above criteria.
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Technology Master Plan
12.2. Staffing Strategy
' 12.2.1. Current Organization Costs and Problems
Support for automated systems, networks and communications were all areas of the
' Current Systems Assessment where significant issues were raised. Support staff were
fragmented among all departments, and included a mix of contract and in-house personnel.
Levels of support varied greatly from department to department. Significant support
' personnel had no available backup.
The use of departmental system administrators posed a series of problems. The system
administrators varied in their skill levels and amount of time available for the function.
Priorities for system administrators were a constant problem, with their regular job
functions taking precedence over technical responsibilities. The personnel and related
' costs of departmental system administrators did not appear in the information services
budget, and thus hid the true cost of data processing in the City. We estimated that at
least two FTEs of system administrator time were provided among the departmental
' administrators. Those two FTEs, in addition to representing a significant hidden data
processing budget, also represent an ineffective use of those funds, as the level of support
that could be provided by two full-time information services staff members is significantly
' higher than that provided by the part time administrators working out of their normal job
function.
' While the use of departmental system administrators had been relatively successful in
implementing local area networks throughout the City, we recommended that the system
change to a more centralized approach, which will be described in this section.
' 12.2.2. Staffing Requirements
Current centralized data processing staff are primarily charged with the administration and
maintenance of the City's WAN and City Hall LAN. Departmental staff are responsible
' for other LANs, and for all application support (including support and administration of
the System/36 in Finance). As we have discussed, the current staffing strategy is not likely
to support the growth in reliance on high-technology systems as proposed in the major
' initiatives discussed in this plan.
In order to provide a realistic approach to staffing for the City, we have delineated the
' basic functions of a data processing organization which would allow the successful
implementation and long-term support and growth of the systems described here. The
following table provides a starting point for evaluating staffing alternatives.
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Technology Master Plan
City of San Luis Obispo
Technical Support Requirements
' Role Level Requirements
General Information Low: 1-2 days per ■ Policies, standards, planning, vision,
Systems week. Full time direction, and leadership.
Management person could also ■ Functions in Department Head
fulfill requirements environment, concentrating on business
of a Project rather than technical issues
Manager(below) ■ Management of implementation and
' support resources.
■ Technology advocate-brings
information to the City on the use of
technology in various functions to work
more efficient)
Project management Full time during ■ Needs assessment
' major system. ■ Vendor evaluation support
conversion and ■ Implementation planning
implementation. ■ User procedure development
Supervise change ■ Training
management (low) ■ Testing
' at other times ■ Schedule and responsibility tracking
■ Vendor contract management
■ Change management
■ User liaison
' System and Full time. Would ■ Capacity planning
Network increase in ■ Network management and
' Management complexity and administration
required time if ■ Standards enforcement
standards are not ■ Software and hardware upgrades
' maintained and ■ Acquisition support
systems like GIS ■ Network operations (back-up, restore,
and records are not disaster recovery, installation, etc.)
t shared ■ User support (back up to Technical
Support and Help Desk functions
Communications Full Time, in ■ Telephone and radio engineering
' Services addition to current ■ Telephone and radio system
Utilities telemetry maintenance
support staff ■ Communications administration
■ Tracking impact of FCC and State
decisions on communications
' ■ Establishing communications disaster
recovery strategies
■ Manage, administer and expand utilities
telemetry system
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Technical Support Part-time as needed ■ Programming
■ System customization
' ■ PC development
■ Network and communications
implementation
' ■ User support for major applications
Operations Daily, as needed. ■ Backup of major systems, servers and
workstations
■ Forms printing
■ Preventive maintenance
■ Trouble shooting
' ■ Keeping systems operational
■ Back up to system and network
'
management and/or Help Desk
Help Desk Full Time ■ PC and major systems first level
hardware and software support
' ■ Problem and resolution tracking.
■ Remove burden of user calls from
departmental system administrators.
' ■ Back-up to operations, network
administration and technical support
functions
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' Technology Master Plan
The following chart indicates recommended support level over the next for years(numbers
in FTEs)
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' CURRENT YEAR 1 YEAR.2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4.
General 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Management
' Project Manager 0.25
Finance 0.5* 1.0 1.0 0
Public Safety 0 0.5* 1.0 0 0
' GIS 0.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Records 0 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.25
' z z z
Network Admin. 1.0 1.0 1..5 1.5 1.5
z z
Operations 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.5
Communications 1.25 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Help Desk 0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
' Departmental 2.0 0 0 0 0
System Admin.
Police System 1.0 1.0 0.5 0 0
'
Support
Total 7.3 10.0 10.5 9.5 8.25
' Note on staffing chart:
Five FTE are currently dedicated full-time to technical services. three in Information Systems; one in
Utilities and one in Police.
• Finance and public safety project manager positions would be phased in during the latter half of the
' first year.
1. Community Development and Public Works are currently providing approximately 0.3 FTE of GIS
coordination for the current pilot project.
' 2. Support for public safety systems will likely require a FTE split between network and operations
support in addition to these shown. The current FTE for police systems support would continue to be
necessary until new systems implementation is complete.
3. Addition of UNIX or other major new technologies(e.g. Windows NT)would likely increase the
workload on both operations and network administration. The exact amount of increase would
depend on the number and size of the servers. A sample workstation in support of one of the major
initiatives would likely increase total load by 0.5 FTE. Additional servers would have incremental,
though less severe impacts.
For several major systems, the project manager's role has been delineated in the
recommendations section of that initiative. The GIS Coordinator and Records Manager
both have specific, business roles to play that cross departmental boundaries that may lead
to their positions being on-going rather than merely for the duration of the
' implementation. The ongoing support needs of public safety, who must operate in a 24
hour 7 day mode, are discussed in the chapter on the Public Safety technology initiative.
' KPMG1P-at Marwick��0 83
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
12.2.3.Alternatives
The support requirements outlined above are critical for successful implementation and
use of large scale systems. As shown, the technical support functions will require
approximately 3 additional FTEs of staffing on an ongoing basis, in addition to specific
' project management support during major systems implementation. The City can meet
these requirements in a number of ways:
' ■ Hire or transfer City staff to fill needed positions
■ Use City staff for some positions; contract for others
' ■ Outsource data processing function completely
' Each of these alternatives has advantages and disadvantages as described in the following
table:
t In-house Staff Outsourced Function Mixed Staff and Contract
Requires significant increase Requires use of expensive, Provides some flexibility for
in head count for data contract personnel in all activities not required full
processing activities time
Significant effort for Recruitment and evaluation Must recruit for full time
recruiting, evaluating and efforts the responsibility of positions and determine
training staff the contract firm availability of quality
contract support
' Incorporation of new Support for new Can contract for support
technologies leads to new technologies the services on interim or
training and/or recruiting responsibility of the contract ongoing basis if local
'
requirements firm contractor is available
Support levels set by Support levels set by Support levels can be
headcount in data contract and can be adjusted if appropriate local
' processing adjustable contractors can be found or
by headcount in data
processing
Many of the advantages in staffing flexibility offered by outsourcing may not be applicable
to San Luis Obispo. Outsourcing vendors provide flexible support levels by splitting staff
members among multiple clients-for example, a C.N.E. (Certified Netware Engineer)
level network administrator might split his/her time among three clients, being on call for
emergency situations. However, given the physical location of San Luis Obispo, that
flexibility might not be possible for simple logistical reasons.
' However, as seen from the technical support requirements table, a number of activities are
not required full-time on an on-going basis. Flexibility in staffing for these functions
would provide significant advantages to the City in terms of overall cost and ability to
' adapt to new technologies and environments.
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City of San Luis Obispo
Technology Master Plan
12.2.4. Recommendations
Based on the technical support requirements and an assessment of alternatives for meeting
them, we recommend continuing with a mix of in-house staff and contract support. We
feel that the following activities require full-time presence on a continuing basis, and thus
' should be filled with City personnel:
■ Project manager for GIS and Records Management (GIS Coordinator and Records
' Manager)
■ System and network management
' ■ Communications support
' ■ Operations
■ Help Desk
These positions could be filled by transfer or redefinition of current staff roles, and do not
necessarily require the City to create new positions or hire new resources.
' Project management for other major initiatives (public safety and finance systems) can be
provided either in-house or by contracting for the duration of the project. Some
' combination of the two (e.g. a full-time technical person who will move into one of the
support roles, and contract project management from the software vendor or a third party)
' might be appropriate.
An additional option would be to use the person in the general management role,
' supplemented by contract help, to serve as the project manager for one of the major
initiatives. . The general management function, although not a full-time need, should be
handled in-house in order for the person in that role to fully understand the political and
' budgetary issues surrounding data processing in San Luis Obispo. If contract help is to be
used, the cost of that contract should be added to the capital outlay budget presented
earlier in this document.
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
The use of contract services for technical support provides the City with great flexibility:
' ■ Services can be available and paid for only at needed levels
■ Services can be provided in different programming environments without the need to
' increase headcount
■ Departments implementing decentralized'systems can have more flexible options for
development and maintenance services
' For these reasons, we recommend continuing the policy of not providing programming
services with in-house staff.
' A recommended organization structure for the technical support organization appears
below.
City of San Luis Obispo
Technical Support Organization
General Inrormation
Systems Management
' Project Management System and Network Operations Communications Services
Management
Help Desk
PubGe Safety Systems 771
...._...__..........._............................
FinanctaVPtlninsaative Systems Technical Support
' F; GIS Coordinator ...............
.........._........................_..
L ___..__RecordsManager_----
Those boxes shown in dotted lines are not necessarily a part of the technical support staff
organizationally, but still functionally report through technical support for standards,
evaluation and quality control. The GIS Coordinator and Records Manager might better
' report elsewhere in the organization (e.g the GIS Coordinator could report to Community
Development, Public Works or Utilities). As their roles are mainly non-technical, it might
not be critical for them to be a part of the technical support organization.
12.3. Organizational Strategy
' 12.3.1. Reporting of Technology Services
One of the most frequently cited problems in interviews with department heads and staff
was the inherent conflict of interest in having a City-wide support service report to an
operating department head. A detailed analysis of the issue can be found in the Current
Systems Assessment, but the bottom line is that most departments feel that they are not
' getting a"fair share" of the data processing resources of the City.
The reasons for this perception are:
' KPV4G1Peat Marwick LLP 86
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ The City has a decentralized information systems strategy; most of the resources in the
' current Information Systems Division"belong"to Finance and prioritize their time
based on that designation
' ■ The decentralized strategy has left departments to their own resources, which have
varied in effectiveness and ability
' In planning for the future, it is important to correct both the perception and the imbalance
of support levels. The correction requires a change in the value system of the City, in that
' it must designate information as a City-wide resource, thus making information services a
City-wide support requirement.
' 12.3.1.1.Alternatives
During the presentation to the City Administrator, two options emerged for the
organizational reporting structure for Information Services:
' ■ Information Services can continue to report to Finance, with the mission of the
department changed to emphasize the need to support the entire organization
■ Information Services can report to Administration
An additional option to consider would be to elevate Information Services to department
level, leaving it reporting to Administration but with its own department head.
' The first alternative leaves the conflict of interest in place and perhaps makes it more
difficult to evaluate the performance of the department head given that support decisions
' could affect his own operational effectiveness. The second alternatives violates the
current City strategy of having no operational functions report to Administration. The
third alternative elevates the head of Information Services to department head level, with
' ramifications for staffing(could a full department head also function as a project
manager?) and salary level.
' This issue was discussed thoroughly at the management workshop, without coming to a
final conclusion.
' 12.3.2.Additional Organizational Recommendations
The Strategic Technology Plan is designed to be a living document. Once adopted, the
plan will immediately face a world that is constantly changing. A mechanism needs to be
' in place to allow orderly modification of the plan as requirements, priorities, budgets and
technologies change. The Steering Committee can serve as the vehicle for maintaining
and promoting the plan.
' In addition to the Steering Committee, we recommend the creation, either formally or
informally, of some other committees or groups:
' "GlPeatMarwick LLP 87
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
■ A Project Committee for each of the major initiatives, containing key management
' personnel from each affected department or group of departments. For example, the
records management project already established such a committee, which has
functioned as a working group in the definition of system requirements.
' ■ An Office Automation Users Group who can serve a self-support and training
' function. Several cities have established regular"brown bag" lunches for users of city-
standard software, with scheduled presentations on issues of interest to the group (e.g.
new system upgrades, technical issues, tips and techniques).
' ■ Users Groups for other major systems can serve similar functions for other city-wide
applications. A Finance Users Group, for example, can help each other with issues
' that arise as new systems are implemented, or provide tips and techniques for inquiry
and special reporting.
' These groups don't have to meet very often. Often the existence of a list allows for
informal networking which accomplishes much the same purpose.
' 12.3.2.I.Steering Committee Composition and Function
The Steering Committee is the primary vehicle for enforcing and modifying the Strategic
' Technology Plan. As its function involves prioritization of City-wide projects, application
of resources, and decisions as to the future use of technology, its composition must
accurately reflect the management team of the City. We recommend that the Committee
' be constituted of the City Administrator, Assistant City Administrator, and a
representative sample of department heads, covering each of the major technology
initiatives.
' The General Information Systems Manager should serve a staff role to the Committee,
' providing information on the status of current projects and technology issues that may
affect future planning issues.
The Committee should designate selection subcommittees to review requirements
definitions, selection criteria, and RFP responses for major systems and select appropriate
solutions. Those subcommittees should consist of management and user representatives
from each affected department.
' 12.3.3. Training
One of the most significant factors holding many departments back from making full use
of their technology resources is the lack of user training and support provided City
' employees. While lack of training is an issue we face in each city we have worked with,
there are some symptoms of significant problems in San Luis Obispo that were noted in
tthe Current Systems Assessment.
' KP;W Peat Marwick ur 88 '
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Technology Master Plan
Training for office automation tools was curtailed as part of the budget cutback. As new
' versions of software were installed, the currency of user training deteriorated. With the
planned Windows migration, techniques and skills learned on older, DOS versions of
software will no longer be appropriate. Users cannot be expected to make highly
productive use of the new Windows tools without specific training in those systems.
Major applications have also suffered from a lack of attention to user training. The CRIS
police records system is a significant example, where the users are unaware of many of the
options and capabilities of the system, and specific business requirements are not being
met due to lack of familiarity with the system.
There are several ways to remedy the situation:
' ■ New system plans should include significant budgets in terms of both dollars and time
to provide adequate initial training to users. User training is a poor place to
' economize if the City is to gain full advantage from its technology investments.
■ Establishment of a full-time Help Desk function will supplement user training by
' providing accessible, accurate support as questions arise. The Help Desk function
should coordinate(and, if possible, provide) user training classes.
' ■ Establishment of user groups to allow the exchange of information and ideas among
staff in various City functions using the same systems.
' ■ Development of a"core curriculum" with specific competency goals to evaluate and
train current staff
' ■ Development of a testing and placement program for including new employees in the
training program.
' kG�Peat Marwick LLP 89
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ASSESSMENT REPORT
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1 CURRENT SYSTEM
1 ASSESSMENT REPORT
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City of San Luis Obispo
1 Current Systems Assessment
Table of Contents
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I. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................1
WHAT THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS..................................................................................................................1
METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................................2
1 II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY_....................................................................................................................3
PURPOSEOF THE PROJECT................................................................................................................................3
OVERVIEWOF ASSESSMENT.............................................................................................................................3
CURRENT CITYSTRATEGIES.............................................................................................................................4
Strategyfor Data Communications Infrastructure.....................................................................................4
Strategy for Applications Acquisition,Development and Support..............................................................4
1 Strategy for Local Area Network and User Support...................................................................................5
Organizational Structure of Information Systems Division........................................................................6
Postponing Hardware and Software Upgrades..........................................................................................7
' Develop and Enforce Office Automation Standards...................................................................................7
Training for Effective Use of Technology...................................................................................................8
Strategyfor Radio Communications Systems.............................................................................................8
Strategyfor Telephone Communications Systems......................................................................................9
' Strategyfor Communications Systems Support..........................................................................................9
III.DEPARTMENTAL TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENTS....................... .......... .........._..10
' CITY COUNCIL................................................................................................................................................11
CITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE......................................................................................................................14
CITYCLERIC'S OFFICE...................................................................................................................................ZO
' CITY ATTORNEY's OFFICE.............................................................................................................................24
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT...................................................................................................26
FINANCE DEPARTMENT..................................................................................................................................31
FIRE DEPARTMENT...................,.,..,'.
EPARTMENT.........................................................................................................................................37
PERSONNELDEPARTMENT.............................................................................................................................44
PARES AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT........................................................................................................49
POLICEDEPARTMENT.....................................................................................................................................52
' PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.......................................................................................................................57
UTILITIES DEPARTMENT..........._....................................................................................................................63
IV. CITY-WIDE TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENTS..............................................................__.........._68
INFORMATION SYSTEMS DIVISION.................................................................................................................69
PROGRAMMING AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT....................................................................................................75
OFFICEAUTOMATION.....................................................................................................................................79
' GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS(GIS).................................................................................................81
RADIOSYSTEMS.............................................................................................................................................84
TELEPHONESYSTEMS.....................................................................................................................................89
' V. NETWORK ASSESSMENT.................................................................................................._.............92
NETWORKOVERVIEW....................................................................................................................................92
Information Systems Support....................................................................................................................92
' The City's Network...................................................................................................................................93
CityApplications.......................................................................................................................................94
Security.....................................................................................................................................................94
' Data As An Asset.......................................................................................................................................95
' KPA4&Peat Marwick '
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Table of Contents
1 Operational Status....................................................................................................................................95
DEPARTMENTALSYSTEMS.............................................................................................................................95
CityHall LAN...........................................................................................................................................97
' 955 Morro LAN.......................................................................................................................................100
CorporationYard LAN...........................................................................................................................103
FireDepartment LAN.............................................................................................................................106
' Police Department LAN..........................................................................................................................110
RecreationLANAN......................................................................................................................................
ParkingLAN...........................................................................................................................................116
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Introduction
' I. Introduction
What This Document Contains
' We are pleased to present the Current Systems Assessment report for the City of San Luis
Obispo. This document contains a description and analysis of the systems supporting the
City in the data processing and communications area as of our data gathering processes
tduring September- December 1994.
The document is divided into several sections:
' ■ An Executive Summary,with an overview of our findings and a brief analysis of how
well the City of San Luis Obispo is doing in following its current strategies,by
comparison with our experience in other public agencies of similar size and
complexity.
' ■ A Departmental Technology Assessment which provides the results of our interview
processes and a description and analysis of the systems supporting each department in
' the City.
■ A City-Wide Technology Assessment which provides a description and analysis of
some of the major issues surrounding information systems and telecommunications
with implications for all City departments, including support services, office
automation, and the geographic information systems initiatives starting in the City.
■ A Network Assessment which provides a description and analysis of the infrastructure
supporting data and voice communications in the City.
This document does not provide either an alternatives analysis or recommendations, as
' these topics are reserved for discussion during the next phase of the planning process and
represent the next deliverable in this project.
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' City of San Luis Obispo .
' Current Systems Assessment
Introduction
Methodology
' Over the course of several weeks, starting at the beginning of September, 1994, KPMG
' consultants interviewed City Council, the Mayor, the City Administrative Officer, and all
City department heads. These high level interviews were designed to gather information
on the goals, objectives and business direction of the City. Additionally, we inquired as
to the ability of top City management to access and interpret information critical to their
decision making and strategic evaluation processes. These interviews form the
framework not only for the Current Systems Analysis,but also for the future vision for
information systems for the City.
Our consultants also conducted group sessions for staff in each department. Questions in
' these interviews were aimed at determining the level of success of existing systems in
supporting the performance of day-.to-day operations. We attempted to determine
overlaps and duplications of effort, ability to access and interpret information needed for
' typical staff processes,and flexibility of systems and tools in meeting the changing
requirements of each department.
' Additional group sessions were held by function, including Geographic Information
Systems,system administrators, department fiscal officers and office automation users.
' These sessions were each unique in that the organizational level and systems expectations
of each group was different. Each of these group sessions led to the development of a
systems assessment grouped into the City Wide Systems Assessment chapter of this
' report.
On the basis of the information gathered in this process, KPMG prepared a summary of
findings which was presented to the City's Information Services Steering Committee in
their meeting of October 19. Feedback provided by the Committee members and their
staff following that meeting was incorporated into a first draft of the Current Systems
' Assessment Report,that was delivered to the City at the end of October.
Written comments received from City management and staff requested follow-up
' sessions and additional interviews to address some discrepancies and inconsistencies in
the original draft. These follow-up sessions were held during December, 1994 and
' January, 1995,resulting in the document presented here.
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' H. Executive Summary
' Purpose of the Project
' KPMG Peat Marwick has completed the first phase of the Information and
Communications Systems Master Plan and Disaster Prevention and Recovery Plan
project for the City of San Luis Obispo. The City established this project to develop a
' long-term vision for the use of automation,communications and technology in its
operations.
The first phase of the planning project was to complete an assessment of the current
information systems and communications environment of the City. An accurate
evaluation of the current systems, strategies and support structures will allow us to build
' for the future taking full advantage of the City's equipment, software and personnel.
