EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL CABINET 15 DECEMBER 2010 KILMARNOCK TOWN CENTRE ON STREET PARKING:

Transcription

1 EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL CABINET 15 DECEMBER 2010 KILMARNOCK TOWN CENTRE ON STREET PARKING: UPGRADE OF BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS AND RENEWAL OF PAY & DISPLAY TICKET MACHINES MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT Report by the Depute Chief Executive / Executive Director of Neighbourhood Services 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 The purpose of the report is: to seek approval for the Head of Roads and Transportation to enter into negotiations to procure back office system upgrade for pay and display ticket machines and renew the Comprehensive Maintenance Agreement with Metric Group Limited, Metric House, Westmead Industrial Estate, Westlea, Swindon, Wilts, SN5 7AD, who are the sole suppliers of the service for these machines. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 On street parking charges in Kilmarnock town centre were introduced on 25 th April Metric Group Limited won the contract for the supply and installation of 60 Accent S3 solar powered pay & display ticket machines and back office computer systems in competition with three other Tenderers. 2.2 The existing back office system sits on a standalone PC. As the ticket machines contact the PC via a modem, for security purposes the PC has to be housed on a separate neutral zone between the Council s secured private network and the public network in an area called the DMZ based at Civic Centre South. It is proposed to upgrade this system to a new web based system hosted by Metric Group Limited. 2.3 The Development Services Committee at their meeting of 22 August 2006 granted approval to enter into a three year Comprehensive Maintenance Agreement with Metric Group Limited for the servicing and repair of the on street ticket machines. This was granted having considered that Metric Group Ltd is the sole supplier of this service for their Accent S3 machines. 3. BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS 3.1 Issues with current set up.

2 Signal Strength Because the ticket machines contact the PC over the mobile phone network, the PC requires to be housed in the DMZ which is based at the Civic Centre South. There are serious issues with the mobile phone signal reception at this location which has resulted in numerous instances where ticket machines have failed to successfully contact the PC overnight when scheduled. Security The DMZ was moved to the new data centre in Civic Centre North in 2009, however as there is no mobile signal at this location the Metric PC was left in its original location. This room is no longer a secure environment. PC Reliability Problems are experienced regularly with the PC which stops working and has to be rebooted. Metric Group Limited have been unable to establish the cause of this however it is most likely related to the system which was not designed to sit in a DMZ. The Council s IT Department has confirmed it has to be located there in order to comply with council IT security policy. PC User Access Another drawback of having the PC in the DMZ is that only one user can access the system at a time. This causes problems with sessions locking up the PC and this can only be resolved by rebooting the system. PC Condition The PC on which the system sits on is now over 5 years old and requires to be replaced. Excessive Demands on IT Support Staff As a result of the problems highlighted above there are excessive demands placed on IT support staff which are time consuming and costly. 3.2 Solutions After detailed consultations with the Council s IT Department and Metric Group Ltd it has been established that the most desirable solution to the problems highlighted in 3.1 would be to upgrade the entire back office system to a web based system hosted by Metric Group Ltd. In addition to various operational tools and services that could be utilised in the future, this option would offer the following benefits; a) All operational problems associated with the system sitting within a DMZ would be alleviated. b) As the system would be hosted by Metric Group Ltd the Council s IT Department would no longer have excessive demands placed upon it.

3 c) Several users could access the system at any one time. 3.3 Costs d) System upgrades, backups and hardware failures would all be dealt with directly by Metric Group Ltd thus providing a more reliable system of operation. a) Existing costs per annum; Metric support 1,326 Communication costs (60 machines) 16,080 Total 17,406 b) Proposed costs per annum; Metric support 6,480 Communication costs (60 machines) 3,600 Total 10,080 Switching to a new web hosted system would therefore result in a saving of 7,326 per annum and the biggest saving can be attributed to switching the communications system from the existing mobile sim card form of communication to the cheaper on line form of communication. 4. TICKET MACHINE MAINTENANCE 4.1 Coverage A Comprehensive Maintenance Agreement for the 60 on street pay and display ticket machines includes; a) All labour and parts for repairs necessitated by fair wear and tear. b) 2 preventative maintenance visits per year. c) 12 hours response time for repairs (9.00am to 5.00pm Mon Fri, excluding public holidays).

4 4.2 Costs The previous annual costs for a comprehensive maintenance agreement were as follows; 01/09/06 31/08/07 16,020 01/09/07 31/08/08 16,020 01/09/08 31/08/09 16,660 01/09/09 31/08/10 16,660 Proposed annual cost for the first year of the proposed new agreement; 01/09/10 31/08/11 17,035 These costs equate to a 6.25% increase on 2006 prices. The annual charges for the following two years will be adjusted in line with published indices by BEAMA British Electrotechnical and Allied Members Association, for the electro mechanical industry. 5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1. The Council s standing orders in relation to contracts (paragraph 20 (1)) require Cabinet approval to be sought before tender negotiations can take place with a single contractor. Metric Group Ltd is the only company that can provide on line back office support and maintenance in relation to the ticket machines purchased from them. 6. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 6.1 The proposed web hosted system will accrue a saving of at least 7,326 per annum and all costs will be met from existing budgets. 6.2 The proposed renewed Comprehensive Maintenance Agreement will commence at 17,035 per annum with annual increase over the following two years based on the published indices by BEAMA British Electrotechnical and Allied Members Association, for the electro mechanical industry. Costs will be met from existing budgets. 7. COMMUNITY PLAN / POLICY IMPLICATIONS 7.1 The upgrading of the back office systems will improve the management of parking, contributing to the Community Planning theme Delivering Community Regeneration. 8. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

5 8.1 Not embracing new technology to upgrade the entire back office system would result in continual backup and hardware failures on an aging system. 9. PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 9.1 Nil. 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 10.1 It is recommended that the Cabinet; i) authorises the Head of Roads and Transportation to enter into negotiations with Metric Group Limited, Metric House, Westmead Industrial Estate, Westlea, Swindon, Wilts, SN5 7AD, to provide a webbased back office and statistical system; ii) iii) authorises the Head of Roads and Transportation to enter into negotiations with Metric Group Limited to renew the Comprehensive Maintenance Agreement for a three year period; otherwise note the content of the report. Elizabeth Morton Depute Chief Executive / Executive Director of Neighbourhood Services JB/JMcR 2 December 2010 BACKGROUND PAPERS Nil For further information on this report, please contact Barrie McDonnell, Parking Officer, Roads & Transportation (Tel: )