That the Finance and Administration Committee recommend to City Council:

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1 Report To: From: Subject: Finance and Administration Committee Item: Date of Report: FA May 9, 2007 Rick Stockman, Commissioner File: Date of Meeting: Corporate Services Department A-3700 May 14, 2007 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL C , CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE (Companion Report to Closed Report FA-07-27) PUBLIC MEETING Ward(s): All Wards 1.0 PURPOSE Purchasing Services issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in September of 2006 with the intent to secure a vendor to provide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. The purpose of this report is: to provide Council with an overview of the RFP evaluation process; to request approval for staff to commence contract negotiations and proceed with the acquisition and implementation of the CRM software; and to provide Council with an updated timeline for implementation. 2.0 RECOMMENDATION That the Finance and Administration Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That the Manager, Purchasing Services, be authorized to: commence contract negotiations and proceed with an award to EMA/Lagan for the purchase and implementation of Customer Relationship Management software as outlined in Report FA-07-13; and to proceed with the acquisition of third party hardware and software, provided the total project does not exceed the upset limit of $650, That funding for this project be provided from the Information Technology Reserve. 3. That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute an agreement in a form that is acceptable to the City Solicitor. 3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council has committed to making customer service excellence a priority. Information technology plays a critical role in the execution of business goals, objectives and strategies, and has a large influence in the success of any comprehensive customer service strategy. In particular, the implementation of CRM software is essential for the City to advance this commitment

2 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: May 14, 2007 An RFP was issued and submissions were evaluated in great detail to ensure the City s requirements would be met. After consulting with other municipalities that had acquired CRM software, the evaluation team concluded that Lagan software would be the best fit for the City of Oshawa. It is therefore recommended that a contract be awarded to EMA/Lagan for the purchase and implementation of CRM software. The total cost for this project is expected to be in the range of $550,000 to $650,000 and can be accommodated through the Information Technology Reserve. The CRM software will be a major technology investment which will be the backbone of the City s customer service initiatives for the next 7 to 10 years. 4.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES The submissions were reviewed by a cross-functional team consisting of: Commissioner, Corporate Services City Clerk Director, Information Technology Services Customer Service Centre Consultant Manager, Applications Support Customer Service Manager Manager, Purchasing Services The Auditor General was consulted during the process and given the opportunity to review evaluation ratings for all vendors and financial statements for the two vendors that were short-listed. 5.0 ANALYSIS Council received two reports from the City Manager CM Customer Service Strategy dated May 12, 2006 which stated that a critical component in improved customer service delivery is the implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software; and CM Customer Care Centre dated June 19, 2006 which provided for the issuing of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the acquisition and implementation of the CRM software. Due to the complexity of the software and variety of solutions proposed, the evaluation process has been more complex and lengthier than expected. 5.1 Submissions And Evaluation Process Purchasing Services contacted known firms and advertised the RFP on the City and the Ontario Public Buyers Association websites. A total of thirteen firms picked up the RFP document and five responses were received and opened by the Manager, Purchasing Services on October 11, All responses were considered compliant. Below is a tabulation of the bids received in order of their overall ranking.

3 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: May 14, EMA, Canada Inc., in partnership with Lagan Technologies Limited Lagan is the leading provider of CRM software in Britain s local government market. They began expanding into the United States in 2004 and are now entering the Canadian market. They have partnered with EMA, Canada Inc. as their implementation consultant. 2. The Active Network, Inc. Active specializes in support to recreation and leisure lifestyle organizations. They purchased a product three years ago and began branching into the CRM market. Oshawa is currently a client of Active s recreation registration and facility booking product, Class. 3. Bell Canada, in partnership with Motorola Motorola built a presence in the CRM market with a product they purchased in They have partnered with Bell Canada to perform their implementation. The City has had a long term relationship with Bell and Motorola as the supplier of local and long distance networks and access services. 4. ESRI Canada Limited ESRI Canada Limited is the Canadian branch of a company whose focus is providing Geographic Information System (GIS) solutions. ESRI utilizes applications developed by their partner, Azteca which leverage their core GIS technology to provide a CRM solution for the Canadian government market. The City has been a client of ESRI since 1989, utilizing their GIS products. 5. Hansen Information Technologies Hansen has a variety of software solutions sold only in the government market. CRM functionality was added due to demand from its customer base but with a focus on asset management. The City does not have a business relationship with Hansen. The five submissions were evaluated based on the criteria provided in the RFP including: price, compliance with specifications, implementation plan, maintenance/support and corporate capabilities. The evaluation team quickly realized that due to the complexity of the proposals, product demonstrations would be required and invited four of the vendors to provide product demonstrations. Hansen Technologies was not brought forward as their proposed solution was a poor match to the City s requirements. The evaluation team short-listed the two highest scoring proponents (EMA/Lagan and Active) and conducted further interviews, reference checks and site visits to existing client locations.

4 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: May 14, Comparison Of Short-Listed Solutions Confidential Report FA dated May 9, 2007 from the Commissioner of Corporate Services includes a high-level comparison between the Lagan and Active solutions. 5.3 Software And Implementation Costs Confidential Report FA dated May 9, 2007 from the Commissioner of Corporate Services includes a comparative cost summary for the two vendors based on their RFP submission and information subsequently provided. 5.4 Recommended Proponent It is the recommendation of the evaluation team to select EMA/Lagan as the preferred proponent for the following reasons: the Lagan solution is a more complete, comprehensive product; municipal government CRM is the company s core competency; positive references were presented for the product, the company and service provided; and the proposed solution best meets the City s future business and customer service requirements. 5.5 Project Timing The initial program implementation date was scheduled to be September 1, That date was selected by Council in the absence of information, which is now available, concerning complexity of possible CRM solutions. This complexity coupled with delays in determining location in conjunction with the City Hall Master Plan has caused the planned date of implementation to be revised to February Due to the delayed implementation date, the City has released itself from the contract with the consultant, resulting in significant savings in consultant fees. The implementation plan now includes the following milestones and estimated time frames: Milestone Estimated Timing Project Plan Assessment & Approval July 2007 Software Installation and Project Team Training July August 2007 Business Process Configuration August October 2007 Population of Knowledge Base October December 2007 Integration with PeopleSoft and GIS November December 2007 System Testing December 2007 End User Training January 2008 Go Live February 2008

5 Committee (Continued) Meeting Date: May 14, FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The total CRM project will cost in the range of $550,000 to $650,000. A significant portion of the project cost relates to hardware, training and third party licenses required to support the CRM software. The CRM software will become the backbone of our Customer Service Centre and represents a major technology investment that will be in place for 7 to 10 years. Funding for the CRM project can be accommodated from the Information Technology Reserve. 7.0 RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN A vibrant, strong and progressive community promote a new positive image for Oshawa A caring and responsive community improved communication (supports Customer Service Centre which is one phone number with more complete information) be accountable (tracking of service requests) Sandra Kranc City Clerk _ Dave Powell Director, Information Technology Services Rick Stockman, Commissioner Corporate Services Department