' Overview of Assessment
We have assessed the technology and services currently supporting the City of San Luis
' Obispo in several areas:
■ Information systems
■ Communications infrastructure
■ Network and computer infrastructure
■ Support organizations and strategies
In order to provide a shorthand look at the assessments, we have assigned a"grade"to
' each area based on comparison of the current San Luis Obispo environment with that in
other agencies of similar size and scope. These grades should be viewed as strictly a
high-level summary of the detailed information provided in this report. Grades are based
on the standard academic scale:
Grade Description
A Excellent, in the top ranks of similar agencies
B Above average
' C Average,typical among similar agencies
D Below average, lagging behind a majority of agencies
F Failing, immediate action required to correct
Peat Marwick Page 3
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' I Incomplete-systems are not yet implemented
' Current City Strategies
The City has pursued a series of strategies to date in acquiring, implementing and
supporting automated systems. These strategies were assessed based on KPMG's
opinion of their success in supporting City-wide and departmental goals as well as by
comparison with similar agencies.
' Viewed at the highest level,the current strategies have supported the City to a reasonable
extent. Vital operations are functioning, and there have been no serious breakdowns in
' either providing services or meeting mandatory reporting requirements. Systems and
networks are functioning,and downtime has not been a significant issue. In many cases,
we have lowered the"grade"given a specific strategy not because it has not worked to
' date,but because it does not position the City to meet its longer-term business and
technology objectives.
' Strategy for Data Communications Infrastructure A
t By establishing local area networks (LANs) in most City buildings, and connecting those
into a wide area network(WAN), the City has developed an infrastructure which will
allow implementation of shared databases and provide access to those databases from all
areas in the City. The importance of building such an infrastructure in anticipation of
major systems iinplementation cannot be overestimated. The City is well served by its
current data communications structure.
Strategy for Applications Acquisition, Development and Support C
' The City has established a policy of acquiring all systems from outside vendors, and
' providing no formal programming support with in-house staff. On its face,that strategy
can be highly effective for an organization the size of the City, as internal development of
systems require a significant, long-term investment in dedicated FTEs.
However, implementation of this policy has not been fully successful on two fronts:
' ■ Major acquired application systems(Finance, Police) have significant support issues.
• In the case of Finance, it appears that the system has outlived its useful life, and
' the vendor is curtailing support services.
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' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' • The Police (CRIS)system has been extensively modified since its original
installation. Support is provided by a third-party vendor under contract to the
original development firm. This has resulted in upgrades not being conducted in a
timely fashion. Although CRIS has been successful in many municipalities in
supporting similar sized police departments,the City is struggling with its
implementation, and therefore much of its functionality is not available to the
Department.
' ■ Many systems have been developed locally by using contract programming efforts.
While this has resulted in a number of successful system implementations,there are
long-tern consequences for support:
• The City has a single contractor who has developed and is maintaining a large
number of systems, some of which are critical to departmental operations(e.g.
' Building Permits,Land Use). There is no back-up to that contractor.
• Systems developed for the Fire Department have already faced the issue of loss of
' support when the designer/programmer left the City.
' • Upgrading to a Windows environment Citywide will put a strain on the ability of
a contract programmer to upgrade existing systems while simultaneously
continuing to enhance current functionality and develop new applications.
1 Strategy for Local Area Network and User Support I C
The City has pursued a decentralized approach to network and user support by
developing a group of system administrators assigned to individual departments. This is
' a common strategy employed in a number of cities in order to avoid building a relatively
large MIS staff. As in most cities employing this strategy, the City of San Luis Obispo
has enjoyed mixed results:
■ Departmental system administrators are available locally to provide support to users
' ■ Central information systems support personnel have calls"screened" by the local
system administrators, which may result in reducing their support load
t ■ Departmental system administrators vary in their level of technical knowledge and in
the amount of time they can dedicate to technical tasks and keeping current with
' technology. The results have been inconsistent back-ups and system operations, and
inconsistent levels of technical support. As more mission critical systems are
implemented on the network, the back-up and operations issue will become critical
' for the disaster recovery phase of this project.
KPA Peat Marwick Page 5
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' ■ Departmental system administrators are being asked to work out of their job
descriptions and individual fields of expertise. The City is not getting a full-time
' professional doing the job they are paid to do, while at the same time asking this
person to perform a task that they might not have the skill-set or aptitude to perform it
successfully.
' ■ Splitting a person between departmental tasks and technical support tasks develops an
inherent conflict in which technical tasks are given low priority.
tAs the City migrates to the Windows environment, the need to provide high level training
to all of the system administrators will be an additional obstacle to be overcome.
Organizational Structure of Information Systems Division I C
The only dedicated technical resources in the City are in the Information Systems
Division,which structurally reports to the Finance Department. Again,this is not an
' unusual organizational arrangement. In most cities the data processing function started
with the automation of accounting functions. However, as the scope of computer systems
reached through the rest of the city's functions, data processing has faced an inherent
conflict: Should priority be given to supporting the operational systems internal to the
Finance Department, or should priorities be set city-wide,even at the risk of leaving the
data processing supervisor's manager with operational problems?
' In San Luis Obispo, Information Systems has a two-fold mission: coordinating of the
' City's decentralized resources and supporting financial applications and City Hall LAN.
These two directions sometimes conflict. Additionally, the Division does not have the
authority to "coordinate" resources outside Finance or to enforce City standards. If the
City is to embark on truly inter-departmental (or even cross-agency)systems
implementation such as GIS or image-based records management, the City will require a
central coordinating unit with authority to enforce standards and the ability to follow
' City-wide priorities without conflict.
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' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
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Postponing Hardware and Software Upgrades C
' Most California cities, feeling the pressure of budget cutbacks over the last five years,
have postponed capital acquisitions for computer systems. Most cities have also failed to
tplan for obsolescence and replacement costs of desktop equipment. These factors have
combined to leave many cities with equipment that cannot support current generation
' software (Windows; WYSIWYG [what you see is what you get] word processing,
spreadsheets and graphics; relational databases;ad hoc inquiry and analysis tools; client-
server GUI [graphical user interface] systems).
' In San Luis Obispo,this trend has manifested itself in:
' ■ Widespread use of 286 and 386 based personal computers. These computers are now
already two generations behind the currently available Pentium technology.
' ■ Retention of the IBM System/36 for financial applications. This hardware is no
longer a part of IBM's current product line.
' ■ Underconfiguration of the computers supporting records management system(CRIS)
and computer aided dispatching (CAD) in public safety
' ■ Delay in migrating to a Windows-based desktop environment. Our view is that the
Windows environment is more flexible and productive than the native DOS
environment.
Implementation of contemplated systems requiring graphics support on the desktop(e.g.
' GIS and image-based records management)will require that all intended users be
upgraded to relatively powerful, Windows-based PCs. Migration of existing FoxPro
applications to a Windows environment cannot be completed until all users of those
systems are upgraded.
' Develop and Enforce Office Automation Standards B+
The City has recently adopted a Windows environment as the new desktop standard
' contingent upon four key steps first: migrating to Ethernet system-wide; implementing
Office 4.0; acquiring Windows network management tools; and finalizing a migration
strategy. That project will be made easier by the level of compliance the City has
' obtained with its previous standards for word processing and spreadsheet applications.
Document and spreadsheet conversion as well as user training will be simplified because
almost all users are coming from the same original environment.
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' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' The City still does not have a standard for business graphics,which is becoming more
important as the need to present complex information to Council, upper management and
' the public grows.
Training for Effective Use of Technology D
' Departmental interviewees almost universally pointed to the lack of formal training on
' the use of the standard office automation tools as a hindrance to productivity. The City's
performance objectives require increasing the productivity of all staff,"doing more with
less". Acquisition of tools is a step in that direction,but failing to instruct people on the
proper use of those tools will block their progress.
With the pending migration to Windows, and anticipated implementation of new large-
scale applications over the next several years,provision of adequate training coupled with
knowledgeable technical support is essential in assuring that the City makes best use of
its technology investments.
tStrategy for Radio Communications Systems B
' The radio systems for public safety are meeting performance objectives. There are
several issues in the radio system area that preclude an "A"rating:
■ Public Works' radio system is at capacity limits
' ■ Police and Fire have not implemented mobile data technology
■ The lack of a standard paging system has meant that departments are making separate
' arrangements leading to overall inconsistency and higher costs
In spite of the loss of equipment in the recent fires,the radio system overall is serving the
City well. Federal "re-farming"of frequencies may necessitate replacement of the City's
radio systems in the near future,so any planned upgrades(e.g. to digital technology)
' should await those decisions.
t
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' K Peat Marwick Page 8
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current Systems Assessment
Executive Summary
' Strategy for Telephone Communications Systems B
' The E-911 system serving public safety dispatch is a state-of-the-art" system that would
be rated an"A"on its own. The use of Centrex telephone switching eliminates the need
' for ownership and local maintenance of costly telephone equipment. Some of the
features available with the Centrex ISDN system have not been implemented, as they
' were not found cost effective when compared to alternative data communication methods.
The City does not have a voice mail system in use. The ability to send, receive, store and
' forward messages, and the ability to provide information to the public using a dial-in
service, were requested by several departments during our interview process.
' Funding has been approved for the requisition of an integrated, organization voice mail
system, and a city-wide task from has been formed to clearly defined the City's need and
selection system. Implementation is expected by July 1995.
' Strategy for Communications Systems Support I D
' The City is not providing adequate support for either radio or telecommunications
facilities. The fact that the system has not yet failed is the reason for the"poor but
' passing" grade assigned in this area.
On the radio side, the public safety and Public Works radio systems have only
' commercial contract maintenance support and rely on vendors and consultants for
engineering support, with the result that long-standing coverage and channel congestion
problems remain unresolved. The Utilities Department radio technician appears to be
' fully loaded with telemetry system engineering and maintenance work, confronts a
substantial backlog of deferred maintenance and upgrade projects, and has no backup
' The telephone system administration tasks are currently being performed by the
Information Systems Coordinator, taking 10-15 percent of her time away from her other
' tasks. She currently has no backup for this function. Implementation of major new
computer systems, and the migration to the Windows environment, will require full time
supervision from the Information Systems Coordinator, and further hamper the telephone
' administrative function.
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/C�Peat Marwick Page 9
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Departmental Assessments
III. Departmental Technology Assessments
1
The Departmental Technology Assessments chapter contains a section for each
department or office included in our evaluation. Each section is divided into a series of
sub-headings:
' Mission and Responsibilities-The Mission Statement for the department, and a
description of the specific business responsibilities of that department.
' Organization/Staffing-The way in which the department is organized to meet its
mission and responsibilities, including staffing levels, and, where appropriate,division
descriptions.
' Performance Objectives- Specifically, what the department is trying to
' accomplish. Emphasis is placed on objectives with a direct or indirect bearing on the use
of technology.
' Description of Current Systems- Current computer applications running in
support of the department's efforts. This section will include user observations gathered
during interviews and group sessions conducted during this project.
Analysis of Current Systems- The consultant's view of current applications,
including a discussion of appropriateness of the application, its platform,training and
' support levels,etc. Analysis will be made in terms of industry standards and trends, as
well as the consultant's experience with similar systems, platforms or support structures
in other cities or public agencies.
' Critical Success Factors-The hurdles the department may need to overcome in
' order to meet its business and technology objectives.
KMf&-Peat Marwick Page 10
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Council
' City Council
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The City Council consists of the elected officials who serve the citizens of San Luis
Obispo. They provide policy and executive oversight for the entire City organization,
and are responsible for approving the annual budget,capital improvement plans, and any
' significant expenditure of City funds.
Organ ization/Staffing
The City Council is made up of the Mayor and four Council Members.
' Performance Objectives
While specific performance objectives were not raised during the interview process,
1 several information system related goals could be derived from the comments of Council
members, including:
■ The City should provide widely available electronic public access to information, and
the content of that information should be as comprehensive as possible within
' reasonable security and privacy constraints.
■ Careful planning should precede any major systems acquisition and implementation
' project, to assure that the benefits the City will receive will justify the costs involved.
■ Priority should be placed on leveraging local resources through cooperative efforts
' with Cal Poly and other local government agencies.
' Descriptions of Current Systems
The information systems currently utilized by the City Council include electronic mail
and the Land Use database.
Most members currently have access to the City's electronic mail (e-mail) from home
' using home computers. Information systems has been assigned the responsibility for
training and supporting for Council members who want to use remote access to the City's
systems. Security for remote access utilizes a"Call back" feature to insure the incoming
' call is from an authorized phone number.
KRAg6 Peat Marwick Page I 1
t City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Council
' Internet access is being used on a pilot basis to encourage communication with business,
university and community leaders.
' Access to SLONET(The City's public bulletin board)has been made available to City
Council members.
Due to the number of meetings that the council members attend there is a need for a
scheduling program that could be used by all Council members and City staff.
Analysis of Current Systems
' The general impression communicated during the City Council interviews is that the
City's automated systems do not provide sufficient access or information for them to
serve as liaisons with the public. Council members specifically cited the need for more
information related to police and fire records; City Clerk's records, business and
occupancy information, and land-related (i.e. mapping) information.
' All requests for information from a City Council member to a department generate
paperwork for that department because all information provided to one Council Member
must be supplied to all Council members. The City Clerk is responsible for ensuring that
Council members are given equal access to information,and she reports that this is a
noticeable burden on the resources available to her.
' City Council has limited access to system printers, which they report makes it difficult to
print requested information. It was stated by some Council members that they are getting
' good network support from the Information Systems Division.
There is a perception that there is a lack of computer training for all City Council
members. There is a need for tailored classes on Council's access and SLONET.
Critical Success Factors for Future
' The comments in this section are based on interviews conducted by the consultant during
September and October, 1994. The opinions are those of the Council members as
expressed in those interviews.
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Peat Marwick Page 12
1
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Council
' The City Council is very interested in supplying information to the Public. They feel that
current capabilities are limited. City Council recently approved a pilot program
' authorizing an information kiosk for public access, located in the Public Library. This is
the kind of approach the City Council favors. It is felt that to provide information
electronically to all citizens, kiosks must be available at public locations for"free"
' access. Information that could be made available through the kiosk includes information
currently published in newspapers such as: council action updates,City Council agendas,
issues, action Items.
Another possible approach to public access would be to allow direct media access to
certain City information. Making this option available would need to be weighed against
' privacy issues. For instance, a request from a local newspaper to have access to non-
classified police records is currently pending. This should be resolved in the light of an
overall information access policy.
' Council feels that the use of both Macs and PCs(especially using a Windows
environment)must be supported on the City's network for productivity reasons. It is felt
' that networking and compatibility between systems are very important.
' There is a perception that certain City departments' requests for system purchases are
granted a de facto priority(e.g. Finance, Police& Fire). It is felt that the other City
Department's needs should be better addressed.
To insure that the public is receiving the best value for its money,before any new system-
related projects are initiated the City must determine the financial savings that will be
' realized and specific service improvements that will be generated. In addition, the City
must select the best method of obtaining implementation services for the new system.
For instance, rather than acquiring all of the hardware and software necessary to use
' Windows on the network it might make more sense for the City to proceed on an
incremental upgrade approach where Windows would be implemented over a number of
months or years.
' The demand for use of a geographic information system is slowly increasing within the
City. As this effort continues,the City should encourage joint cooperation between
themselves, the County and Cal Poly. The expertise that has been developed at Cal Poly
should be utilized. (Note: this cooperative effort has already begun in the partnership
t between Community Development and the University's Landscape Architecture
Department in the development of the pilot GIS project for the greenbelt area.)
The adoption of voice mail for the City must be well thought out and implemented to
insure that it is accepted both internally and by the public.
' KAWG-Peat Marwick Page 13
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
' City Administration Office
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
The City Administration program provides information and recommendations to the City
Council,implements City Council policies,directs the delivery of municipal services and
oversees accomplishment of City objectives. The program has five major activities:
■ Operating program direction and evaluation
■ Council meeting agenda reports
' ■ Council Member and advisory body support
■ Management team building and leadership
' ■ Oversight of the City's financial health and labor relations
' In addition, the City Administrative Officer(CAO) is responsible for the Economic
Development program of the City,cable television franchise, and the City's tourism
promotion program, mayor and Council Member secretarial support, advisory body
' appointment process, and various special projects.
' KPW Peat Marwick Page 14
1 _ -
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
' Organization/Staffing
' The CAD's Office consists of the City Administrative Officer,the Assistant CAO,the
Assistant to the CAO, and 2.5 full time equivalents(FTEs)of secretarial support, for a
total of 5.5 FTEs.
' City Administrative Officer
CAO
' Secretarial Support
' 2.5 FTE
' Assistant CAO Assistant to the CAO
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' K G Peat Marwick Page 15
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
' Performance Objectives
' Program goals include:
' ■ Informed public decision making
■ Responsive,effective and efficient operating programs
' ■ Continual program improvement
' ■ Effective City management
' As the head of administration for the City,the CAO takes a broad, generalist's view of
systems and technology for use in the City government, and as a communication tool to
external agencies, organizations and the public. In view of the CAD's unique position in
' the City organization,this section describes the CAD's views of the current technology
environment in the City, as well as the priorities and directions the CAO intends for the
City's technology support base to take in the future, not necessarily focusing on the
performance objectives within the Administrative Office.
The CAO observes that pressure on the systems have become severe due to several
' historical trends:
■ City automation systems have"grown like topsy", incrementally,wherever people
' have found the resources to meet individual needs. Thus, Citywide priorities have not
been established with resources allocated based on those priorities.
' ■ Systems implemented to date have primarily been aimed at meeting internal
organizational needs, not customer service requirements
■ Internal needs are becoming more detailed and specialized, and service level
requirements coupled with budget pressures have made some internal needs more
' pressing
■ There is a growing need to develop more effective partnerships between governments,
' non-profit and private sector organizations. For example, the Economic Development
program must interrelate between the City, Cal Poly,the Chamber of Commerce, and
' private business parties.
KPM9,Peat Marwick Page 16
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
' New issues have arisen over time,changing the shape of systems needs:
' ■ The use of the Internet(SLONET)to provide public access and communication was
unheard of for smaller cities a few years ago
■ Cal Poly wants to become a leader in communications technology .
■ Fiber optics lines are being strung through the community
tWhat is needed is a road map to set overall objectives,purposes and directions for
technology implementation for the next 2-5 years. Foremost,this road map will establish
' priorities and provide a measurement tool for evaluating individual system requests.
The City needs to focus on what is needed and how it will be used. Information Systems
' planning is as important as any other plan the City develops. To obtain buy-in from the
public,the benefits must be highlighted and clear-cut priorities established.
' The true cost of systems needs to be established including the cost of system
administrators within each department that are providing the current decentralized
support.
Descriptions of Current Systems
' Current systems used within the City Administration Office are the general office
automation tools (Word Perfect, E-mail, and a tickler system - Remind).
Additionally, the Office has access to the System/36 for budget and financial information.
Users report that the information available to them is not user friendly or helpful for
' budget review at a program level. Management level information is not readily
accessible.
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iAk Peat Marwick Page 17
1
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
Analysis of Current Systems
' There are no unique systems supporting the Administration's Office. Current office
automation applications are discussed in the City-wide Assessments chapter of this
report. The financial applications are described in the Finance Department section of this
' chapter.
The CAO discussed the need for fully training the professional staff in the Office to use
' available tools. The need for training will be highlighted by the impending conversion to
the Windows environment. Merely acquiring technology tools will not solve problems;
users must be able to apply them to their work situations. The professional staff should
' be fluent in the use of word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and any
calendaring/scheduling system that is implemented.
' Critical Success Factors for Future
The City needs to make a decision as to the extent and speed with which GIS will be
' implemented. Departments that are involved in GIS are Public Works, Utilities,
Community Development, Police, Fire and Finance. There are policy questions that need
' to be addressed as to the degree of coordination between departments, degree of public
information, and the total cost involved. Coordination of the effort with Cal Poly,the
County, other cities,districts, and possibly even State agencies could reduce overall costs
' but would require policy level decisions as to where the data resides, who could access
and/or modify it,etc.
' The City should clarify the amount, nature and approach to public access of electronic
information. The City needs to evaluate the resources which would be required to
maintain and expand the initiative, the cost/benefit for expansion of the kiosk project vs.
use of the Internet,etc. For computer aficionados, Intemet/SLONET would work well.
For others, access from public places such as the Chamber,the library or the mall can
serve some informational needs. The goal of the City is to make as much information
' available as possible, but without excessive administrative or cost burdens.
There are a series of records management issues which have City-wide impact. The City
' should establish standards to move effectively to electronic record keeping.
Administrative records must be kept compatible with the rest of the organization.
' The Financial Systems that reside on the System/36 should be considered as a major
driving force in developing an Information Systems Plan. The lack of user-friendly
' access and difficulty in developing management level information lead to the conclusion
that replacement of these systems is a high priority.
!( Peat Marwick Page 18
1
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Administration
Additionally, the City needs to evaluate whether its current, decentralized strategy for
information systems will work toward the goal of overall integrated databases and the
' strategic investment of limited resources based on Citywide priorities. Additionally,the
long term vision for the region would be the development of integrated data resources
with Cal Poly,the County,other cities and agencies,non-profit and private sector
' organizations. Working toward these objectives may require a more planned,controlled
approach to systems implementation and support.
