Manteca’s 20-year-old municipal software system for finance, utility services, community development, and human resources is being replaced for $1,076,000.
The move is designed to substantially increase efficiency through improved speed and intercommunication between department functions. It also will assure that the city doesn’t end up with a system in a few years time that no longer has technical support.
The timing of the purchase avoids costly future fixes plus it also takes advantage of a market where pricing is more aggressive to lure business, according to staff reports.
The City Council last week approved the purchase of the software along with implementation support and annual updates through a five-year lease purchase. Although there is cash on hand from the non-general fund activities it supports plus set aside in the major equipment fees assessed on new growth, staff recommended the lease purchase as a better move.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton noted by leasing if money is needed for other major equipment purchases it would be available by not paying for the system upfront. Also, the lease costs were low enough that it made sense financially.
There is an annual payment of $219,000 for five years. That includes $136,100 from the major equipment fees fund, $17,700 from the water maintenance and operation fund, $24,715 from the sewer maintenance and operation fund, $30,445 from the solid waste fund, $3,700 from the golf fund, and $6,630 from the redevelopment agency.
The current system is command driven using green screen technology. The new system is browser based.
It is compatible with the police software put in place several years ago as it is from the same company, New World Systems.
Reasons listed by staff for replacing the current system included antiquated technology, no sharing of data between systems, no cross-department access, little or no technology updates, does not easily interface with current Microsoft-based technology, difficulty retrieving relevant data from the system, many manual processes in place due to system inadequacies, and system-wide reporting is poor.
The goal was to be compatible not just with browser based system but to allow integration with existing systems used for municipal work including desktop tools such as Word, Excel, and outlook, as well as global information systems.
The move is designed to substantially increase efficiency through improved speed and intercommunication between department functions. It also will assure that the city doesn’t end up with a system in a few years time that no longer has technical support.
The timing of the purchase avoids costly future fixes plus it also takes advantage of a market where pricing is more aggressive to lure business, according to staff reports.
The City Council last week approved the purchase of the software along with implementation support and annual updates through a five-year lease purchase. Although there is cash on hand from the non-general fund activities it supports plus set aside in the major equipment fees assessed on new growth, staff recommended the lease purchase as a better move.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton noted by leasing if money is needed for other major equipment purchases it would be available by not paying for the system upfront. Also, the lease costs were low enough that it made sense financially.
There is an annual payment of $219,000 for five years. That includes $136,100 from the major equipment fees fund, $17,700 from the water maintenance and operation fund, $24,715 from the sewer maintenance and operation fund, $30,445 from the solid waste fund, $3,700 from the golf fund, and $6,630 from the redevelopment agency.
The current system is command driven using green screen technology. The new system is browser based.
It is compatible with the police software put in place several years ago as it is from the same company, New World Systems.
Reasons listed by staff for replacing the current system included antiquated technology, no sharing of data between systems, no cross-department access, little or no technology updates, does not easily interface with current Microsoft-based technology, difficulty retrieving relevant data from the system, many manual processes in place due to system inadequacies, and system-wide reporting is poor.
The goal was to be compatible not just with browser based system but to allow integration with existing systems used for municipal work including desktop tools such as Word, Excel, and outlook, as well as global information systems.
