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Title:
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Authorization to Amend a Contract with Virtual Consulting to Obtain Development Services to Support Deploying Financial Reports on the City’s Intranet.
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City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council authorize amending an existing contract with
Virtual Consulting (Santa Monica, CA) to obtain development services to support
deploying financial reports on the City’s Intranet.
BACKGROUND:
One of the FY05-06 work programs for the IT Department was to “provide enhanced
reporting capabilities and retrieval of financial data”. The IT Department initiated this
effort last fiscal year. The objective was to create new reports based on
specifications from City Council, City Treasurer, City Controller, and Executive
Management. These reports would provide supplemental information that was only
available by accessing the financial system. The existing financial reports would
also be redesigned to make them more user friendly (larger font size, clearer report
titles/headings, color coding where appropriate to highlight exceptions). Additionally,
the reports would be made available on the City’s Intranet as a way of reducing
paper and to facilitate citywide access to reports within appropriate security controls.
IT staff determined that Crystal Reports™ supplied by the software company,
Business Objects would be the tool of choice for developing the financial reports.
Crystal Reports software is an industry standard reporting tool that is used widely in
public and private agencies. The Crystal Reports software is used to facilitate the
design, development, and deployment of business reports.
Meeting Date: 01/22/07 Item Number: A-4
AGENDA ITEM: Authorization to Amend a Contract with Virtual Consulting to
Obtain Development Services to Support Deploying Financial Reports on the
City’s Intranet.
Contact Person/Dept.: Michele Williams
Information Technology
Phone Number: 310.253.5959
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [ ] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification:
E-mail Master Notification List on 01/17/07; Virtual Consulting on 01/17/07; Crystal
Alexander (City Treasurer) on 01/12/07
Department Approval:
John Richo (01/12/2007)
City Attorney Approval:
Heather Iker (01/17/2007)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (01/17/2007)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (01/17/2007)City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
DISCUSSION:
IT Department staff completed the development of the City Financial Reports and
the reports were validated by the City Treasurer’s Office. To date the following 28
reports have been developed. Documentation has also been developed that details
the content of each report (attachment 1).
1. Expenditure Report - Summary
2. Expenditure Report – by Fund
3. Expenditure Report – by Fund and Business Unit
4. Expenditure Report – by Fund, Business Unit and Account
5. Expenditure Report – by Fund and Account
6. Expenditure Report – by Fund, Account and Business Unit
7. Expenditure Report – Comparison to Last Year
8. Expenditure Chart – by Fund
9. Expenditure Chart – by Fund and Month
10. Revenue Report - Summary
11. Revenue Report - by Fund
12. Revenue Report – by Fund and Business Unit
13. Revenue Report – by Fund and Business Unit and Account
14. Revenue Chart – by Fund
15. Revenue Chart – by Fund and Month
16. Balance Sheet
17. Five Year Trend Report
18. Accounts Receivable Aging - Excel Extract
19. Accounts Receivable Aging Report – Current
20. Accounts Receivable Aging Report – Past Due
21. Budget Changes/Transfers by Business Unit
22. Open Encumbrance Detail Report
23. Paid Time Off Report
24. Performance Evaluation Report (w/ evaluation due dates)
25. Performance Evaluation Missing Dates Report
26. Purchase Order – Purchasing Department
27. Purchase Order – All Other Departments
28. Transaction Report (Accounts Payable by Business Unit)
The final phase of this project is to make these reports accessible to staff via the
City’s Intranet which provides interactive functionality. For example, an expenditure
report can be generated for a specific department by entering the appropriate
business units. Reports can also be generated for a specified timeframe using the
desired date range. Deploying the reports on the Intranet gives the end-user added
flexibility.City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
The original intent of the IT Department was to develop this functionality in-house.
Unfortunately, due to lingering staff shortages, it has been determined that the best
solution at this time is to engage consultants. IT staff contacted the software
supplier, Business Objects, in search of a vendor that could assist with this effort.
Business Objects indicated that there was only one vendor in Southern California
who was a member of their “network alliance”. The recommended vendor was
Virtual Consulting of Santa Monica, CA.
Virtual Consulting is a privately held consulting company that specializes in web
development, data warehousing and enterprise business intelligence systems.
Virtual Consulting has been a Business Objects alliance partner for nine years and
has also worked extensively as a consulting and training partner. In 2002 they were
the Crystal Decisions Partner of the Year. Virtual has been involved in over 50
deployments of Business Objects Enterprise and has developed thousand of reports
for hundreds of customers in a variety of industries.
Virtual Consulting qualified as a sole source vendor as no other vendors could be
identified that provided the same service and who met the City’s requirements of
being an alliance business partner with Business Objects. This was a requirement
because there had to be assurance that the vendor was qualified and certified to
perform this service.
In October 2006, a contract (attachment 2) not to exceed $6,600 was executed with
Virtual Consulting to assist IT staff with installing the software (Crystal Reports
Server XI) that is required for hosting reports via the Intranet. This contract was
executed as a method of engaging Virtual Consulting’s services and assessing their
performance. The vendor successfully completed the installation under the stated
contract amount. The total expenditure was $1,897.50. During this engagement,
the consultant also provided recommendations for report optimization and conducted
knowledge transfer to IT staff.
The City now requires consulting services to assist with web development and
software customization specific to the Crystal Reports Server environment. Virtual
Consulting has provided a proposal to complete this effort (attachment 3).
Staff recommends continuing the relationship with Virtual Consulting given the
success of their previous engagement, knowledgeable and experienced consultants,
and their alliance status with the software supplier, Business Objects.City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The authorization to contract with Virtual Consulting to obtain Crystal Reports Server
web development and software customization would result in an expenditure not to
exceed $19,800.
There is a remaining available balance of $4,702.50 on the existing contract. Staff
recommends amending the current contract so that the expenditure reflects a not to
exceed amount of $19,800. This would result in a net contract increase of
$15,097.50. Sufficient funds have been allocated in the Financial System’s Capital
Improvement Budget (42000636.619800).
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Financial Reports Documentation Guide
2. Contract with Virtual Consulting executed 10/17/06
3. Proposal from Virtual Consulting to Provide Web Development and Crystal
Reports Software Customization
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1) Authorize the contract amendment with Virtual Consulting to obtain web
development services for an expenditure not to exceed $19,800 which would
result in a net contract increase of $15,097.50;
2) Authorize the City Attorney to prepare any appropriate documents; and
3) Authorize the City Manager to execute any required agreements on behalf of the
City with Virtual Consulting.