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Peat Marwick Page 19
1
i - -
City of San Luis Obispo
i Current System Assessment
City Clerk's Office
City Clerk's ice
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The City Clerk's Office provides information to the public and acts as the key link
between the public and City Council.
' The City Clerk's Office manages various records of the City,primarily those dealing with
councillocations, she has resolutions,minutes,ordinances, Council Actions, and original
copies of contracts. The Office also City elections, which are consolidated with County
' elections.
The Office receives and handles approximately 200 information requests per week.
Organization/Staffing
' The City Clerk's Office consists of the City Clerk and 2.5 regular staff members.
City Clerk
1
Assistant
City Clerk
Volunteers
' Secretary To Office
City Clerk Assistant
t
' KPMG—Peat Marwick Page 20
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Clerk's Office
' Performance Objectives
A key performance objective is to implement a pilot project for automated records
' management in the Clerk's Office, to provide easy,rapid access to official City
documents. The City Clerk has organized a City-wide records management task force
' that has defined the need for an automated, image-based records system.
The City Clerk was also the driving force behind the development of the City's
' information kiosk. The project was coordinated with Cal Poly, who provided hardware
and programming support at no cost to the City. The pilot project is now operating in the
library, with information provided by the Clerk's Office, Police and Community
' Development. The goal for the Clerk's Office is to complete the assessment of the pilot
project, in terms of public response and the amount of effort required to maintain the
system, and to develop a recommendation for the future of the system. The Clerk would
' like the project to grow into a"City Hall in the Mall"approach.
Descriptions of Current Systems
' Records management is a priority and focus of the City Clerk's Office. The initial RFP
' issued for an image-based system resulted in three responses, all of which were rejected.
In anticipation of this new system,the Clerk's Office suspended the microfilming of City
records, saving the costs of that operation, but creating a four-year gap in the microfilmed
record. However, if the new system will not be installed soon,these records must be
microfilmed. The automated indexing system has been abandoned, and multiple three-
by-five cards are hand-produced for each document filled. The overall result of the lack
' of indexing capabilities and the suspension of microfilming has been unsatisfactory.
The City Clerk's Office has a number of public information initiatives in progress. In
' addition to the kiosk project,the City Clerk's Office designed and regularly updates the
SLONET screen that provides information on City history, Council agendas, Council
actions, and serving on boards and commissions. They are also involved in pilot projects
' with the National Science Foundation and International Clerks' Association to test
various approaches to E-mail and Internet access.
The staff uses the City's standard office automation products. The staff are heavy users
of word processing, with the use of Lotus relatively limited. City Council agendas,
minutes, resolutions and ordinances are all keyed into word processing, as well as City
phone lists. Staff use special word processing templates which are electronically
transmitted to the newspaper for legal advertisements.
KFAg6 Peat Marwick Page 21
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Clerk's Office
' Additional uses of technology in the City Clerk's Office include:
■ Access to the Land Use database, maintained and operated by the Community
Development Department.
■ Development of a FoxPro system for Legal Advisements, Risk Management, and
Contract Tracking.
' ■ Use of word processing and network capabilities for electronic agendas.
■ Maintenance of the TDD equipment used to communicate with deaf citizens.
However, it is reported that this equipment is rarely used.
' Analysis of Current Systems
The initial RFP and budgeted funds records management did not attract bids from
' vendors who have been successful in a number of other cities (e.g. Excalibur, FileNet,
etc.) There is no'doubt that an image-based system would dramatically improve the
record indexing, filing and retrieval functions of the Clerk's Office. The microfilm
system is inadequate in a number of respects, including its age, difficulty of use, and the
poor quality of hard copies produced from the system. Its inaccessibility outside the
Clerk's Office increases the workload on Clerk's staff. All workstations in the Clerk's
' Office must be upgraded to Windows in order to access any new imaging system.
The Clerk's Office is trying a number of innovative ways of distributing information to
the public electronically. While it is perhaps too early to evaluate the level of interest
from potential recipients, the unique demographic characteristics of the City (a relatively
small City containing a large technically-oriented university) would indicate that a high
' percentage of residents have,or have access to personal computers.
' The City Clerk would also like to see the implementation of a Voice Activated telephone
system to provide information to the public. This would be most effective if
implemented to allow voice mail and messages.
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' c�Peat Marwick Page 22
City of.San Luis.Obispo
Current System.Assessment
_ City Clerk's Office
Critical Success Factors.for Future
Implementation of an electronic records management system with Rill-featured text:
- - -
retrieval capability is critical to the City Clerk's Office. Going back to theinadequate.
microfilming process is not a reasonable altematrve, The City Clerk believes that a.Cityy
wide records management system is the optimal solution to the records management
problem. Issues of record retenti n,,secunty, and access can:.be resolved through the
records management coordinators assembled for the'project.
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KRM&Peat,Marwick Page 23
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City of San Luis Obispo
1 Current System Assessment
City Attorney's Office
1 City Attorney's Office
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
The City Attorney acts as the City's Corporate Council. The City attorney or she has the
responsibility to:
' ■ Advise the City Council, advisory bodies and City departments on legal issues
■ Prosecute municipal violations
■ Defend the City in civil litigation
■ Initiate legal action on behalf of the City.
' Organization/Staffing
The City Attorney's office is made up of the City Attorney,an Assistant City Attorney
' and a legal secretary.
' City Attorney
' Assistant City Attomey
' Legal Secretary
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KRM!r Peat Marwick Page 24
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Attorney's Office
' Descriptions of Current Systems
'
Current hardware consists of 4 IBM compatible PCs, only one of which is a 486 level
system. All of the City Attorney's PCs are connected to the City's LAN. There are two
2 CD-ROM devices attached locally to the PCs which support databases from West
' Publishing containing California Codes and Cases(updated monthly). No other City
Departments have access to the CD-ROMs.
' In addition, the City Attorney's office accesses outside databases through connections to
Westlaw, and has the responsibility to access StateNet and CityLink additional cost..
' The City Attorney's Office currently uses the Land Use Data Base that contains
information from the County Assessor and is updated by the City's Community
Development Department.
' The staff uses the City's standard office automation products such as E-mail and word
processing. The staff also has access to FoxPro and Lotus, but Lotus is not in general use
' in the office.
Analysis of Current Systems
The use of the CD-ROMs has been implemented for less than a year and the capabilities
of the CD-ROM systems are still being learned. Those responsibilities would be greatly
enchained with a windows application.
' The staff needs access to an assortment of items that are currently being sent off-site for
archival storage (i.e. old litigation, personnel issues and property documents). These
documents could be imaged and access could be provided through a workstation if a
' modern records management were implemented and access were provided on the City
Hall LAN. Additionally, information currently stored in physical (i.e. paper) files in
many departments are required for the City Attorney's work. Examples include certified
' information maintained by the City Clerk's office, and text and map information stored in
Community Development.
' Critical Success Factors for Future
' Remote users by in-house attorneys and retained outside council would be extremely
helpful if adequate rescue can be provided to preserve confidential. In order to be
effective in serving the City, rapid, flexible access to broad categories of information is
' required by the City Attorney's Office.
' KRA4G-Peat Marwick Page 25
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Community Development Department
' Community Development Department
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The mission of Community Development is to help plan the City's forth and character,
support community values,preserve the environment, promote the wise use of resources
and protect public health and safety. The Department helps ensure that San Luis Obispo
' continues to be a healthy, safe attractive, and enjoyable place to live,work or visit. In
support of its mission, the Department is responsible for establishing the City's General
Plan and assuring compliance to the plan and ensuring the quality of construction in the
City.
Organization and Staffing
The Department is staffed with 20 full time management and staff, as well as part-time
and voluntary staff,and is organized as detailed in the following chart.
Cm.n,ttin,oa.bpn.m Oiiaaa
AArtinietrafve Marys Long Ranpe Development f:eie/Builtlinp
Ranninp Menopa Review Manila Omcel
Gnpino TeChmcen C166M 5appon Stall Auoci m'Plannan Aesociem Plarom Zaoinp lrxaapatlme &riltlinp Paimit Builtlaq lrropepoe
Cao'tlinamr Coortlin_em_I
' Performance Objectives
The Department's performance objectives center around its ability to serve the public in a
prompt, positive and courteous manner as well as meeting its responsibilities of
' establishing the City's General Plan and ensuring compliance to State and local building
and safety ordinances.
Peat Marwick Page 26
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Community Development Department
Description of Current Systems
Community Development utilizes the City's standard word processing, spreadsheet,
calendaring and electronic mail software, and has implemented many integrated
automated systems in support of its business functions. These include the following:
' ■ The Land Use Database was originally developed as part of the City's traffic model.
It is now an addressed(parcel) based FoxPro system providing land use data
' including land use description, ownership information,zoning,permit history,
hazardous and historical information. Diskettes containing the County's Assessor
files are used to update the property ownership database. This is a LAN-based system
with components used to generate mailing labels and postcards for notice of public
hearings.
' ■ Land use data is available to various other systems in the City including fire
inspection and weed abatement.
■ Building Permit System evolved from a vendor provided system (System 36, RPG)to
a LAN-based FoxPro system. The current system was implemented in 1992 and
' supports the Department's permit processes of issuing and tracking permits. This
system is integrated with the Land Use database and planning application program.
■ Violation Tracking System provides a means to track code enforcement cases, all
activities associated with a case and the nature of complaint. This is a FoxPro system
which also supports the production of standard letters and mailings. This system is
' integrated with the Building Permit system via Land Use data.
■ Unreinforced Masonry System tracks each identified building and establishes fee
' credits that are associated with both the Building and Planning Permits systems.
' ■ Planning Application System is very similar to the Building Permit system in its
ability to support the Departments planning application process and is integrated with
the Project Tracking system described below. The Planning Application system
' provides a means to keep track of critical planning milestone dates by interfacing with
a packaged software called Remind. This results in a tickler-type system for tracking
certification and review dates.
' ■ Project Tracking System tracks planning permits from their original application
' through final approval.
KAW Peat Marwick Page 27
1
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Community Development Department
' ■ Two AutoCAD workstations are being used by the Department for almost all
mapping functions. The Department is working closely with Public
' Works/Engineering to share in the development of CAD base maps.
■ The Department uses CorelDraw for the preparation of graphic materials used in staff
' reports and other planning documents as well as presentation materials for public
hearings.
t ■ The Department makes wide use of LAN modems for dial-up access to transmit
notices of public hearings to the local newspaper, as well as to access various
technical bulletin boards to download drivers and programs.
' In addition to the systems described above, the Department is involved with a GIS pilot
' project with Cal Poly and continues to work with GIS type applications. These efforts
are described further in the GIS section of the City-wide Assessment chapter.
' Analysis of Current Systems
Community Development has successfully implemented automated systems to support its
' business processes. This has been accomplished by custom designing systems, specific
to the way the Department operates. For instance,the Building Permit system has been
enhanced significantly by its migration from a package system to a FoxPro system that
' implements City-specific requirements. Overall,the Department has been very effective
in its automation efforts. This has resulted in greater efficiency and a streamlining of
certain processes, i.e.,the Department relies on only one or two pre-printed forms, and
' the application process is almost fully automated.
Areas of improvement that were noted include the following:
t ■ The plan check review process is still a paper intensive process, involving written
' comments from different City departments. Community Development has developed
an automated solution using WordPerfect that will be implemented now that the
WAN is in place.
■ Two land use database files must be updated whenever there are changes to a parcel
(new parcels,misnumbers, subdivisions, etc.). There is an opportunity to streamline
' this tedious and laborious process, to provide a means for historical reference to
changed parcel information, and to increase the reliability and usefulness of this data
for City-wide use.
' ■ Neither the Land Use data or the building and planning permit systems are currently
' interfaced with the City's Business system.
KRA Peat Marwick Page 28
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Community Development Department
' ■ Although currently there is not a critical need for the Department's FoxPro systems to
' support graphic capabilities(i.e.,displaying plans while using the Building Permit
system), future trends indicate that the Department should plan for this capability.
This may increase the effectiveness of inspections and plan review process as well as
provide valuable information to other City department such as FirelPolice during
incident response.
t Greater hardware capacity, more printers,and the ability to utilize a multi-appliation
operating system such as Windows, would significantly improve the Department's ability
to meet its automation goals. For instance,the Department's front counter operations
' have a tremendous need to be able to utilize multi-application capabilities since staff
frequently need access to multiple applications(i.e., Building Permits, word processing,
Email).
' Department management and staff discussed the desire for greater access to information
' by the public, including the use of a public access PC, now installed at the public counter,
that provides land use and permit history data. There have been requests from the public
for dial-up access to this data.
' Critical Success Factors
The following are the critical success factors related to the Department's technology
objectives:
' The ability to use technology to provide more accurate and faster service to the citizens of
San Luis Obispo, to City staff, and to the Department's advisory boards. This includes
the ability to migrate its users and automated systems to the Windows environment and to
acquire PC with adequate processing capacity to meet the Department's users needs.
The ability to maintain the reliability of the Department's automated systems and
continue to enhance these systems specifically in the areas of(1)providing a chain of
reference for modified parcel numbers and(2) handling inquiries and reporting on
' address ranges,and (3) integrating with other City systems/data such as those in the
Police and Finance departments.
' The ability to successfully implement and utilize GIS related applications and to
transition the Department's land use data into a City-wide GIS database. This implies the
need to identify and standardize GIS tools and platforms throughout the City.
KAM 1
Peat Marwick Page 29
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' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Community Development Department
' The Department recognizes that, in order to accomplish these critical success factors, it
will require a greater degree of support from Information Systems in the areas of system
tconfiguration,user training and hardware repair/preventive maintenance.
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KPAVIG Peat Marwick Page 30
1
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Finance Department
Finance Department
1 Department Mission/Responsibilities
The Department's mission is to manage the City's financial operations in accordance with
established fiscal policies and to coordinate the effective use of the City's decentralized
information systems.
The Department contains three Divisions,each with specific responsibilities:
' ■ Revenue Management is responsible for all moneys coming into the City,
specifically;
' Utility billing
Business tax
General Accounts Receivable
' Cashiering
Revenue forecasts and rate reviews
tInvestments, banking services and debt management
■ Accounting is responsible for general financial practices of the City, including;
' Financial planning and reporting
General ledger and budget tracking
Accounts payable
Bank reconciliation
Payroll
' Bid administration for all contracts except for consultant projects
Mail service
Interdepartmental and U.S. postal services
' Financial services to the eleven-member self-insurance joint powers
authority
' ■ Information Systems Management is responsible for a number of data processing,
communications and networking functions. Due to the key role of this Division from
' the point of view of this project,the duties and responsibilities of Information
Systems is described more completely in the Information Systems Division section of
this report, in the City-Wide Technology Assessments chapter.
Peat Marwick Page 31
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Finance Department
' Organization/Staffing
The Department consists of the Accounting, Revenue Management and Information
' Systems Management Divisions.
Finance Director
' Secretary
' Accounting Division Revenue Division Information Systems Division
6 FTE 6 FTE 3 FTE
' Performance Objectives
The Department develops and maintains effective and efficient financial policies,plans
and reporting systems that help the operating departments achieve their program
objectives and assure the City's long-term fiscal health.
' The Department protects the City's assets from unauthorized use.
' The Department develops and maintains long-range policies, standards and programs for
acquiring,maintaining, supporting and achieving full use of MIS equipment and
resources.
' The Department provides quality services to all of the department's customers, both
external and internal to the organization.
Descriptions of Current Systems
The City operates using a package software system originally acquired in 1985 from
DLH, a software house in Stockton, California. The system has been in use in California
' municipalities since the mid 1970s. The company was acquired by Business Records
Corporation(BRC),who now maintain the system from Stockton,but enhancements for
the Government Financial Package (GFS) are generated from the Minnesota office. The
original accounting system was "upgraded" to the BRC system, but payroll,utility billing
and business tax systems are all still highly customized versions of the original DLH
packages.
' The system operates on an IBM System/36 minicomputer, which is discussed in more
detail in the Information Systems Division section of this report.
K Peat Marwick Page 32
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Finance Department
' BRC software support was described by key users as inconsistent: enhancements that
were specifically designated as billable are often well received by BRC, especially on
' original DLH software still supported out of Stockton. Error reports for GFS are handled
through Minnesota, which is reported as considerably less responsive. The staff
' expressed concern that BRC currently has only one programmer in the.Stockton office
who can support the RPG packages used for payroll and utility billing.
' Payroll has been highly customized for San Luis Obispo over the years. It does a good
job processing the City's flexible benefits and California PERS calculations. However,
there is little flexibility in the system to meet future changes in deductions or benefits.
The Utility system generates bills for water and sewer usage, industrial user fees, and
other miscellaneous fees and utility taxes. Bar-coded bills were implemented to speed the
' payment handling process, but while it is reported as faster than the old manual process,
exception checking and error correction are still reported as laborious.
' The hand-held meter reading devices upload readings to a PC, where the data is
transformed and transmitted to the System/36. The meter readers go through the
customer service desk to modify their routes. Service orders(e.g. service on or shut off)
' are submitted on separate sheets of paper for each service, and the results must be keyed
into the system when the form is returned from the field. Hand-held devices could store
work order information and upload it directly to the utility system. This feature has not
been implemented,partially because it would require a dedicated Utilicorder for service
orders, and a change in the work assignments of the meter reading staff.
Budgeting was done last year using Lotus spreadsheets, which were well received in the
departments but created a lot of work to re-key the information into the System/36. The
System/36 will generate budget worksheets, which will be used to gather information for
the coming budget process. Since the Department has little control over the format of
reports from the Systern/36,the worksheets will be evaluated, and the Lotus system will
be held as a back-up. In either event, it is unlikely that departments will enter their own
budgets, so the workload on Finance is likely to remain high.
' The accounts receivable system generates approximately 6,000 invoices per year on the
System/36, including parking permits and fees, bills to grant programs and other
' municipalities, and police bills for damage reimbursement or DUI charges. The
Department is responsible for tracking,aging and collecting all City receivables. The
updated software package from BRC was installed in early 1994. It is not integrated with
' the general ledger,requiring journal entries to post updates. Departments don't have
inquiry access to bills they have generated.
KI�A�6 Peat Marwick Page 33
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Finance Department
Cashiering processes 200 transactions/day (including over-the-counter payments, and
batch entry of receipts from outlying cashiering sites such as Community Development,
the City pool,golf course,etc.) Utility billing payments are entered into cashiering in
batches, after updating the utility system. The cashiering system, provided by BRC, is
interfaced with the general ledger, but no interface has been implemented to any of the
' receivable or billing systems(utility,business tax, accounts receivable). Parking meter,
parking citation and alarm fee money is entered by journal entry based on faxed forms
from the third party collectors.
' The City's purchasing process is decentralized,and does not require issuance of purchase
orders, so most purchases are not encumbered in the accounting system.
Bank reconciliation is done using Lotus spreadsheets. Accounts payable checks are
reconciled on the System/36. Bank of America used to provide a reconciliation service,
' which was described as providing"mixed results".
Analysis of Current Systems
' The financial applications are described as adequate to keep the City operating, but not
' highly effective. In other words,the City's business is getting done;there are no major
breakdowns of the system or gaping holes which the software cannot cover with limited
to high degrees of manual intervention. However,the system is universally described by
' regular users including those accessing via the LAN/WAN from other City departments
as "user unfriendly", cumbersome, slow, difficult for extracting information, inflexible.
Users complain about long series' of menus which must be navigated while performing
' simple tasks; the inability to perform a customer service inquiry without leaving current
application screens; and inconsistencies in function key usage between applications
(especially between the newer BRC applications and the original DLH applications).
The core accounting programs (journal entries, general ledger, accounts payable, etc.) are
providing adequate turnaround, with departments receiving month-end reports in a timely
' fashion. With the installation of the WAN, departments now have on-line access to
budget and payables information. At least one person in each department has been
trained in using this inquiry capability. Departments report mixed success, with the
' information deemed adequate,but the system described as cumbersome, non-user-
friendly and difficult to remember procedures if not used frequently. ). The difficulties
experienced by users attempting to utilize the inquiry ability provided across the network
has reduced the effectiveness of this strategy in decreasing Finance staff involvement in
these areas.
KPM&Peat Marwick Page 34
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Finance Department
' Departments report a lack of specialized financial information available due to system
limitations, specifically in project costing and CIP tracking areas. All departments report
the use of"shadow" tracking systems for purchases and vouchers-they reconcile with
' month-end statements generated by finance. Departments with significant projects or
grants to track must also keep those books in parallel to the City's system. This
duplication of effort,combined with the user-unfriendly nature of the inquiry process,is
creating unnecessary clerical work in most departments as they meet the demands of
budget accountability.
' Most significant problems are encountered in the payroll system (see also the notes in the
Personnel Department section of this chapter). The system does not provide sufficient
' historical information for payroll, specifically in the areas of leave utilization and labor
distribution. Reconciliation between general ledger and payroll ledger for labor
distribution is extremely laborious: the lack of detailed distribution history necessitates
' manual searches through archived reports to reconcile budget and payroll entries.
Payroll hand-checks are calculated in Lotus and must be keyed into the payroll system.
' budget projections for regular staffing levels are described as a "nightmare" of manual
and Lotus calculation, re-keying information from the System/36. Payroll provides
' limited deductions and earnings fields, making reconciliation with health insurance plans
difficult, and preventing the City from moving forward on adding new benefit or
deduction options. Tracking special pays and overtime codes for police and fire is
' beyond the capability of the system. Direct deposit of payroll checks has been ruled out
under the current system,as the City has elected not to invest in major programming
modifications on this package until a decision is made on its disposition. Additionally,
' BRC may not have sufficient staff or the desire to commit to making such a large change
on a system they consider obsolete. W2 processing requires a lot of manual entry and
correction, especially for deferred compensation.
' The lack of integration of critical financial modules has resulted in an increased workload
on Department staff. Utility payments are entered into the utility billing system and then
entered in a batch to the cashiering system. Similar duplicate processing takes place for
accounts receivable and business tax payments. Budgets must be keyed into the system
by Finance after processing is completed, either on Lotus spreadsheets (last year) or on
' budget worksheets produced by the system (this year).
KPM9 Peat Marwick Page 35
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Finance Department
Utility information is described as adequate, as the system has been highly customized
for San Luis Obispo. However,the system no longer has the capacity to add additional
' billing types without redesigning the bills and screens, requiring significant system
modifications. The department has worked with BRC for the past two years to get this
and other revenue systems working well. The main problems identified were
' cumbersome inquiry procedures, and the lack of interface with other address based
systems(e.g. business tax and utility systems are not interfaced with either the land use
system or police records).
' The high degree of customization that has been applied to several of these systems, most
especially payroll and utility billing,will make their eventual replacement more difficult.
' The selection process for these modules must include evaluation of areas of
customization from two perspectives:
' ■ Customizations that may have been incorporated into other, more modem packages
(e.g. California PERS reporting)
' ■ Changes that may have to be made to City policies and procedures to accommodate
use of a"vanilla"package"
' Once known,the costs of narrowing lists of potential vendors or adapting City practices
can be weighed against the short- and long-term costs of modifying a new package to
meet specific San Luis Obispo requirements.
Critical Success Factors for Future
Current systems are hampering the Department's ability to meet its performance
objective of providing high quality customer service. New systems implemented to take
' advantage of the network infrastructure in the City can meet that objective.
Cutting clerical workload, both in the Department and City-wide for financial
' applications, is a critical concern for the future.
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K Peat Marwick Page 36
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' Fire Department
Department Mission/Responsibilities
The mission of the San Luis Obispo Fire Department is "to protect lives and property of
the citizens and visitors to the City from the adverse effects of fires, medical emergencies,
and other dangers caused by man or nature." To fulfill this mission, the Fire Department
is divided into six program areas:
■ Administration-consists of administering personnel,payroll, budget preparation
' and monitoring, and for staffing and deployment.
■ Hazard Prevention-provides services for public education, occupancy
' inspections, plan reviews, weed and rubbish abatement, and a hazardous materials
program consisting of inspections,permits, and fee administration.
' ■ Emergency Response -provides for developing and implementing policies and
procedures of emergency services, oversees the selection and purchase of safety
' clothing and equipment, and supervises the Department's Emergency
Medical/Paramedic services.
' ■ Training-consists of coordinating and overseeing the training of all Fire
Department personnel in suppression, prevention, and hazardous materials
functions, including State and Federal mandated training requirements.
■ Technical Services -consists of maintaining fire station facilities, radio and
telephone communications equipment, data processing/information technology
' equipment and software, as well as vehicles and fire and emergency medical
apparatus.
' ■ Disaster Preparedness-provides services for planning,training, and the making
of logistical preparations to insure that the City can respond effectively to
' disasters such as earthquakes, major flooding,or mass casualty incidents.
All of these programs are essential to the effective operation of the Department.
KPA49-Peat Marwick Page 37
t
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' Organization/Staffing
' The Department is a full service fire department providing City fire suppression and
emergency medical services from four stations, fire prevention services,and
' administration of the City's hazardous materials program. The Department has 48
regular staff members, organized under a Prevention Bureau and an Operations Unit
directed by three battalion chiefs.
' The Prevention Bureau is directed by the Fire Marshall and is responsible for hazards
abatement and prevention, fire inspections, and plan checks. The Fire inspections group
' performs 2,500 inspections every 18 months, which provides for a complete cycle for
every building or location requiring inspection. The inspections cover both fire
prevention and hazardous materials. Specific designated suppression personnel are
' members of the San Luis Obispo County Hazardous Materials Team.
The Operations Unit is primarily responsible for fire suppression. This unit is organized
' with three platoons,one for each shift,and each is headed by a battalion chief. There are
four fire stations located at strategic points in the City. The major facility is Station 1
' (Fire Headquarters)which has the largest complement of firefighters and apparatus.
Performance Objectives
' The focus of the Fire Department is the delivery of fast efficient service to the public.
Therefore, its information technology requirements are based in that"business"
exception.
A primary Information Technology component required by the Fire Department is the
computer aided dispatch(CAD) System which supports the dispatch of suppression and
emergency medical units. The system must be able to provide features that will enhance
the Department's ability to meet its response goals. Some of the features that are required
' include:
■ Closest unit response analysis
■ Addresses containing hazardous materials, what those materials are, and which
' information is to be provided to the engine company prior to leaving the station
■ Addresses at which firefighter safety is potentially at issue, e.g.,where violent or
criminal activity has previously occurred
■ Status changes of equipment
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KRW�Peat Marwick Page 38
1
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
■ Integration with fire prevention and inspection systems
■ "Move-up"algorithms for the reallocation of fire apparatus to maintain
suppression coverage after deployments
' None of the features mentioned above are provided from the CAD system currently
shared with the Police Department.
' A second primary information technology component that is crucial to the performance of
the Department's mission is the radio technology. Radio technology should support all of
the mobile activities of the Department,mobile and hand-held voice instruments and both
' laptop and mobile computers in the vehicles. The radio transmissions need to cover
99%+of the City as well as provide access to mutual aide channels, since the Department
also provides assistance throughout the County and on occasion throughout the State.
' Radio coverage currently is estimated at 70% for the hand-held devices, but should
approach 99%after March 1 when"Fire Net"becomes operational.
' A third performance objective is integration of information so that data gathered by
' Inspections,Police,Public Works, Utilities, and other City Departments and local
government agencies can be used to assist suppression units when dispatched to an
emergency. As an example, the Inspections Bureau routinely gathers information on the
' construction materials of buildings, hazardous materials contained in buildings, and other
fire prevention information that can be used to determine level of response, points of
entry, and location of potentially explosive or harmful material.
Currently,there is very limited integration of information to support suppression units.
A fourth performance objective is to get out of the radio engineering and maintenance
business and to turn those activities and responsibilities over to full time,trained
engineers and maintenance staff located in a City support department. This
' communications"czar"would be responsible for meeting the communications
performance needs of all departments and agencies in the City. The Department's
primary interest is to maintain the level of service necessary to meet its obligations and to
maintain the sensitivity to service no matter how it is done or who is responsible.
The Department works cooperatively with the Police Department for their joint
requirements, but has to have operations chiefs and other line personnel perform these
functions.
' KA9 Peat Marwick Page 39
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' Descriptions of Current Systems
' The City's dispatch center provides joint dispatching services for both the Fire
Department and the Police Department. As such,the Fire Department is a user of the
CAD component of CRIS. The Department does not have fire personnel in the Dispatch
' Center. One dispatcher is designated for fires and EMS dispatching. The incident
information in CRIS for fire and EMS incidents is downloaded to the Fire Department to
use in the preparation of CFIRS and other management reports.
' The Department has migrated many of its PCs to Microsoft Windows. However,many
of the PCs are less powerful Intel-based 386 SX-16 machines and they are slow in the
Windows environment. The Department would hope that these slower models would be
replaced.
The Department makes extensive use of applications written in FoxPro. These
applications are used in permitting for fire inspections,company inspections, plan checks,
and hazardous materials. Other applications include the run reports and the mandated
' CFIRS (California Fire Incident Report).
' The Department also uses some software packages that are very specialized such as a
sprinkler assessment and planning tool. The Department will continue to invest in
packages such as this, but wants the City's MIS unit to install and maintain them when
' upgrades are made available.
The Department's applications operate on an Ethernet LAN whose server has a 1.6
' gigabyte capacity. The Department's LAN is connected to the City network to obtain
access to required information from other departments. The LAN supports 24 users
including each of the fire stations. A more extensive discussion of the Department's
' LAN, devices, and physical facilities is found in Section IV,Network Assessment.
The Department's radio system is a VHF radio system with two primary frequencies and
several mutual aide channels. The Department shares the same radio sites with the Police
Department.
' The Department's paging capabilities were disabled in the recent fire. Currently the
Department subscribes to a commercial paging service.
' KAW-PeatMarwick Page 40
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' Analysis of Current Systems
To the Department's credit, it has taken a leadership role in developing and deploying
' applications and in using advanced technologies in support of its activities and
management reporting needs. Many of these applications are constructed using FoxPro,
' an industry-proven tool that provides sophisticated power for a reasonable cost. The
Department believes them to be well written and well documented and there is no
evidence to dispute that contention. The programmer originally employed by the
' Department to design and develop these applications is still available to the Department
to fine-tune and enhance them.
' The shared CAD system with the Police Department does not provide many of the basic
fire functions and features promised when the system was acquired. This does not mean
that the Fire Department is unhappy with the dispatch operation; on the contrary the two
' departments work well together and the current configuration for dispatching makes
economic sense for a City. The problem seems to be strictly features of the software for
Fire. The two departments must consider evaluating other packages for small to medium
' sized cities that are full featured and must make a strategic decision not to modify the
basic system after installation, but consider modifying certain business practices or
adding software around the base package to provide unique needs.
The only risk to the Department is that the systems were custom built, which means that
' when regulations, statutes, or requirements change, those programs will have to be
changed by someone proficient in FoxPro. If the Department had purchased pre-
programmed software upgrades to meet the requirement, they would have been supplied
by the software vendor. As part of the development of an IT strategy for the Department,
the advantages of pre-programmed software must be evaluated.
' The Department has implemented Windows on many of its work stations. There is,
however, concern about the ability of the current work stations to operate with sufficient
speed in the Windows environment.
Current training in the use of Windows and standard City software such as QuattroPro,
WordPerfect, and the E-mail software is not sufficient for the Department. The central
MIS unit should establish a training program for all departments that have deployed City
standard software using either MIS or contracted staff to provide the training.
' The Department personnel need to be able to contact a central City help desk when
questions and problems arise in the use of standard City software. Currently,the
' Department is supported by a few"PC smart"Department personnel who are taking time
away from their primary duties. These personnel have not been formally trained and
there is no City designated backup for them.
/CRAB Peat Marwick Page 41
t City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' Department personnel have indicated that although the Department's server was
expanded, it is fragmented with many directories and should be operating more
1 efficiently than it currently is. Central MIS should have personnel who can trouble shoot
situations such as this.
' The Department lacks adequate paging capabilities due to the loss of millions of dollars
of communications equipment that were consumed at the Tasajara Peak Electronic Site
during the Highway 41 fire. Among that equipment was the City Fire Department's
emergency call-back paging and tactical communications systems.
With the loss of the high elevation Tasajara site,the Department's tactical radio system
' has also been crippled and is of limited use. Many of the areas in which the Department
may be required to operate have poor to no coverage.
' Radio coverage does cause problems for the Department, specifically with hand-held
devices. It is hoped that much of this problem can be rectified by March of this year.
The City sits in a bowl,surrounded by mountains and with large hills and mountains
within the service area. The area has a strong environmental element so transmission
' tower placement has to be carefully done and the use of any of the hills or mountains
would probably create a public relations disaster. The Department also provides services
as a mutual aide for other departments in the State,taking it far out of the San Luis
' Obispo area. It is for these reasons, among many,that the Department has not embraced
the nationwide move to 800 MHz
' Critical Success Factors for the Future
The Department needs to investigate, select, and implement a fully featured CAD system
that supports both Fire and Police needs. The dispatchers assigned to handle fire
emergencies need to be fully and continuously trained on Fire Department procedures and
operations. This training may include on-site observation and instruction at a fire station.
The Department needs to fully integrate its fire prevention and suppression support
systems, which would include CAD and inspection systems. Any CAD software selected
by the City must be able to provide that integration. Integration must also be provided to
other City department's systems that have valuable information for Fire operations such
as Public Works, Utilities,and others. Any infrastructure systems such as GIS must also
be fully integrated with Fire systems.
' The Department needs to upgrade some of its existing fire prevention systems to better
track hazardous materials inspections,permitting and fee collections.
' KRM6 Peat Marwick Page 42
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire Department
' The City should establish a unit responsible for all of the communications facilities and
their consistent operation and maintenance to streamline the hodgepodge of systems
being operated.by the various departments. The Fire Department's primary requirement
' in this area is to maintain the same level of service and sensitivity to service that it
currently provides through the use of fire personnel who's real avocation is fire fighting
' not radio engineering.
The Fire Department as matter of both firefighter and in-service training should have
' technical training made available by the City's MIS unit for the operation and use of PCs,
printers, and City standard software.
' The Fire Department should investigate the applicability of computers on board fire
apparatus. When it is both cost effective and functionally effective, the Department
should deploy the technology and training.
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KPeat Marwick Page 43
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Personnel Department
' Personnel Department
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The mission of the Personnel Department is to provide timely and effective personnel
support services to the departments within the City and to all the City's employees.
The Department has responsibility for the following processes:
■ Employee recruitment and selection
' ■ Employee classification
' ■ Employee/employer negotiations
' ■ Affirmative action administration
■ Employee training
' ■ Employee benefit administration
' ■ Risk management and safety programs
K1496-Peat Marwick Page 44
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Personnel Department
' Organization/Staffmg
' The Department consists of a director,two analysts, and 1.5 FTE of clerical support.
' Personnel Director
' 1 .5 FTE
Clerical Staff
' Analyst Analyst
Risk Management Recruitment
Employee Benefits Affirmative Action
Training
Many risk management functions are performed by outside service providers, under
contract to a joint powers authority(Central Coast Cities Self Insurance Fund- CCCSIF).
' Carl Warren and Associates handles liability claims, and Gregory Bragg and Associates
handle workers-compensation claims.
Performance Objectives
' The Personnel Department has as objectives:
■ To continually provide an expedient recruitment process for all departments in the
City.
■ To continue to act as an effective and convenient liaison between City employees and
' insurance companies.
■ To provide fast response to workers' compensation claims, which have increased
' from $300,000 four years ago to$850,000 at present.
' ■ To provide effective wellness and safety programs in order to control the City's
liabilities.
' Descriptions of Current Systems
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KAW Peat Marwick Page 45
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Personnel Department
Descriptions of Current Systems
' The Personnel Department has 6 IBM compatible computers,the fastest being a 386. All
personnel computers are connected to the City's local and wide area networks.
The Department makes heavy use of E-mail, Word Perfect and Lotus as standard office
automation tools.
' The Sigma applicant tracking system is used for all recruitments. The system is PC
based, available to 3 PCs on the network. Handwritten applications, received over the
' counter or by mail, are keyed into the Sigma database. The system is used to track stages
of the recruitment process,generate letters and notices to applicants, and to track
Affirmative Action results and advertising sources for Affirmative Action purposes. On
t large recruitments(e.g. police and fire), the system generates list by status so the
Department can respond to inquiries from other agencies as to where in the process an
applicant failed. The Department has discontinued the service contract on the
' application,as it is running well and they found that they were not utilizing support
services.
' The Department utilizes the City's payroll system on the System/36 for retrieval of
payroll and benefit information. There is a"personnel screen" available on the payroll
' system,but the Department describes it as little more than a free-form place for taking
notes and therefore is not using it. It is not accessible to inquiries and does not seem to
be set up as a database which would allow selection and sorting of specific data elements.
' There is no data base for employee skills and certification information. . Budget scenario
information for projected payroll costs are generated manually for position budgeting.
The Department has access to financial information on the System/36 for internal budget
tracking purposes.
There is no way currently for the Department to access liability claim information in an
automated fashion.
KPM;-Peat Marwick Page 46
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Personnel Department
' Analysis of Current Systems
t The Sigma applicant tracking system was designed for larger organizations than San Luis
Obispo, and thus provides flexibility that is beyond that needed for the City. The system
is handling current workload within the Department adequately, but there is currently no
' way of transmitting information from Sigma to the payroll system for new hires.
City personnel practices are labor and paper intensive. The Department elected not to
participate in the City Clerk's automated records needs assessment, because they were led
to believe that the City would install a single workstation in the City Clerk's Office to
perform all scanning and indexing functions. The Department has sufficient workload
' that it would need better access to input operations on a records management system.
Forms and processes can be evaluated to see which ones could be eliminated rather than
being scanned and archived. The Department estimates 1300 personnel action forms per
' year and 1500 job applications per year as its base records volume.
The City uses manual forms for all changes to employee status, as well as for personnel
' requisitions and personnel evaluations. Each form is handled multiple times prior to a
position being filled or an evaluation actually being given. Even simple requests like
' address changes generate multiple part forms, often requiring multiple approvals.
The payroll system has become a hindrance to the operations of Personnel in a number of
ways. The effort required to generate budget estimates; the inability to provide flexibility
on deduction and benefit tracking; and the inability to get detailed labor distribution
information on line have all had impacts on Personnel.
' The payroll system does not provide detailed expenditure distribution by employee
needed by the Personnel department. While that information is generated during payroll
' processing, it is not stored on the system, and thus is available only by going back
through individual pay period reports manually. The system has reached its capacity
limit for deductions and benefits, to the point where system limitations are beginning to
dictate labor relations practices and negotiated salary and benefit packages. Adding a
second credit union will be a problem. Deferred compensation plan information can no
longer be separated on standard payroll reports, and require a special inquiry to determine
how much is in each plan. Direct deposit is important to employee relations, but not
possible on the current system.
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' KRW Peat Marwick Page 47
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Personnel Department
' Critical Success Factors for Future
The Department must increase the productivity of its current staff while maintaining its
current staffing level in order to continue to provide quality services to the City. Staff
training on the use of automated tools and effective application of available systems and
' programs to Department operations is critical to increasing the productivity and
effectiveness of Department staff.
The Department considers the modernization of the payroll system to be its highest
priority.
' Access to current information on-line for liability claims would ease processing burdens.
The entire area of forms processing,retention and records management needs to be
' evaluated. If the City Clerk's system could be expanded to meet the Department's needs,
they would be interested in participating in the process.
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' KRM(r Peat Marwick Page 48
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Parks and Recreation Department
' Parks and Recreation Department
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The mission of the Parks and Recreation Department is to provide quality parks,
recreational services and facilities to the community of San Luis Obispo, and to
implement the City's open space preservation program.
' The Department is responsible for programs,events, and facilities scheduling for all
recreation activities conducted by the City. Although Public Works is responsible for
' maintenance of parks facilities, Parks and Recreation has full responsibility, including
maintenance,for the City golf course.
Organization/Staffmg
The Department consists of a Director,four Supervisors, four Recreation Coordinators,
' two Maintenance Workers,three clerical support staff and a large number of part time
staff. The Department is primarily housed in three facilities: 860 Pacific,the City Pool,
and the City Golf Course.
' Director
Parks and Recreation
3 Clerical Staff
Recreation Supervisor Recreation Supervisor 2 Recreation Supervisors
City Pool City Golf Course Programs
Part Time s&T--j 12 Maintenance Workers Part Time Staff 4 Recreation Coordinators
'
�Parttime Staff
' One of the Supervisors has responsibility for the Department's LAN and is a member of
the System Administrator's Group.
KAM91 Peat Marwick Page 49
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Parks and Recreation Department
Performance Objectives
' The performance objective of the Parks and Recreation Department is to provide classes,
programs,events, facilities and parks which meet or exceed the expectations of the
public. The Department runs regular surveys of participants to determine reaction to its
' programming. Surveys of the general public are conducted every several years.
Descriptions of Current Systems
' The Department has 15 IBM compatible computers, 9 of which have 486 processors. All
of these computers have access to the LAN - 13 by direct connection, and 2 via modem
' using the City modem pool(Pool and Golf Course). One workstation has been dedicated
to touch-tone registration.
' The Department has implemented the DOS version of Recware to meet their needs for
facility, sport and sports official scheduling, to process facility and sports fees, and to
print permits. The Recware system is also being used for class and event registration,
' which is perhaps its most important function. The Department plans to use Recware to
process every transaction that results in a fee being collected. The system is currently not
' in use at the City pool.
All records for the Golf Course are kept on spreadsheets. This includes chemical and
' pesticide information which must be reported regularly to an outside agency, daily water
meter readings, and all inventory and cash records.
' A FoxPro database is used to track the Department's volunteers and to generate labels
and lists. FoxPro databases are also used for address list management and miscellaneous
financial tracking. The FoxPro database for tracking part-time employee hours has been
' discontinued, and the function has been assumed by Payroll.
While only one workstation is currently running Windows, the Department is planning to
' migrate to the Windows standard as soon as practical.
The Department is using standard office automation tools. Additionally, Page Maker 5.0
' is used on one personal computer to produce a Department program brochure/city
newsletter three times per year,and to produce a monthly employee newsletter.
The fiscal officer for the Department has access to the City's budget and general ledger
systems for financial inquiry. The payroll system is now providing a special report for
' tracking the 1,000 hour exemption from PERS for part time employees.
FWM -Peat Marwick Page 50
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Parks and Recreation Department
' Analysis of Current Systems
' The Recware system seems to be meeting the Department's expectations, with the
exception of the reluctance of the Pool staff to implement it at that facility. The system is
currently operating stand-alone, in that cash management and reporting to Finance are not
' being handled electronically. The Department pays class instructors from registration
reports generated by the system. The touch-tone registration process is still in a pilot
phase, having only been minorly publicized and not fully tested.
' The Department is burdened by a significant amount of paperwork to process payroll and
payment vouchers,especially for the part time staff. Currently,this requires
approximately two days in each two week pay period for bookkeeping and form handling
efforts.
' The Department is looking forward to having access to a GIS that will maintain maps of
the City's greenbelt and would like to participate in the project currently underway to
accomplish that automated mapping effort in Community Development and Cal Poly.
' Additionally, use of a graphics package for landscape design could significantly improve
Departmental efforts in that regard.
' The current budget and payroll systems are not providing information in a form
convenient for management analysis by the Department. The Department would like to
' access bi-weekly payroll information by program area. Each program coordinator has
responsibility for a budget of(mainly part-time) staff. Currently,the Department is
having trouble tracking these program-level staff budgets. Additionally, the Department
' has a requirement to track revenues which is difficult using the current financial
applications.
' Critical Success Factors for Future
The Department feels that it must increase the effectiveness of its current or reduced staff
by increasing the use of technology to allow self-registration(e.g. touch-tone
registration),track class loads and program utilization, and handle the administrative
' aspects of the Department.
A financial system that provides accurate detailed information is critical to the
' Department's ability to make well informed management decisions.
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K Peat Marwick Page 51
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police Department
Police Department
' Department Mission/Responsibilities
The mission of the San Luis Obispo Police Department is"to protect tl}e citizens of San
Luis Obispo,decrease the occurrence of crime, and to respond to calls for service from
the community.
Organization/Staffmg
' The Department consists of two bureaus, an Operations Bureau and Administrative
Services Bureau. Each is headed by a captain. There are 55 sworn officers, 25 non-
sworn personnel,and 20 volunteers who primarily provide clerical and administrative
support.
The Operations Bureau is responsible for performing the primary police activities of
' patrol, traffic, and investigation. The Administrative Services Bureau is responsible for
maintaining police records, the communications center, and administrative support
' services.
Performance Objectives
The Department's calls for service have remained fairly consistent during the day,
however, calls for service have increased during the night. Gang and drug activities,
along with violent crimes, have also increased. Consequently, the Department must work
to reduce these as they adjust to staff cutbacks.
' The Department has a strong focus on crime prevention and community-based programs.
The Department relies on its information and communications systems to assist the
' officers in meeting their response time goals,to assist in on-scene investigations, follow-
up investigations and identifications, and in crime solving.
' Descriptions of Current Systems
' The primary system used by the Department is the CRIS system from MEGG Associates
(T.L. Creates is the California representative for MEGG Associates). CRIS provides both
computer aided dispatching (CAD)and records management system (RMS) capabilities.
' The system was first installed in early 1987. The Department also provided a beta site for
the CRIS CAD system. The Department continues to provide beta-testing for certain
releases of CRIS.
KAW Peat Marwick Page 52
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police Department
' CRIS operates on the Department's LAN, which in turn, is connected to the City's WAN;
workstations are DOS-based 8086, 80286, 80386, and 80486 machines. Additional
' workgroup-type applications run on the Department's LAN, including word-processing,
spreadsheet,and FoxPro.
' CAD information is"downloaded"to the Fire Department for completing run reports.
This is accomplished by a FoxPro program that checks for files in a sub-directory and
moves these files across the City's WAN to a directory on the Fire Department's
' network. Records are written to the file by the CAD program as a fire-incident is closed.
The Department maintains an interface to CLETS (California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System). This provides the Department with an interface to state
and federal law enforcement databases.
' The Department operates a UHF radio system with four channels. The Department
shares its primary radio site with the Fire Department. A backup repeater site is located
in a County maintained building at Cuesta Peak. The sites can be switched electronically
' from the Dispatch Center using a console feature. More information on the public safety
radio systems for the City is available in the Citywide Technology Assessments chapter
of this report.
Analysis of Current Systems
' Because of the mission critical functions that are supported by the CRIS System, the
successful use of information technology in the Department center around five primary
' problem areas with CRIS:
1. CRIS supports two mission critical applications for the Department. The system has
' been heavily customized for the Department. The challenge in implementing new
releases and maintaining CRIS relates to the fact that a single individual provides all
system support. That person will be retiring in the near future. The Department is at
' risk for being able to efficiently resolve problems, provide backup support, and meet
end-user report and inquiry requests.
' A secondary concern relates to the fact that CRIS screens and reports have been
highly customized by the Department. An adequate understanding of this
' customization should be held by several support staff in order to ensure that the
system can be maintained and supported efficiently. Further, the Department's
current version of CRIS is one release behind and within 4 to 6 months will be two
' releases behind. At some point the vendor will drop maintenance on the version
operated by the Department,adding to the risk faced by the Department.
t
KRMCt Peat Marwick Page 53
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City of San Luis Obispo
1 Current System Assessment
Police Department
' 2. End-user training and documentation for CRIS appears to be extremely inadequate.
' There is an overriding perception that CRIS is under-utilized because Departmental
users don't know(1)all the capabilities of the system, (2) the best, most efficient way
to accomplish a task, or(3)if the system is capable of performing a task.
' Although the Department is confident about the integrity of the data(confirmed in the
follow-up interview)entered and maintained in CRIS, the Department is not able to
' retrieve and report on that data. Users expressed ft stration at the inability to easily
accomplish ad-hoc inquiries and reports, and struggled with the inefficiencies and
inadequacies of trying to report on data without understanding the capabilities of the
' system.
An RMS system should provide the Department with accurate data that is easily
t retrievable. Typically,day-to-day operations require the ability to perform a variety
of inquiries and produce reports. In our discussions with the Department, the fact was
' brought up that only the Department's support person was able to write the search
requests that investigators make on a routine basis. Also, separate inquiries must be
run against the name field and the alias field to check for information in the system,
' which impacts productivity.
The inability to easily accomplish such a critical task represents a significant problem
' to staff who must have easy access to accurate data to perform their jobs.
Productivity is impacted because users(1) spend time attempting to figure out how to
accomplish a task, (2)accomplish it in an inefficient manner, or(3)re-enter CRIS
' data into another tool. Since the Department is operating under significant budget
constraints and staff cutbacks, the lack of training and documentation represents a
serious problem. Training in the entry and retrieval capabilities of the system should
' be provided to every member of the Department as a part of initial employment and
as part of the on-going in-service training.
' There is a common perception that CRIS has more capabilities than the Department
utilizes because of a lack of training and the extensive customization.
' 3. The CRIS hardware platform appears to be inadequate:
MEGG Associates recommends 80486-based workstations with 8 megabytes of
memory. The Department would need to replace 14 to 16 existing workstations to
bring itself into compliance with this recommendation from the vendor. The
' Department is replacing 5 workstations at the current time.
' KIQ Peat Marwick Page 54
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Police Department
' Executing a fairly routine task such as a name search can result in the system locking
up. The system must be able to do queries and searches quickly and accurately to
' meet the needs of the Department. Also, the use of the City's Email System"locks
up" some existing PCs. In addition,when the City moves to Windows for
Workgroups,more memory will be required. The Department needs to carefully
' review its workstation needs and expand where possible and replace non-upgradeable
equipment.
' 4. Concern was expressed that the latest release of CRIS, which has not yet been
implemented by the Department, appears to be more data-entry intensive since
MEGG Associates has designed it to meet the Federal Incident-Based Reporting
System GBRS) requirements. The Department is not currently required to meet the
Federal requirements; consequently it appears that this release of CRIS will have a
number of unnecessary data entry items. This may constrain user acceptance unless
' improved system performance mitigates the impact of extraneous data entry
requirements or the vendor provides user controlled editing features and screen
overlays that maintain the current level of data entry.
' 5. The CAD system appears to meet the current dispatching needs of the Police
Department but not the Fire Department. In addition,emerging dispatching
requirements will increase demand level and functionality requirements on the system
and may affect the ability of CRIS to meet the City's needs. Primarily this is in
' reference to the use of mobile data computers, since EMS requirements will be
accomplished through a manual card system.
' Because of these issues, the Department should look seriously at other vendor.solutions
that can meet its functional requirements, and in the case of CAD the Fire Department's
functional requirements within the next 1-2 years. The Department needs to devote more
' time to the training of sworn and civilian personnel in the features and uses of the
Records Management System in order to obtain necessary information. The Department
needs to upgrade and replace equipment so that it can successfully operate its mission
critical software and the City's standard software.
' KRM&Peat Marwick Page 55
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police Department
' Critical Success Factors for the Future
' The Department articulated a number of non-technical critical success factors. These
include the following:
' ■ The ability to respond sensitively and quickly to the community.
■ The ability to conduct and participate in regional crime analysis activities.
' ■ The Department's ability to manage new problems caused by the loss of
entitlement programs(i.e.,homeless, alcoholism, mental illness) is essential to the
community.
■ Maintaining service levels while managing budget and staffing cutbacks.
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' Peat Marwick Page 56
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
' Public Works Department
Department Mission/Responsibilities
' Public Works is a large and diverse department whose aim is to plan, construct and
maintain a quality infrastructure that supports the City's environment and its future
developments. In support of its mission,the Department provides the following services:
■ Parking(citations and garages)
■ Traffic and transportation planning
■ City construction project design and inspection
■ Development review
' ■ Mapping
Specific maintenance responsibilities also include:
' ■ Parks
■ Building
' ■ Street trees
■ Fleet
■ Construction records
■ Street and signal
' Organization and Staffing
The Department is organized into three major divisions that provide internal, external,
' and operations services.
Under the City Engineer's Division the following functions are provided:
' ■ Mapping
' ■ Development Review
■ Transit Parking
' Under the Administration Division the following functions are provided:
■ Building Maintenance
' ■ Financial
■ Support Services
kMk Peat Marwick Page 57
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
' Under the Maintenance Division the following functions are provided:
' ■ Streets
■ Parks
■ Trees
' ■ Fleet
Performance Objectives
' The Department identified 63 goals and objectives in direct support of the City's overall
' vision, values and mission statements. These goals and objectives provide direction and
measurable indicators of success for the Department.
Description of Current Systems
1
The Department utilizes (1)the City's standard word processing software, (2) Quattro Pro
' for spreadsheet capabilities, and(3)AutoCAD to support its mapping functions. The
Department's facilities, including the parking structures are now on the City's WAN,
providing access to the City's Email software.
Additional automated systems used by the Department include the following:
' ■ Tree Keeper is a database system developed approximately four years ago by a
contract programmer. This system provides a means to log and track all trees within
the first 20 feet from the City's curbs. Approximately 20,000 trees are tracked via
' this system.
' ■ Fleet Maintenance system, FASTER, is a LAN-based vendor provided system, but is
used as a stand-alone application. The system (1) logs and tracks vehicle
maintenance,(2) maintains a parts inventory, (3) supports work orders and
' preventative maintenance scheduling, and(4) is interfaced to the Gas Boy electronic
fuel monitoring system.
' ■ Gas Boy is a system used to track miles-per-gallon on City vehicles.
' ■ AgData is used as a stand-alone pesticide-use monitoring system and produces
monthly County and State reports. It is installed on a single PC and is used primarily
by Park Maintenance.
Peat Marwick Page 58
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
■ Irrigation Telemetry system is an OS/2 based system used to control parks and
median irrigation. It does have additional capabilities that are currently not used,
such as telemetry for traffic signals and the ability to be linked to databases at Cal
Poly.
' ■ Work Order system is a FoxPro system that allows the City to generate and track
work orders. This system is available to City staff through the WAN and to remote
sites (Pool Maintenance and the golf course)through dial-up modems. Variations of
this system have been created to support unique functions in the City such as Water
Reclamation.
■ Permit Tracking is a FoxPro system that was converted from Dbase III. This is a
standalone application used to track permits for excavation, curb and gutter, sidewalk,
' etc. type work.
■ Traffic Model application(MENU-TP) was purchased from DKS Associates and was
modified by the City. The application is based on intersection traffic counts which is
used to model traffic flows.
The Department inputs information into SLONET regarding bus schedules, and Public
Works contact information.
The Department also utilizes a number of other systems including:
' ■ Facilitrack for key inventory and security management.
■ Parking citations
■ ENACT fro energy audit of buildings
■ Pavement management
■ Lights, equipment, and signs inventories
■ SCANS for managing parking structure gates and registers
■ Hand held RADIX devices for issuing parking citations
■ SWITRS system to complete mandated DMV accident reports
' ■ Burglar alarm system for City Hall
■ Computerized traffic signal system
■ CIP monitoring system build in FoxPro.
' ■ SoftDesk civil engineering for AutoCAD.
Peat Marwick Page 59
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
Analysis of Current Systems
' The Department, like other City departments, is struggling with migrating to Windows in
a cost-effective manner, without impacting the productivity and efficiency of its
operations. Currently, all new and replacement computers are Windows compatible
' although the Department has not officially migrated to that environment.
The following opportunities for improvement were noted specific to the Department's
' automated systems:
■ Although the Fleet Maintenance system is an effective system, it has no link or
' integration with other systems within the City. The City should explore productivity
enhancements which might result from implementing a new integrated program, or
linking the existing program to other City systems.
' ■ The irrigation telemetry system is a very sophisticated system and not fully utilized
by the City,although there does not appear to be a great need to increase the City's
use of it.
' ■ The work order system does not support all transit,parking, and traffic related work
orders. These work orders tend to be graphic oriented(i.e., move traffic signal from
point A to point B), which the work order system does not support. Consequently
these type of work orders are generated and updated manually with the graphics
components completed in Engineering.
■ The permit system could be enhanced significantly with GIS capabilities and by
interfacing it with the City's Business tax system to validate and confirm certification
' information.
■ Vendor support for the ENACT system was reported as poor. In addition, system
' capacity must be upgraded to allow the entry of more current data.
■ The lights, equipment,and signs inventory systems are out of date and are not used by
' the Department. There would be a significant advantage to integrating these
inventories into the work order system and to provide a means to easily keep the data
up to date.
■ The SCAN system for parking structure gates and registers is reported as non user-
friendly and is not integrated with Finance.
KRA
'Peat Marwick Page 60
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
' ■ The data used to build the Traffic Model is out dated. The City must recount
intersections and validate the model with more current data to make this a useful
' system. Additionally,the Department only has a single staff member trained in the
use of the Traffic Model system. It should be noted that the Department is sponsoring
a project with Cal Poly to provide a new modeling application. However,the
' estimated time frame on this will span over two years.
The Department expressed a need to provide greater integration of its systems within the
' Department and with other City departments. It has a need for electronic exchange of
information including very basic items such as presentations to the Board, to more
complex information exchange such as GIS and land use related information.
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KPA49 Peat Marwick Page 61
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Public Works Department
' Additional capabilities the Department has identified a need for include:
' ■ Telemetry capabilities to remotely control the City's buildings (heating, cooling, door
locking,etc.)
■ Access to remote entry of purchase orders and receivables
■ Support document imaging capabilities for plans,etc.
' Critical Success Factors
1 The following are the critical success factors related to the Department's technology
objectives:
t ■ The creation of a GIS Master Plan which would identify a methodology to (1)
eliminate the current procedure of maintaining separate maps throughout the City, (2)
' migrate the City's base maps into a GIS application, (3)integrate the City's parcel
maps with GIS related data.
■ Implementing technology to support electronic access to information throughout City
departments(i.e. finance,GIS)and by the public via electronic bulletin board services
' for functions like contract bidding.
■ Like most other departments in the City, Public Works must identify a way to cost
' effectively plan and budget for upgrading its PC systems and transitioning to a
Windows environment, without negatively impacting operations efficiency and staff
productivity.
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Peat Marwick Page 62
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Utilities Department
Utilities Department
Department Mission/Responsibilities
The mission of the Utilities Department is to provide quality water, refuse and sewer
services to the citizens of San Luis Obispo. The Department also provides
administration of the solid waste franchise and compliance with AB939.
' Organization and Staffing
The Utilities Department is a large department organized under two Divisions: Water and
Wastewater. The Water Division is organized as follows:
' ■ Water Treatment
■ Water Supply
■ Water Distribution
■ Water Conservation
■ Telemetry and Instrumentation
■ Whale Rock Reservoir Operations
The Wastewater Division is organized as follows:
' ■ Water Reclamation
' ■ Wastewater Collection
■ Industrial Waste/Pre-treatment
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' KPM&Peat Marwick Page 63
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Utilities Department
' The Utilities organization is depicted below.
' Utilities Director
Administrative Administrative
Secretary Analyst
Water Division Wastewater Division Solid Waste Utilities
Manager Manager Coordinator Engineer
Water Treatment Water Water Project MgrJ
11 Reclamation Reclamation Coord.
' Water Distribution Wastewater
Collection
Telemetryand Industrial Waste
Instrumentation
] I
Water Supply
Water
' Conservation
Performance Objectives
' The Department's performance objectives are to:
' ■ Meet the City's water supply needs.
' ■ Provide high quality water treatment.
■ Distribute the water to the customers at adequate pressure and volume to meet the
' customers needs.
' ■ Ensure compliance with State and Federal requirements for pre-treatment of industrial
wastewater discharged to the sanitary sewer system.
' ■ Convey all domestic and industrial wastewater, without stoppage or overflow,to the
Water Reclamation Facility.
KAW Peat Marwick Page 64
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Utilities Department
■ Convey all domestic and industrial wastewater,without stoppage or overflow, to the
Water Reclamation Facility.
' ■ Provide treatment of all wastewater received in compliance with State and Federal
waste discharge requirements.
■ Ensure compliance with AB939 in meeting the City's solid waste reduction goals.
' Description of Current Systems
The Department uses the City's standard word-processing software, WordPerfect, Quattro
Pro for spreadsheet capabilities, and Harvard Graphics and Lotus Freelance for
presentation software.
' At the time of the interviews,the Department's administrative offices had LAN and
WAN access; the Water Reclamation Facility,the Distribution and Collections shop, the
Water Treatment Plant, and Whale Rock reservoir operations did not. Water Reclamation
and the Telemetry office will be connected to the Corporation Yard LAN by the end of
January. There are plans to connect Distribution and Collections to the Corporation Yard
' LAN shortly. The Department has no plans to connect the Water Treatment Plant and
Whale Rock to a network due to their distant locations.
Additional automated systems used by the Department include the following:
■ Cybernet is a stand-alone AutoCAD application that provides water distribution
system modeling capabilities. This original model has been customized by the City
and is used primarily by the Utilities Engineer.
■ Water Distribution Maintenance and Inventory system is a stand-alone database
application developed by the vendor R.J. Hansen and purchased by the City three
' years ago. The system is used for monitoring water distribution system maintenance
and repair.
' ■ Wastewater Collection also has a stand-alone R.J. Hansen system that has the
capability to interface with GIS applications. The City implemented this system over
' ten years ago. Additional capabilities such as GIS and video integration could be
added to the system if the City were to purchase additional modules.
Peet MeniviCk Page 65
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Utilities Department
■ Telemetry is used to monitor and control sewer lift stations, water pump stations and
the City's storage tank levels. The Genesis software runs on Bristol Babcock control
' hardware. This is a polling system operating at 1200 baud. This system is not fully
implemented at this time; new requirements for the system are continuously being
implement.
' ■ Radix Meter Readers are hand held devices used to collect customer water meter
readings. Meter readings are entered directly into the devices and then"uploaded"
into the City's utility billing system.
■ Maintenance Pack is a database system used for Treatment Plant maintenance and
inventory; tracking work orders, inventory items,equipment, name plates, and
manufacturers. This system was purchased from Data Stream and is currently
' implemented at the Water Reclamation facility with plans to implement it at the
Water plant.
' ■ Pre-Treatment uses a network-based FoxPro system developed to track industrial user
permits, inspection dates,and enforcement activity. Currently this is a single-user
system and is undergoing modifications to support multi-users.
' The Utilities Department also coordinates the use of information from the Fire
Department related to fire hydrants and hazardous materials. Data exchange between the
Fire Department and Utilities currently occurs by exchanging floppy diskettes.
The Department also accesses the City's financial system for financial and billing related
information.
Analysis of Current Systems
Many of the functions within the Department, such as the functions conducted by
1 Industrial Waste and Wastewater Collection, are extremely data intensive, and supported
by large databases. The primary problem noted and recognized by the Department is the
lack of integration between its systems and systems maintained by other City
' departments. There is a tremendous need to integrate land use, billing, and pre-treatment
information. Pretreatment and hazardous materials information integration with Finance
for facility fees and the Fire Department for incident response could offer tremendous
' improvements in operations and productivity.
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' Peat Marwick Page 66
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Utilities Department
' The lack of adequate training on the City's System 36 applications, as well as the City's
office automation tools, inhibits the Department's ability to make full use of available
' technology. The Department experiences the same difficulties and short comings of the
financial system as discussed in other sections of this report; retrieving information,
understanding how to use the system,etc. This perpetuates the reliance on manual
' processing and paper work. For instance Water billing and meter read information is
valuable to the Department but is very difficult to retrieve. The Department does not
have on-line access to pertinent information such as"total use"or production figures.
' The Department noted difficulties with the various printers throughout the City and the
need to reformat data for each printer type.
Department management expressed an interest in establishing a City-wide standard for
presentation software to facilitate the electronic exchange of presentation materials such
as Council agendas. This would also enable the City to use computers to display
presentation materials during Council meetings.
' At the time of purchase in 1989, Genesis had the best user interface available to operate
the Telemetry system. However, staff note that it lacks functionality and could be
improved. Since the system operates at 1200 baud, it takes about 45 seconds to complete
the polling. There appears to be an opportunity to explore upgrades to this system.
' Department staff recognized a growing need for mobile data capabilities for customer
service field staff. This could save time and effort when confirming shut-off and tum-on
operations, and could eliminate some radio activity. The real time access to data can
' reduce errors and provide customer service staff the ability to be quick and efficient in
responding to public inquiries and concerns.
Critical Success Factors
A number of the Department's critical operations rely on accurate and real time data
' collection and analysis. As discussed in the analysis section, the Department's systems
that support these operations would be significantly enhanced by integrating its data with
' data available through other City departments(financial, billing, land use, hazardous
materials, etc.).
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' KPS Peat Marwick Page 67
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
N. City-Wide Technology Assessments
' This chapter contains assessments of the systems and support strategies that cross
departmental boundaries. Included are assessments of:
t ■ Information systems acquisition, development, maintenance and support approaches
in use in the City
' ■ The Geographic Information Systems initiative to date
' ■ Radio systems in use City-wide
' ■ City use of telephone systems
t
1
' KPMa Peat Marwick Page 68
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
Information Systems Division
Department Mission/Responsibilities
' The mission of the Information Systems Division is to coordinate the effective use of the
City's decentralized information systems. This mission includes responsibility for-
0
or■ Implementing MIS policies and standards
■ Providing staff support to the MIS Steering Committee and Systems Administrators'
' Group in setting policies and system priorities
' ■ Providing operational support and advice to departmental system administrators
■ Installing and maintaing of the City's local and wide area networks
' ■ Centrally purchasing all computers
' ■ Management of the City's copiers and telephones
■ Administering the City Hall local area network
' ■ Administering the wide area network
' ■ Managing, operating and maintaining the Finance computer system (System/36)
' Organization/Staffing
The Information Systems Division reports to the Director of Finance and consists of the
' Information Systems Coordinator, one technician who supports the applications on the
System/36 and the City Hall LAN and one who supports the City's wide area network
(WAN).
' Information Systems Coordinator Departmental
System Administrators
'
Technician
System/36/Cityechc Technician
Hall LAN Wide Area Network Administration
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KPW,Peat Marwick Page 69
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City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
The central Information Systems Division is complemented by the System
Administrators, who are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the City's
' distributed computing resources.
The City's MIS Steering Committee is composed of the chair of the System
' Administrator's Croup,the Finance Director, three other department heads, and a
representative from administration. The technical systems serves as the committee's staff
support and meeting for letter. The Steering Committee is responsible for setting
' standards and policy. The group ordinarily acts on recommendations from either ISD or
the System Administrators' Group rather than setting its own agenda.
' Performance Objectives
The Information Systems Division is working toward expansion of the use of the network
' infrastructure, and toward the upgrade and modernization of the City's applications.
Descriptions of Current Environment
' The Information Systems Coordinator is responsible for planning and implementing the
' City-wide network(WAN),recommending and enforcing information systems standards,
staffing the MIS Steering Committee,and managing the City's telecommunication
systems. The lead computer technician is a Certified Netware Engineer(CNE)who
' provides technical oversight on all LAN and WAN planning and maintenance, including
maintenance of network infrastructure,hardware(file servers and hubs), and software
(Novell O/S and NetManagement). The other computer technician supports the financial
' applications on the IBM System/36, serves as the technical liaison between the City and
BRC's support staff for those applications, and is network administrator for the City Hall
LAN.
The City has pursued a strategy of providing no programming support in-house. This
issue will be discussed further in the Programming and Application Technical Support
' section of this chapter.
' The Financial systems include the applications that currently reside on the System/36
hardware. The software is supported by BRC and is written in RPGII and COBOL and
has approximately 20 users. (More detailed information is in the Finance Department
' Section)
The division supports the City's LAN/WAN. More detailed information is provided in
' the Network Assessment chapter of this report.
K Peat Marwick Page 70
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
Analysis of Current Environment
While the Information Systems Division is primarily responsible for the financial
applications, administration of the City Hall LAN, all networking infrastructure and
telecommunications, it is also called upon for technical support and backup to the
departmental system administrators. As the departmental system administrators are in a
part-time role,they require technical assistance relatively frequently.
' The issue of where in the City Organization the Information Systems Division reports
was raised in several interview sessions. Historically, in the City of San Luis Obispo, the
network support function started in the Administrative Office, and was moved to Finance
when the coordinator became a full time staff person. Previously,the coordinator
function was contracted. Finance re-organized to move two full time positions into
information systems support, which has resulted in the current staff count. Nonetheless,
' other departments feel that Finance is getting a disproportionate amount of technical
support and has too great a control over priorities for systems and standards, and this
' issue has led to some organizational friction.
As the City's use of information systems has increased,the organization of its IS
resources has become increasingly stressed to address the functional requirements and
political expectations of the City as a whole. In addition, the System Administrators are
being asked to perform their IS functions above and beyond their regular job function.
' This organization has given rise to several problems. Some of the more critical issues
are:
' ■ The fact that the central IS staff is within the Department of Finance leads to the
perception that Finance's needs will be met before the needs of other Departments
■ The IS staff receive conflicting direction and priorities when City wide and Finance
specific issues are in competition for their resources
' ■ The IS staff have responsibility for the overall coordination of decentralized resources
being operated by System Administrators but no authority to direct or prioritize that
group
' IN The IS staff have the responsibility for implementing City wide IS standards, policies,
' and procedures but have little authority to enforce them outside the Finance
Department
' ■ Individual department priorities and direction often conflict with the IS functions of
the System Administrators. Departmental priorities may prevail causing delays in
addressing Citywide IS issues.
KPA4G-Peat Marwick Page 71
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
' ■ System Administrators report they are spending, on average, the equivalent of 2 FTEs
in total on IS related functions.
' ■ As system administration is a part time job for the departmental System
Administrators,often unrelated to other job functions for those individuals,the level
' of their technical training and their ability to become proficient on new systems is
extremely inconsistent.
' The IS staff and current System Administrators are a very professional and conscientious
group who,due largely to their individual efforts and willingness to work together,have
kept the City's IS resource headed generally in the same direction.
' Microsoft has published ratios for successful support of a distributed network
environment as follows:
■ The ideal ratio for supporting "power" users is approximately 1 FTE of support for
every 35 users. A"power"user makes full use of the analysis and presentation tools
available on a high-powered workstation to access multiple databases, develop
significant analysis of the results, and develop quality presentations and reports
' integrating text, graphics, spreadsheets and data extracts. At the ideal ratio, a power
user could expect approximately 1 hour per week of support.
' ■ The ideal ratio for supporting "heads-down"users is approximately 1 FTE of support
for every 100 users. A"heads-down"user primarily works in data entry, relatively
simple data processing,typing, and other repetitive tasks. At the ideal ratio, a heads-
down user could expect approximately 1.5 hours per month of support.
The City of San Luis Obispo has approximately 200 user workstations, which are utilized
by somewhat larger number of City staff. As many of the users are primarily operating
on System/36 applications,or are staying within the boundaries of FoxPro applications
and ordinary Word Perfect and E-mail systems, the City probably requires less than four
FTEs of support at present. With the two ISD support people and two FTEs provided by
part-time system administrators,the City is within range of appropriate support levels
' from a head count point of view. However,the level of technical expertise provided-by
the departmental system administrators varies greatly, meaning that their effectiveness as
a part of the"help desk" function is not as great as would be a staff person dedicated to
the technology. An additional consideration is the operations and system maintenance
time provided by the four FTEs cited above; support time from the industry standard
perspective is for the"help desk" function only.
t
KMWs--Peat Marwick Page 72
1
City of San Luis Obispo
t Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
' As the City migrates toward more modem applications, and expects a higher level of
analysis and creative manipulation of the tools it provides,the level of support required
' will increase. This migration will also increase the level of sophisticated knowledge
required on the part of the support staff, and will call place even more strain on the use of
part-time system administrators with significant outside responsibilities to provide that
' support.
There are problems with the current minicomputer supporting the financial applications
' from both a hardware and a software perspective. The System/36 hardware has exceeded
its useful life. Users report inadequate response time, and adding additional users and/or
applications is precluded by the current hardware configuration. The System/36
' operating system has been superseded in IBM's product line by the AS/400 series of
computers. While AS/400 offers various packages to allow System/36 software to run,
the object from IBM's point of view was to continue to support legacy systems whose
operation was critical to their customers,not to provide a growth platform for new
development. Consequently, IBM software vendors have abandoned the System/36 as a
' development platform, concentrating instead on AS/400 and OS/2 systems for their future
enhancements. Support for System/36 is likely to decrease in availability and increase in
cost as IBM attempts to migrate its users to newer platforms.
' Any new technologies (e.g. UNIX as a major system database server) or major multi-
departmental systems(e.g. GIS)that the City might adopt will require re-evaluation of
' both staffing levels and skill sets required to provide adequate support. Replacement of
current systems on the System/36 would also require training in the administration of the
new applications and/or computer system.
Critical Success Factors for Future
The ability to support multiple departments in a coordinated fashion is becoming more
critical as the complexity of applications and the degree of integration of those
applications with daily operations both increase.
' Keeping abreast of new technology and its implications for the City is a requirement to
' adequately perform the role of coordinating information systems usage.
The Division will be called upon to manage the migration to Citywide use of Windows as
the standard desktop operating system.
1
K Peat Marwick Page 73
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Information Systems Division
' Provision of adequate training has become an issue throughout the City, and will
intensify as the Windows migration progresses. The Division must coordinate
' Technology training to be provided at all levels within the organization:
■ Users
■ System Administrators and support personnel
' ■ Technical (ISD)personnel
■ Top management
' The Division is managing the migration from Arcnet to Ethernet and continuing the
implementation of the City's WAN, as well as maintaining the integrity and reliability of
the network. As new systems come on-line, the Division will have to anticipate increases
in traffic on the network and assure its continuing successful operation.
1
1 K G Peat Marwick Page 74
City of San Luis Obispo
1 Current System Assessment
Programming and Technical Support
Programming and Technical Support
The City of San Luis Obispo has pursued a strategy of not formally using in-house staff
for programming support. Consequently, it has implemented new applications either by
purchasing a package from a third-party software vendor or contracting their development
by an outside programmer. In both cases,programming support is provided by the
original source of the system. A third option,having the user develop his/her own
' applications, has been applied in limited cases, usually involving the development of
Lotus spreadsheets to meet specific needs. These applications have been very limited in
scope.
' The City has established several standards for applications programming:
■ System/36 applications, written in either COBOL or RPG, are supported by BRC
' ■ Other acquired applications, such as CRIS for the Police Department, that are written
and maintained by the software vendor
' ■ Other applications developed in the City are written with FoxPro and supported by a
contract programmer.
' The Stockton office of BRC is having problems supporting the financial packages, as was
documented in the Finance departmental assessment earlier in this report. Further
discussion of difficulties in supporting this application are in the Finance departmental
' assessment. Most of the packages being run by the City have been upgraded to BRC
systems, supported from their Minnesota office. However, payroll and utility systems are
' still using the original software purchased from DLH prior to their acquisition by BRC.
These systems are currently supported by a single programmer in the Stockton office.
The Finance Department has expressed reservations about the viability of these systems
given the declining level of support.
MEGG and Associates, through their California representative, T.L. Creates, provides
' programming support for the CRIS police records and dispatching system. CRIS screens
and reports have been highly customized by the Department, to the point where the
system is unique to San Luis Obispo. This customization has caused the vendor to fall
' behind in implementing current releases in the City, as unique San Luis Obispo program
changes must be overlaid on the application prior to installation. The vendor is also
likely to drop support for the version of the system operated by the Department as they
' migrate to newer technologies. The Department would then be forced to choose between
operating an unsupported system or losing their customization by migrating to a new
' version or other package.
tKPA#Gf Peat Marwick Page 75
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Programming and Technical Support
' A contract programmer maintains,enhances and develops applications for various City
Departments using FoxPro for DOS exclusively. The City is currently using
' approximately 16 hours per week of FoxPro contract programming on the average. Over
half of her time is spent modifying or enhancing current applications,the remainder in
new development.
' Among the systems currently maintained and developed by a contract programmer are:
' ■ Land Use Inquiry,
■ Land Use Statistics,
■ Land Use Labels,
' ■ Land Use Maintenance,
■ Planning Application and Project Tracking,
t ■ Retro Fit Program,
■ Engineering CIP,
■ Computer Inventory,
' ■ Computer Work Orders,
■ Building Permits,
' ■ Library Reservations,
■ Fire Prevention,
■ City Clerk Insurance and Contract Tracking,
' ■ FLSA Calculation,
■ CSMFO Conference Registration,
■ CFIRS and CFIRS Statistics.
' Assignments are given to the contractor independently by the Community Development
Department, the Fire Department,the Finance Department or other requesting
department. Once given the assignments, the contractor establishes the priorities and
develops estimates of time and costs required for completion.
' Analysis of Current Support Environment
' BRC's support level has been deteriorating from the point of view of the Finance staff.
With only a single programmer supporting a major, mission critical system like payroll,
the City is at some risk for long-term support requirements. As the City has not upgraded
' the payroll system to the current BRC application, the vendor is not likely to augment the
support staff for a system that is not part of their market strategy.
Peat Marwick Page 76
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Programming and Technical Support
1 The City has been engaged in the local development of applications, using a single
contractor for most of these efforts. While an analysis of alternative strategies is more
' appropriate in subsequent deliverables from this project, based on the experience of the
consultants in many other municipalities, there are some issues that need to be addressed:
' KPMG feels that there is a need for a quality control mechanism to oversee the validity of
estimates and priorities established by the contractor. We understand that this role is
currently being fulfilled by the Community Development Department's administrative
' analyst for those projects under his jurisdiction. As multiple projects from various
departments may be occurring simultaneously, a more formalized priority setting and
estimate approval process may be required.
Locally developed systems are often designed and built without formal specifications and
designs. Current processes are automated without exploring process redesign(workflow
analysis). Documentation is inconsistent.
The programmer has recently begun to establish standards for applications, which has
' resulted in some cases that look and feel of newer and older applications is different.
This may necessitate upgrading older applications to meet the new standards. The
' migration to a Windows environment will also put pressure on a re-programming of
existing systems.
' FoxPro is a software development environment, not a"generic application" like payroll
or police records. As such, it is more similar to COBOL or Pascal (albeit more user-
friendly and easier to use)than it is to BRC's general ledger package. The vendor(in
FoxPro's case, Microsoft)will support the City in the method by which applications are
developed, not in the results of those applications. The City must turn to its development
contractor for support of the software systems themselves.
1 Like any other development environment,the actual use of the technology tools is up to
the programming team. Just as an RPG contract programmer would have a long learning
curve to come up to speed on the payroll application so that where he/she could make
significant modifications without jeopardizing the integrity of the system, so a new
FoxPro contractor would also require such a learning curve to be able to adequately
' support significant complex applications developed by someone else.
1
1
KPM4�Peat Marwick Page 77
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Programming and Technical Support
' In our experience,we have worked with a number cities and agencies who have
developed unique systems, either using individual contractors or an extremely small (1-2
' FTE) in-housestaff. In situations where these systems are critical for City operations,the
city becomes beholden to the contractor to provide necessary support for the applications
to remain functional in the face of changing requirements and mandates. In two extreme
' cases, the result was a retired contractor being paid a significant retainer to continue to
support a unique payroll,and an in-house DP manager telling the City Administrator that
his requested changes to financial applications simply wouldn't happen.
' This is not to suggest that the City of San Luis Obispo has painted itself into a similar
comer; it serves merely to raise a red flag as to the long-term viability of the current
' development strategy.
On the other hand, following the current strategy has achieved a series of successes for
' the City in that a large number of functions have received automated support which might
not have been possible in the absence of the ability to contract for program development.
The City's standard of using FoxPro for DOS has resulted in an environment where these
' systems have the commonality of database access and programming tools that comes
from standardization.
' Based on experience in other cities, the KPMG feels that it would be best to differentiate
among applications for which acquisition of a package would be the most appropriate
strategy, those for which contract program development offers specific advantages, and
those which can_best be handled by individual development of spreadsheets or small-
scale databases. These issues will be discussed in an analysis of alternative strategies
later in this project.
1
KPA4&Peat Marwick Page 78
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Office Automation
Office Automation
' Office Automation includes software used to develop, print and distribute documents and
software used to communicate among departments and users within the City.
' Included within this definition are:
' ■ Word Processing,
■ Spreadsheets,
' ■ Graphics packages,
■ Electronic Mail,
■ Calendaring and scheduling packages.
tDescriptions of Current Systems
The current City word processing standard as of September, 1994 was Word Perfect(for
DOS). The spreadsheet standard was Lotus(for DOS), although some users were still
using Quattro Pro, the previous City standard, without MIS-provided support services.
There was no calendaring, scheduling or presentation graphics package in general use.
' The City, through its MIS Steering Committee, has adopted a Windows standard
contingent upon the completion of several key steps. At issue are the large number of
386-25MHz and less powerful systems still in use, which may not be able to process
Windows applications with sufficient response times. The new standards will be Word
' Perfect for Windows, Lotus for Windows, and Word Perfect Office for calendaring and
scheduling.
t There is no widespread standard for presentation or business graphics packages. Some
users report using Harvard Graphics, others limit themselves to the graphics tools
available in the spreadsheet package. Most do not use graphics at all for documents and
' presentation.
Extensive City-wide use of electronic mail became possible with the installation of the
' WAN. Users report widespread acceptance of electronic mail as a means of
communication within the City.
: _
KF%#G-Peat Marwick Page 79
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Office Automation
' Analysis of Current Systems
The widespread use of Word Perfect allows transfer of documents among users.
However, lack of standardization in installation parameters and printers has led to
significant problems in the use of shared or transferred documents, as formatting and font
' problems often occur. This has also proved to be a problem with FoxPro applications,
where the lack of standard printers makes it difficult to allow reports to be generated by
multiple users of the same application. Most of the applications use specific commands
' for printing. Since printers can be different the printed result can be formatted incorrectly
if a printer other than the default is used. Prior to Windows,print commands had to be
included as part of the application, so this problem may be reduced somewhat when
applications are migrated to the FoxPro for Windows environment.
The overall migration to Windows will result in a significant need for training in all City
' departments. The fundamental tools they are using to get work done- word processing,
spreadsheets and small databases- will be dramatically changed when the systems are
upgraded. Unless the City provides time and resources for adequate user training in the
' new environment,productivity may actually be lost as users attempt to"learn by doing"
in a form of"on-the-job-training".
Additionally,the migration to Windows provides an excellent opportunity to re-evaluate
the current distributed support strategy. In order to be successful with that strategy, all of
the departmental system administrators will have to be trained to the point where they can
serve a"help desk" function for all of the new applications in their department. The
amount of training this will require, added to their current system support requirements
' and the fact that they are only participating in data processing support on a part-time
basis,may strain the City's support structure to the breaking point.
The City's emphasis on providing public information may logically lead to added priority
being given to business graphics capability. The Parks and Recreation Department is
already making some use of Page Maker to lay out brochures for the public. As a part of
the Windows transition,the City can evaluate its graphics requirements and set up a
standard which would be compatible with its chosen standards for word processing,
spreadsheets and database applications.
' KPMa Peat Marwick Page 80
' City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Geographic Information Systems
' Geographic Information Systems(GIS)
' There are several governmental organizations and private sector businesses working on
GIS applications within San Luis Obispo County with ramifications for the City. These
include the following:
■ California Polytechnic University has established maps in its Landscape Architecture
' department, and has received a donation of a large UNIX system on which it intends
to build certain mapping applications.
' ■ The County of San Luis Obispo has established a GIS steering committee, and is
exploring ways in which current County data stores,most specifically those in the
Assessor's Office,can be used to start a GIS mapping application. The Assessor
maintains most land-use,parcel definition, ownership and construction information.
County departments represented on the committee include:
' The CAO's Office
• Information Systems
' • Assessor's Office
• Agricultural Commissioner
• Engineer and Planning
' • Sheriff
• Fire
• Environmental Health
■ The Land Conservancy is maintaining a full-time GIS staff and is concerned about
' avoiding duplicate efforts.
■ Cal Poly and the County are negotiating an MOU for the sharing of information and
' responsibility for maintenance of that information.
■ Several utilities use GIS,including PG&E
■ GIS systems are in use locally by the private sector primarily for land use planning
applications
t
{CWG4 Peat Marwick Page 81
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Geographic Information Systems
In the City, several departments have undertaken projects resulting in information that
could be used in a GIS system:
■ Community Development and Public Works are using AutoCAD for almost all of its
mapping activities.
' ■ Community Development is working with Cal Poly on two pilot projects using
ArcInfo software: mapping the greenbelt around the City as part of the open space
element of the general plan and the area adjacent to the mall. There will be an ISDN
(high speed communication)phone line between the department and the university for
these projects.
' ■ Community Development has contracted with Cal Poly to provide resource mapping
' for Open Space Element implementation programs.
■ Public Works is converting infrastructure maps to Auto CAD on their PCs, using a
' satellite survey for starting coordinates. They have converted 90%of the rights-of-
way and water lines,and are starting on the sewer lines.
■ The land use database contains both Assessor and address identification information
for interface into a future GIS system
' Analysis and Critical Success Factors
GIS systems are an efficient means of collecting, integrating, and analyzing complex
volumes of spatially referenced data. It has been estimated that as great as eighty percent
of a governmental entity's business has some sort of geographic aspect to it.
' Consequently,geography potentially represents a common basis for integration within the
City.
' A comprehensive GIS would benefit many functions within the City including planning,
water and wastewater management, land use management,mapping, public works
facilities management,public safety, etc. It would facilitate the sharing of information
' among the County, area cities,the University,the State, and the non-profit sector.
1
1
KPMa Peat Marwick Page 82
1
1 _
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Geographic Information Systems
A GIS system should fully implement all individual GIS activities within the City
(mapping, drafting, inquiry and analysis, and map management), and allow the work
' products of each of these to be readily integrated with other City applications. However,
a GIS implementation is a significant undertaking. As the City has realized, GIS design
and implementation decisions affect current and future City functions. It will be a long-
term, step-by-step process requiring establishing standards,training, and agreeing on new
operational procedures, in addition to the acquisition of hardware and software. Other
steps with significant cost and time implications include conversion of existing maps and
integration of existing address- or parcel-based systems (Land Use, Business Tax,
Utility, Public Safety Dispatch and Records, etc.)
GIS must be approached as an inter-departmental system and must be carefully planned
to minimize the risk of a failed implementation. Consequently, software and data
compatibility is important to ensure the success of a GIS. Compatibility issues that the
' City must be cognizant of, and address,are discussed in the following paragraphs.
There are no uniform standards in place for the use of GIS software and the structure of
' geographic data. This will restrict the City's ability to exchange geographic information
between multiplies systems. This is a particularly important issue to the City given the
' various GIS applications underway by the City, County, University, PG&E,the Land
Conservancy and private consulting companies. Several systems are being used to enter,
maintain and inquire into geographic or map information, including:
' ■ ESRI (Arclnfo and ArcView) by the University and PG&E
' ■ Atlas for a number of projects in the private and not-for-profit sectors, as well as
some County systems
' ■ AutoCAD for City Public Works, Engineering, and Community Development map
drawing applications
' ■ ArcView and ArcCAD by the Community Development Department for viewing and
manipulating GIS data
The database software used for land and parcel information(i.e., the Land Use database)
must be compatible with the City's mapping software.
1 The ability to interface and maintain compatibility with other applications and outside
' entities that either provide geographically-based information to the City, or directly
interface with a GIS system is critical. These include the(1) County Assessor, (2)
financial related applications that calculated fees and provide business license
information, and(3) public safety systems that utilize address-based information.
' KRMM Peat Marwick Page 83
1
City of San Luis Obispo
t Current System Assessment
Radio Systems
' Radio Systems
' Mission/Responsibilities
' The City's Police and Fire Departments have the mission of protecting the lives and
safety of the citizens of the City, decreasing the community's exposure to crime, fire loss
and other hazards, and responding to calls form citizens for emergency assistance. The
public safety mobile radio systems support that mission by providing rapid and reliable
communications for dispatching emergency responders to requests for assistance,
coordinating the activities of emergency personnel in the field, and monitoring their
' safety.
The Utilities Department has the mission to provide quality water, refuse and sewer
' services to the public. The telemetry radio system supports that mission by providing
cost-effective and reliable communications enabling staff to monitor and control water
and wastewater facilities and equipment.
Other departments such as Public Works, Community Development, and Parks and
' Recreation, as well as Utilities, all have missions involving delivery of services directly
to the public in the field. The Public Works radio system supports these missions by
providing a cost-effective and reliable communications link among departmental staff
' independent of location.
Organization/Staffing
1 The City does not have a centralized organization or staff responsible for all radio
operation, engineering and maintenance across all departments.
' A dispatch center in the Police Department controls the operation of the public safety
mobile radio systems. The center is directed by the Police Department's Support
' Services Manager and staffed by shift supervisors and telecommunicators providing
seven day per week, 24 hour per day coverage. The Public Works mobile radio systems
is not centrally controlled, but rather has multiple control points at administrative desks in
the user departments. The public safety communications staff monitors the Public Works
radio system after hours and on weekends and holidays. Technical and engineering staff
in the Utilities Department control and monitor the Utilities telemetry radio systems.
The public safety and Public Works mobile radio systems are maintained by a local
service shop,the Questar company, under a time-and-materials maintenance contract.
One City staff technician in the Utilities Department(Chris Amdt) maintains the Utilities
telemetry radio systems.
' KPA4&Peat Marwick Page 84
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Radio Systems
' The City does not have a permanent radio engineering support organization nor staff.
Instead, engineering support for the public safety and Public Works mobile radio systems
' is provided by ad-hoc staff committees for special projects, by consultants for special
studies, and by vendors and contractors in conjunction with equipment installations.
Chris Arndt provides planning and engineering support for the Utilities telemetry radio
' systems.
Performance Objectives
' The City does not have explicit quantitative standards for performance of its mobile radio
systems. However,the following are commonly accepted national standards for
' performance of public safety and local government mobile radio systems:
■ The coverage standard is that each system should provide at least 97%probability of
' place and time of coverage of its intended coverage area. Stated differently, this
means that a mobile or portable radio user at any randomly selected location in the
jurisdiction of his or her department,and at any randomly selected time, should
experience no more than a 3%chance of being unable to communicate with the
dispatch center or other system control point because of radio signal obstruction,
' fading, noise, or other factors.
■ The traffic loading/channel access standard is that average channel access delay
' should not exceed five seconds. The means that a user should not have to wait more
than five seconds, on the average, for any prior communications in progress on the
channel to cease and the radio equipment to become ready for a new transmission.
■ The overall systems availability standard is 99.9999%availability. This means that
no radio channel should be out of service because of a breakdown or for maintenance
or repair for more than a cumulative total of 53 minutes per year.
Description of Current Systems
The Police Department mobile radio system operates on four Ultra High Frequency
' (UHF)band(450 MHz) channels. Following standard emergency service practice the
channels are designated by color names— Green, Yellow, Red,and White.
' The main Police operations(Green)channel covers primarily the City of San Luis
Obispo. The channel uses two mobile relay stations (repeaters);the primary repeater is
on KSLY Hill south of the City, and a backup repeater is on Questa Peak north of the
tCity. Voting receivers are located at fire stations#2 and#3.
KPMa Peat Marwick Page 85
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Radio Systems
' The secondary Police operations(Yellow) channel covers all of San Luis Obispo County
from repeaters at five sites throughout the County. The Police emergency (Red)channel
' covers San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties,with three repeater sites located in
San Luis Obispo County. The Police car-to-car(White)channel does not use an fixed
sites or repeaters; it is used for direct communications between mobile units within close
' range of each other.
In addition to the four major channels described above,the Police Department also uses
the Statewide UHF California Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Radio System(CLEMARS),
and the Statewide Very High Frequency(VHF, 150 MHz)California Law Enforcement
Radio System(CLERS)channels. The CLEMARS channel uses a base station at Police
Headquarters,but CLERS is installed only in the mobile radios (no City-owned base
stations or repeaters).
' The Police Department mobile radios are 16 channel Motorola Syntor scanning radios
operating at 60-100 Watts.
' The Fire Department uses four VHF channels,"City Fire,""Orange," "County Mutual
Aid"and "White."
' The City Fire channel uses two frequencies to provide one repeater channel. The repeater
is located at KSLY Hill. The channel can be split to provide a car-to-car channel
' ("Frequency Two')by switching a mobile radio to transmit on the repeater transmit
frequency and receive on the repeater receive frequency (the reverse of the normal
configuration). In this mode the mobile radio can communicate directly with other
mobile radios within close range without operating through the repeater.
The Orange Fire channel is a single-frequency simplex channel used primarily for
' firegound communications. The channel's remote base station was formerly located on
Tasaiara Peak and operated by a UHF control station at the Police/Fire dispatch center.
However, the Tasajara Peak site was destroyed in a fire, and the channel now operates
from a local base station at the dispatch center.
' The County Fire Mutual Aid channel is equipped with County-owned repeaters at
multiples sites throughout San Luis Obispo County.
The White Fire channel is a Statewide fire mutual aid repeater channel. The City
operates voting receivers on this channel at fire stations#1,#2 and#3.
' The Fire Department mobile radios consist of a mixture of old four-channel radios and
relatively newer 16-channel synthesized radios.
KPW Peat MarWck Page 86
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Radio Systems
' The Public Works radio system is shared by the Departments of Public Works,
Community Development, Parks and Recreation, Utilities, and Parking, among others.
' The systems is a single-channel VHF repeater system. The system is equipped with a
primary repeater on South Hill, a backup repeater at the Corporation Yard, and voting
receivers at fire stations. Control points are located at the public safety dispatch center,
' the Corporation Yard,the 955 Morrow Building,the Parking Structure,and City Hall.
The Police, Fire, and Public Works voting receivers are connected to a voting selector at
' South Hill by a telephone line from Fire Station#1 and by microwave links (23 GHz)
from Stations#2 and#3. A microwave link to Station#4 is planned but not yet
implemented. The voting selector evaluates the received signal quality from each site and
' selects the best(strongest) signal for re-transmission through the South Hill repeater.
The Utilities Department operates three data telemetry systems serving the wastewater
' collection system,the water treatment plant,and the Whale Rock Reservoir, respectively.
These complex systems use a mixture of 900 MHz and 450 MHz radio control links and
' repeater stations at various remote sites to interconnect specialized control, multiplexing
and monitoring equipment at the Utility Department plants and facilities.
The Utility Department also operates a small , isolated VHF mobile radio system at the
Whale Rock Reservoir.
' Analysis of Current Systems
The consultants believe that the City's Police and Fire Department radio systems are
generally sound and functional, meeting the City's current basic public safety
communications needs. The central dispatch configuration enables close coordination of
Police and Fire operations. The microwave system currently used for voting receiver
' control links will, when fully operational, enable the Fire Department to upgrade its fire
station alerting system to a more reliable and cost effective radio-based system.
The public safety system appear to the consultants to have adequate traffic-handling
capacity for normal daily operations, although Departmental staff report that the channels
become congested during major emergencies and occasional peak periods. The systems
also appear to be reliable, as they are configured with backup transmitters and no
significant overall outages were reported to the consultants.
However, the public safety radio systems do not currently provide complete coverage of
the City. Likely causes include loss of the radio site at Tasajara Peak and the City's
' inability to bring the voting receiver system into full and satisfactory operation. The City
could also probably benefit from additional transmitter and/or voting receiver sites,
although an engineering and cost/benefit analysis would be required to make an accurate
determination.
' KPMG Peat Marwick Page 87
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Radio Systems
' The Public Works radio system suffers from the same coverage problems, and more
significantly, is heavily overloaded with users and radio traffic. The Community
' Development Department finds the performance of this system to be unacceptable, and is
exploring potential alternatives such as the use of a commercial cellular telephone
system.
The radio system have two functional shortcomings affecting virtually all City
departments. The fust is the lack of a City-operated paging system. Prior to loss of the
' Tasajara Peak radio site the City operated a paging system serving all Departments and
controlled by the dispatch center. That system is no longer operational, and the various
Departments have gone off to find their own solutions such as contracts with various
' commercial paging services and increased use of cellular telephones. These solutions
appear to the consultants to be uncoordinated, mutually incompatible, and generally
expensive.
' The second functional problem is the lack of any mobile data communications capability.
Many city's comparable to San Luis Obispo consider mobile data terminals or mobile
computers to be basic operational and safety tools for their Police and Fire Departments
and, increasingly, for other field applications such as engineering, building inspections,
' utility meter reading, etc.
Another general problem affecting all of the radio systems is lack of adequate engineering
and maintenance support. The public safety and Public Works radio systems have only
commercial contract maintenance support and rely on vendors and consultants for
engineering support, with the result that long-standing coverage and channel congestion
' problems remain unresolved. The Utilities Department radio technician appears to be
fully loaded with telemetry system engineering and maintenance work, confronts a
substantial backlog of deferred maintenance and upgrade projects, and has no backup.
' Longer-term,the City faces the prospect of aging and obsolesce of its radio equipment
coupled with Federal initiatives towards"re-farming"of the VHF and UHF radio bands.
The Federal initiatives may ultimately force the City to migrate its radio systems into
more spectrum-efficient"narrowband"equipment and trunking configurations, and
' possibly to relocate into different frequency bands.
Critical Success Factors for Future
' The City's existing radio systems are meeting most of the current needs. However,the
City needs to strengthen its radio system maintenance and engineering support, regain
control of its paging operations, and resolve the mobile radio coverage and Public Works
channel congestion problems. The City also needs longer-term plans for dealing with
issues as mobile data communications and frequency re-framing.
' KPW Peat Marwick Page 88
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Telephone Systems
Telephone Systems
' Mission/Responsibilities
City-operated telephone systems support two basic missions in the City.:
■ Provide a highly secure,reliable,and efficient means by which the public can report
' emergencies and request law enforcement, fire and emergency medical assistance
from the Police and Fire Departments.
' ■ Provide cost/effective and efficient administrative communications for City
departments and employees.
Organization/Staffing
' The City does not have a telephone system administration,maintenance, or engineering
organization nor staff. The Information Services Coordinator has been assigned part-time
responsibility to coordinate the administration of the telephone systems, and spends 100/o-
15%of her time on this activity. The Coordinator is supported by an ad-hoc committee
of departmental representatives to help address telephone system needs, concerns and
policy issues.
' Performance Objectives
' The City's Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1)telephone system must adhere to stringent Statewide
performance standards. These include:
' ■ Provision of sufficient trunk lines, switching system capacity, and call answers to
ensure that no 9-1-1 caller has more than a 0.1%chance of encountering a busy
signal,or has to wait for more than two rings for the call to be answered
' ■ Have an availability of at least 99.9999% (no more than 53 minutes per year
cumulative downtime).
The administrative telephone system must provide a grade of service at least comparable
to normal public telephone service, and must operate cost-effectively.
' K Peat Marwick Page 89
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Telephone Systems
' Description of Current Systems
' The E9-1-1 telephone system provides special dedicated trunk circuits from a Pacific Bell
central office switching center to the City dispatch center. A combination of equipment
in the central office and at the dispatch center provides a selective routing function
' ensuring that all 9-1-1 calls originating from within the City's jurisdiction, and only those
calls, are routed to the dispatch center. The equipment also provides automatic number
and location identification features that display to the dispatchers the telephone number
' and location of caller,and additional features to facilitate transfer of calls,callback to the
callers,and other special functions. The E9-1-1 system has been interfaced to the City's
computer aided dispatch(CAD) system, so that the caller location and other 9-1-1 data
' can be automatically transferred into the dispatch system.
The City's administrative telephone system is an Integrated Services Digital Network
' (ISDN) Centrex system provided by Pacific Bell. Centrex means that the telephone
switching functions are provided by a Pacific Bell central office rather than by on-
premise Private Branch Exchange (PBX ) equipment in the City. The City pays monthly
' charges for the system on a per-line and per-feature-used basis. The ISDN feature
provides digital connectivity of the system,permitting the use of display phones and
other advanced functions throughout the City. The Centrex switching system and ISDN
lines could also potentially be used for medium-speed computer data communications.
Analysis of Current Systems
The E9-1-1 telephone system appears to the consultants to be fully featured and
' functional, designed and operated in compliance with State requirements, and
representative of the current state-of-the-art.
' The administrative telephone system appears to meet all of the City's basic telephone
needs, with the important exception that the City lacks voice mail capability. The City is
not currently using the full data communications capabilities and other advanced features
' of the system,but City staff has evaluated and continues to evaluate those options and has
concluded that other alternatives, such as a dedicated wide-area and local-area data
communications networks,and more functional and cost-effective.
' KA G Peat Marwick Page 90
1 -
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Telephone Systems
' The major problem with the telephone system, like the radio systems, is lack of adequate
and centralized technical and administrative support. Although Centrex relieves the City
' of the problems and ownership of a PBX, the telephone coordinator is still responsible for
system evaluation and planning, network coordination,processing of service connections
and disconnections, moves, changes, feature and telephone number assignments,
' directory management, coordination with Pacific Bell and various long distance carriers,
etc. Staff must also monitor developments in the telecommunications industry both
nationally and locally to identify options and alternatives for the City. All of these
functions place a heavy burden of routine administrative work on a Coordinator who
already has many other important responsibilities. Also, as in the case of the Utilities
Department radio technician,there is currently no backup person or staff to assist, fill in
' for, or ultimately replace the coordinator.
Critical Success Factors for Future
' The consultants believe that the most critical factors and requirements for continuing and
future success of the telephone system are to strengthen the technical and administrative
support of the system and continue monitoring of telecommunications industry
developments.
1
1
/C Peat Marwick Page 91
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Network Assessment
' V. Network Assessment
Network Overview
' The use of information technology in the City of San Luis Obispo has, as in most cities,
evolved out of necessity in various functional areas. In most organizations, financial
applications are usually the first to be automated. This has been the case at the City.
' As needs arose in other functional areas, systems were automated. Over time a series of
independent local area networks sprung up from the stand-alone PC applications that
' were being used. As the evolution continues, the City has begun to invest in a City wide
approach to technology. A substantial investment has been made in providing a common
' fiber optic backbone to which the various departmental LANs have been connected. This
connectivity provides the basis for the City's Wide Area Network (WAN). (See the
network configuration diagram, Exhibit V - 1). Configurations provided in this report
' were current as of December, 1994.
Information Systems Support
The City is now faced with the organizational issue of developing and deploying City-
wide standards, policies, and procedures for the use of information technology. This task
is complicated by the independence of the departmental LANs and by the fact that the
central Information Systems (IS) organization is located in Finance. Each LAN has a
person assigned who performs the function of the System Administrator. These System
Administrators, although employed by individual departments and not IS, provide the
first level of system support for City staff.
iA WAN administrator position is provided within IS. The WAN administrator provides
assistance to the System Administrators and provides second level system support. The
' WAN administrator is also responsible for performing technology upgrades, network
design, and implementation from within Information Systems in the Department of
Finance.
' Generally, the System Administration function for each of the City's LANs is being
provided on an"other duties as required"basis with direction from IS. This
t organizational structure makes the development and deployment of City-wide
information technology standards, policies, and procedures a difficult task. The
' responsibility for this work seems clearly to belong to Information Systems but they have
no authority to act on a City-wide basis. In addition, departmental priorities frequently
conflict with City-wide priorities for critical IS and System Administrator resources.
1
' KPA49 Peat Marwick Page 92
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Network Assessment
Technical training throughout the City is a major issue. Most of the System
Administrators have acquired their knowledge"on the job". Some are technical by
' profession, others were available and willing to take on the System Administrator
responsibility for their LAN. Frequently the System Administrators are looked to by
their department to provide ad hoc training to their own staff. This creates a very
' unproductive environment for the System Administrators who are interrupted on a regular
basis to solve user problems unrelated to the LAN. This situation also creates an uneven
level of capabilities throughout the City. The quality of training within a department is
directly related to the capabilities,time, and energy of the System Administrators.
While these organizational issues are being addressed,requirements for improved and
enhanced technology continue to evolve. It is critical that the City meet these challenges
with a consolidated front. Limited budgets, increasing work loads, and decreasing staff
dictate the effective and efficient use of technology throughout the City. However, the
' functional and business requirements of the individual departments and their constituents
will not tolerate significant delays. Whether it be telephones,voice mail, Fax machines,
file servers, GIS data bases, workstations, or office software applications,the City must
twisely leverage its technology investments and not squander them on duplicate,
incompatible, insupportable, unique, single solution systems that can not be integrated
' and shared.
The City's Network
The City's network currently consists of 7 Novell LANs and 1 IBM System 36. These
systems are networked through various communications links, making up the City's
' Wide Area Network(WAN), also known as the San Luis Obispo WAN (SLO WAN). A
substantial investment has been made in a fiber optic backbone to which all systems
' (current and future) will eventually be connected.
Documentation has been created for most file servers and a copy is kept at City Hall. The
' documentation includes, hardware component lists, configuration information, disk types
and sizes, network server startup files, and various other network related information.
These documents will need to be reviewed periodically to assure accuracy. We were
' unable to identify an existing procedure being followed for keeping this documentation
current.
K Peat Marwick Page 93
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Network Assessment
' City Applications
The WAN provides access to several City-wide standard applications including the Work
Order Program,the Land Use Program, and WordPerfect a-Mail. City LANs also have
access to WordPerfect, Lotus, Quattro Pro, and FoxPro. In addition to City-wide
' applications each department utilizes site specific applications. Most of these
applications are written by a contract programmer in FoxPro for DOS.
' Security
' Security on the City's LANs is managed primarily through the use of Novell's Trustee
Directory and Group assignments. Many of the departments are also using
WordPerfect's Office Shell as a menu tool or front end interface for users to access the
' applications. Although the WordPerfect Office Shell provides an interface to applications
it does not prevent access to application or database directories. In addition to security
rights granted for specific application use, most users are also given rights to the Novell
' Netware security group EVERYONE.
This security group is in use on most LANs throughout the City. The group is frequently
used to grant read, write, create, erase, modify,and file scan rights to critical application
programs and files. Every user having these rights presents the potential for accidental or
intentional destruction of all files in the exposed areas. This access should be reviewed to
' determine if alternatives can be used. A short term solution might be to use Netware
Access Flags orrcritical files, perhaps making files shareable and readable only.
' The Novell Netware SUPERVISOR password is frequently distributed to multiple users.
This can present a significant security risk. An alternative to distributing the
' SUPERVISOR password could be to use the Work Group Manager feature of Netware.
This would safeguard against access to areas of a file server used to configure a network.
1
1
1
KPW Peat Marwick Page 94
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System As
Network Assessment
' Data As An Asset
' A major shortcoming of the City's current information technology perspective is that it
does not treat its data as an asset. Several cases of redundant data were found. The most
frequent oversight is address information that is kept in several different systems that are
' not synchronized. The WAN will allow new systems to be built that can share data more
readily.
' The City is operating under a mandate to provide more information to its citizens.
Accuracy and availability of City information will be critical to the success of this
objective. Public access will require well defined, easily accessed (and protected) data
' systems.
' Operational Status
The existing departmental LANS are functioning well. Except for speed and capacity
concerns, no major problems were reported. Planning for a variety of changes to the
LANs and increased use of the WAN is underway. Changes include departmental facility
moves, network hardware and software upgrades, and cabling changes. Most changes are
' being implemented on a departmental basis.
Although each System Administrator reported the performance of daily back-ups,often
coupled with the use of off-site storage, we have reason to believe that this may not
always be the case. The use of part time administrators with functional responsibilities
outside the technical area has often led to relegating such duties as daily back-ups to a
relatively low priority. As mission-critical systems for various City functions are
implemented in the LAN environments,the lack of consistent, finely-enforced back-up,
' recovery, and preventive maintenance procedures could put some City operations at risk.
These issues will be addressed more thoroughly in the Disaster Prevention and Recovery
segment of this project.
' Departmental Systems
An inventory and assessment of the individual departmental LAN systems is provided on
the following pages. Common issues and concerns have been addressed in the previous
paragraphs.
1
' K14II&Peat Marwick Page 95
1 -
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Network Assessment
San Luis Obisbo
WAN
Servers
• City Hall-Compaq SystemPro
Ethernet•Thinner
2 networked laser printers I • 955 Morro-Compaq Proliant
I HP Ploaer • Corporatin Yard-Everex Step 386
28 users(2 on Windows)
' • Fire-Compaq SystemPro 486
a'zs r— Fiber Link • Police-Compaq SystemPro
Cornondon Yard s • Recreation-Everex Step 386
' 6 newer• d pri Tff • Parkin- Everex Ste 386
2 rrctworked primer a� �� P
20 ours
Standard Applications
E-Mail Server • WordPerfect
ii File Server . WordPerfect E-Mail
TI Link
City Han LAN -
' Ethernet.IOB=T(905:) —
•AmNet(10%) r.� •Quattro Pro
14 networked printers
I D-si=plotter ZnZomn ' • FoxPro
MI gateway a System 36 MI Gateway
1 PC Anywhere -
90 uses '717
�s.
IBM System 36
Fire Deaanmm
Ethernet-Thimet :'--�' , T1 Link' PC IBM System 36 8 neworked primer . .rte:.
Bridges to 3 remote stauom Anywhere •18 Workstations
20 tree •5 printers
—� In `
TI Link - r!
�'✓ -Additional modems are
_ e connected to individual
"= ! workstations for dial in
Shiva ut and dial out ca Lttndrover/E P
Police Denanmrncapabilities.
Ethernet.I OBaseT(10%)
•ArcNet(90%)
8 networked primers
' 33
Fiber Link PorwB
Ethernet-IOB=-T
Cs 1 networked primer
�'
' Recreation [,"
5 user
Ethernet- prim Fiber Link
3 networked d primers
(2 Laser.I Dot Alatris)
8 user
Note:This diagram is
current as of 2/1/95
•LAN archuec tues at City Hall.and Police Department
' me migrating from Arrant w Ethernet
KPMG-Peat Marwick Page 96
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
City Hall LAN
City Hall LAIC
' Applications
' The City Hall LAN provides access to application systems through a Novell 3.11
network. Below is a list of the major applications running on the network. Applications
available for WAN access are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
' ■ Office Automation Standard Software
' ■ Building Permit Programs
■ Planning Application Programs
■ Planning Library
■ City Attorney CD-ROM library
■ Recruitment Tracking
■ Land Use Inventory (WAN)
' ■ Work Order(WAN)
Security
The following issues were noted:
■ User network password changes are required every 60 days. In addition, a numeric is
required in the password.
' ■ The GUEST account exists but is only used for access to the Work Order program.
' ■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems.
■ SUPERVISOR password is given to 4 people.
■ The Netware SECURITY utility revealed minor issues such as accounts for people no
' longer employed by the City,and accounts without passwords assigned.
■ The Server CONSOLE LOCK utility is presently being used to prevent access to
' console utilities.
■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrators. Tapes are
transported off-site regularly by the System administrator.
t
' KPAG-Peat Marwick Page 97
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
City Hall LAN
Physical and Environmental Protection
' The following issues were noted:
■ The computer room is staffed throughout the day and locked at night. File servers are
installed in adequate LAN furniture with system ventilation.
■ A UPS is installed to protect file server. Power Chute software manages the
automatic emergency shutdown and startup.
Hardware
(See Exhibit V-2)
' ■ This LAN is built around the SLOI file server. The file server is a Compaq
SystemPro with 32 MB of RAM and 2 GB of mirrored disk storage. The LAN
provides network access to the server through Cabletron and ArcNet Hubs. The LAN
' also provides access to 14 laser printers and 1 D-size Plotter.
■ Access to the IBM system/36 is provided through an MI Gateway.
■ Limited dial access to the LAN is granted through a machine running PC Anywhere
with password security enforced. Dial access is currently being implemented using a
' Shiva Landrover product.
■ The network is expected to be available 24 hours, 7 days a week. This system is
' considered critical. In disaster situations they provide access to information required
to respond to City-wide emergencies.
1
Contacts: Brian Friedman
' William Lord
' KPPAG-Peat Marwick Page 98
1 City of San Luis Obispo
1 Current System Assessment
City Hall LAN
1 — Exhibit V -2
MI Gateway
1 VUP 6.0 E-Mall IBM Systernme
Server
1 I-I ■ Shiva LeMrover/
E
PC Anywhere
1 WP 3.1 E-Mail
server
--7 Laptop
City Hall
1 Cabletron Ethernet HUG rrcjE 7
SLo7•Cm HALL
1
7-
LAN Workstation LAN Workstation LAN Wcrksta0en
1 Network Pnnter
HP Plotter
Network Primer
Network Printer
1 _
K�Peat Marwick Page 99
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
955 Morro LAN
' 955 Morro LAN
Applications
The 955 Morro server provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network. Below
' is a list of the major applications running on the network. Applications available via
WAN access are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
■ Office automation standard software
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
■ Civil engineering and survey programs
■ AutoCAD v12
■ Pavement management program
' ■ Bridge design program(shareware)
■ Work Order(WAN)
Security
The following issues were noted:
' ■ User network password changes are required every 180 days. In addition, a numeric
is required in the password.
■ The MAIL_SRV account does not require a password. Potential security problems
exist as access from any station is permitted through the use of this account. This
access should be reviewed to determine if alternatives can be used. A short term
solution is to limit access for the MAIL_SRV account to a specific workstation.
' ■ The GUEST account is active but restricted.
' ■ SUPERVISOR password is given to 3 people(2 and the WAN administrator).
■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems.
■ The server CONSOLE LOCK utility is presently being used to prevent access to
console utilities.
■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator. Backup tapes are
' taken offsite periodically.
Peat Marwick Page 100
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
955 Morro LAN
' Physical and Environmental Protection
The following issues were noted:
' ■ The file server is installed in a cabinet in a separate office with a door.
■ There does not be appear to be adequate ventilation for the file server. The system is
being run with the cabinet door open and a hub on the floor to allow sufficient
cooling.
' ■ Separate A/C units are not provided to this room.
' ■ A battery UPS is installed for the file server. Power Chute software manages
automatic emergency shutdown and startup..
' Hardware
(See Exhibit V - 3)
' ■ This LAN is built around the 955_Morro file server. The file server is a Compaq
Proliant with 32 MB of RAM and 2 GB of mirrored disk storage. The LAN provides
network access to the server through Cabletron hubs on a l OBase-2 thinnet segment.
An ArcNet hub and wiring segment is being replaced and integrated into the existing
Ethernet network. This LAN also provides access to 2 laser printers and a HP Plotter.
■ This is the newest and the most advanced file server in the WAN. This type of file
server is being considered as the new City-wide standard.
■ File sizes on this LAN can be large due to the graphics work being performed. Some
discussion has taken place regarding an increase in the disk capacity for this server.
The amount of traffic on this server should be closely monitored for performance
impacts caused by the large file sizes.
Contacts: Barbara Lynch (System Administrator)
' Brian Friedman (WAN Administrator)
1
Kl Peat Marwick Page 101
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
955 Morro LAN
' Exhibit V- 3
x
r
U
o
e Q
J
LL
�
essnorrcw
o ° ° ° ° ° ° o _ 955
° ° ° ° o00 °
oo ° ° ° ° o °
° ° °° ° ° ° °
Morrow
Cabletron Ethernet Hub
1
1
1
' LAN Workstation LAN Workstation LAN Workstation
Network Printer
Network Printer
Network Printer
KPW Peat Marwick Page 102
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Corporation Yard LAN
Corporation Yard LAN
' Applications
The CORP_YARD server provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network.
Below is a list of the major applications running on the network. Standalone or WAN
based applications are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
' ■ Office automation standard software
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
' ■ Tree maintenance program
■ Fleet maintenance program
■ Pavement management program
' ■ DBase III
■ Water distribution program(Standalone)
■ Sewer maintenance program(Standalone)
■ Irrigation telemetry program (Standalone)
■ Utilities telemetry program(Standalone)
' ■ Water reclamation operations program(Standalone)
■ Herbicide program(Standalone)
■ Pretreatment program
■ Work order program(WAN)
■ Land use program (WAN)
Security
The following issues were noted:
1 ■ User network password changes are required every 180 days. In addition, a numeric
is required in the password.
' ■ SUPERVISOR password is given to only 2 or 3 people.
■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems.
' ■ The Server CONSOLE LOCK utility is being used to prevent access to console
utilities.
■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator.
' Physical and Environmental Protection
The following issues were noted:
' ■ The file server is in a separate office with a lockable door. The file server is installed
' on a workbench countertop.
' K1 W Peat Marwick Page 103
1 -
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Corporation Yard LAN
' ■ Separate A/C units are not provided into this room.
■ A UPS is installed to protect the file server. A Netw re UPS monitoring board is
' installed in the server.
Hardware
' (See Exhibit V-4)
■ This LAN is built around the CORP—YARD file server. The file server is an Everex
' Step 386 with 8 MB of RAM and 600 MB of disk storage. The LAN provides access
to the server through a Cabletron hub l OBase-T segment. The LAN also provides
access to several laser printers.
' ■ Most of the separate buildings and facilities within the corporation yard are connected
' by fiber optic cable.
■ Access to the IBM system/36 is provided through an MI Gateway.
' ■ The network is expected to be available 24 hours. This system is considered critical.
In disaster situations it provides access to information required to respond to city wide
emergencies.
Contacts. Dave Smith(System Administrator)
Brian Friedman(WAN Administrator)
!( Peat Marwick Page 104
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Corporation Yard LAN
' Exhibit V -4
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City Hall Hub
1M=Corp_Yard
Tt to City Hall 572K
Corporation
' 00 0 00 0 0 0
° ° ° ° ° ° ° °
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Cabletron Ethernet Hub
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Other Corp.Yard
' Buildings
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Network Printer
Network Printer
' Network Printer
' KPW Peat Marwick Page 105
f -
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Fire LAN
Fire Department LAN
' Applications
The SLOFD LAN provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network. Below is a
list of the major applications running on the network. Most applications are locally
developed or customized using FoxPro. Applications running on the network include:
' ■ Office automation standard software and Corel graphics software
■ Emergency run application
' ■ Hass House and Hass fire sprinkler calculation programs
■ CD-ROM for Uniform Fire Code lookup
■ Run Reports
■ Inspection Tracking
■ Violation Tracking
■ Training Library Inventory
' ■ Scheduling
■ Plan Check log/history/tracking
' ■ City/County Map Index
■ FLSA pay period information
■ Monthly Calendar
' ■ Training Records
■ County Med Statistics
■ Residential Sprinkler Database
■ Activity Tracking
■ Hazardous materials program
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
■ Weed abatement program
' This department has implemented Windows 3.1 on many of its workstations.
1
KAW Peat Marwick Page 106
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire LAN
' Security
The following issues were noted:
■ User network password changes are required every 60 days. In addition, a numeric is
' required in the password.
■ The GUEST account has been removed.
■ The SLOFD LAN interfaces with a RUN REPORT device that downloads information
from the Police department. The DOWNLOAD account does not require a password.
' Access to the SLOFD LAN is allowed from any workstation using this account. The
account has full access to the RUN REPORT information. This access should be
reviewed to determine if alternatives can be used. A short term solution could be to
' restrict access for the DOWNLOAD account to a specific workstation.
' ■ The LAN SUPERVISOR password is given to 3 or 4 people.
■ The Novell SUPERVISOR options were removed from the SYSCON menu. This is a
good safeguard to prevent accidental reconfiguration of the file server from a
workstation.
' ■ The Server CONSOLE LOCK utility is being used to prevent access to console
utilities.
■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator.
Physical and Environmental Protection
The following issues were noted:
' ■ The file server is installed on tables in a separate office.
■ Separate A/C units are not provided for this room.
■ A UPS is installed to protect the file server. Power Chute software manages
' automatic emergency shutdown and startup.
KAW 1
Peat Marwick Page 107
1 -
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Fire LAN
' Hardware
(See Exhibit V - 5)
' ■ This LAN is built around the SLOFD file server. The file server is a Compaq
M
SystcmPro with 16 B of RAM and 1 GB of mirrored disk storage. Network access
' to the server is provided through Cabletron hubs with l OBase-T segment. The LAN
also provides access to 8 laser printers.
■ Access to the IBM system/36 is provided through an MI Gateway.
■ Limited dial-in access to the LAN is granted through two (2) machines running PC
' Anywhere. Password security enforced. PC Anywhere is only activated on an as
needed basis.
' ■ The network is expected to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Fire
department systems are considered critical. In disaster situations these systems
' provide access to information required to respond to city wide emergencies.
Contacts: Ron Hanson(System Administrator)
Brian Friedman (WAN Administrator)
1
t
Mik,Peat Marwick Page 108
1
1 -
City of San Luis Obispo
t Current System Assessment
Fire LAN
1 Exhibif V - 5
71 to police Dept
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/( Peat Marwick Page 109
1
t -
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police LAN
' Police Department LAN
' Applications
The SLOPD LAN provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network. Below is a
list of the major applications running on the network. Standalone or WAN based
applications are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
■ Office automation standard software
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
' ■ Crime reporting information system(CRIS)records management system
■ CRIS Computer aided dispatch(CAD 911 E)
■ Work Order(WAN)
' Security
The following issues were noted:
' ■ The SLOPD LAN interfaces with a RUN REPORT device that downloads
' information from the Police department. The DOWNLOADNIRE_DOWNLOAD
account does not require a password on the SLOFD LAN or the SLOPD LAN. These
accounts have access from any workstation on the SLOPD LAN. This access should
be reviewed to determine if functional alternatives can be used. A short term solution
could be to restrict access for the DOWNLOAD account to a specific workstation.
' ■ User network password changes are required every 60 days. In addition, a numeric is
required in the password.
■ The Novell GUEST account has been removed.
■ The Novell SUPERVISOR password is given to 1 or 2 people.
' ■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems.
' ■ The server CONSOLE LOCK utility is presently being used to prevent access to
console utilities.
' ■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator.
KPW Peat Marwick Page 110
1
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police LAN
' Physical and Environmental Protection
The following issues were noted:
' ■ The file server is in a separate computer room with adequate ventilation and a door.
' ■ Access to the computer room has restricted access.
■ Separate A/C units are provided to this room.
' ■ A UPS is installed to protect the file server. Power Chute software manages
automatic emergency shutdown and startup.
' Hardware
(See Exhibit V - 6) 0
■ This LAN is built around the SLOPD file server. The file server is a Compaq
' SystemPro with 32 MB of RAM and 1 GB of mirrored disk storage. The LAN
provides access to the server through Cabletron hubs. The LAN provides access to 8
laser printers.
■ The network is expected to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This
system is considered critical. In disaster situations this LAN provides access to
information required to respond to city wide emergencies
' Contacts: Tom Stewart(System Administrator)
Brian Friedman (WAN Administrator)
KPM&Peat Marwick Page 111
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Police LAN
' Exhibit V-6
HT1 to Fire Dept
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Run Report 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
System 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
City Hall Hub
' T1 to City Hall 512K
SLOPD-Police /
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Cabletron Ethernet Hub
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Network Printer
Network Printer
Network Printer
Peat Marwick Page 112
1
' City of San Luis Obispo
P
' Current System Assessment
Recreation LAN
' Recreation LAN
' Applications
The REC server provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network. Below is a
' list of the major applications running on the network. Standalone or WAN based
applications are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
' ■ Office automation standard software
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
■ RecWare registration program
' ■ RecWare facility reservation program
■ Touch tone registration system(Standalone)
' ■ Work Order Program (WAN)
Security
' The following issues were noted:
■ Network user password changes are required every 180 days. In addition, a numeric
is required in the password.
■ The SUPERVISOR password is given to 2 or 3 people.
■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems
' ■ The Server CONSOLE LOCK utility is being used to prevent access to console
utilities.
' ■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator.
Physical and Environmental Protection
' The following issues were noted:
■ The file server is installed on a shelf in a separate room with a door.
■ Separate A/C units are not provided for this room.
■ A UPS is installed to protect the file server.
1
K�Peat Marwick Page 113
1
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Recreation LAN
' Hardware
(See Exhibit V - 7)
■ This LAN is built around the REC file server. The file server is a Witco 486/66 with
8 MB of RAM and 250 MB of disk storage. Access to the server is provided by a
Cabletron hub with 1OBase-T segments. The LAN provides access to 3 networked
' printers (2 laser and 1 dot matrix).
' ■ Access to the IBM system/36 is provided through an MI Gateway.
■ A stand alone system provides touch tone telephone registration access.
Contacts: Linda Fitzgerald(System Administrator)
' Brian Friedman(WAN Administrator)
1
1
1
1
1
' KPAACt Peat Marwick Page 114
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Recreation LAN
' Exhibit V- 7
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' LAN Workstation LAN Workstation LAN Workstation
Network Printer
Network Printer
' Network Printer
' KPA4&Peat Marwick Page 115
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Parking LAN
' Parking LAN
' Applications
The PARKING server provides access to systems through a Novell 3.11 network. Below
is a list of the major applications running on the network. Standalone or WAN based
applications are annotated. Applications running on the network include:
■ Office automation standard software
■ Quattro Pro spreadsheet
' ■ Harvard Graphics
■ Raidex - citations program (Standalone)
■ Work order program (WAN)
' Security
The following issues were noted:
■ User network password changes are required every 180 days. In addition, a numeric
' is required in the password.
■ The SUPERVISOR password is given to 1 department person and the WAN
administrator.
■ Passwords are enforced on file servers and console systems
■ The server CONSOLE LOCK utility is being used to prevent access to console
utilities.
' ■ System backups are performed daily by the System Administrator.
' Physical and Environmental Protection
The following issues were noted:
■ The file server is installed on a standard office table in an open office area.
■ Separate A/C units are not provided for this room.
■ A UPS is installed to protect the file server.
' Peat Marwick Page 116
City of San Luis Obispo
' Current System Assessment
Parking LAN
Hardware
(See Exhibit V - 8)
■ This LAN is built around the PARKING file server. The file server is an Everex Step
386 with 8 MB of RAM and 250 MB of disk storage. The LAN provides access to
the server through a Cabletron hub l OBase-2 segment. The LAN also provides access
to several laser printers.
' ■ Access to the IBM System/36 is provided through an MI Gateway.
■ The network is expected to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week..
' Contacts: Laurie Hanson (System Administrator)
Brian Friedman(WAN Administrator)
1
t
XDW Peat Marwick Page 117
1
City of San Luis Obispo
Current System Assessment
Parking LAN
' Exhibit V - 8
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1 .
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Network Printer
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KPW Peat Marwick Page 118
1
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