City of Powell River councillors will consider a $103,000 expenditure for information system upgrades.
At the April 28 finance committee meeting, chief financial officer (CFO) Mallory Denniston outlined the request, which would involve an expenditure of $53,000 from the city’s technology reserve and $50,000 from unappropriated surplus.
Denniston stated that she is seeking three modernization upgrades.
“The city has massively diverse operations and service, ranging from an airport, two harbours, taxes and utilities, parks and recreation, planning and permitting, and much more,” said Denniston. “It’s so much more diverse than a typical business. As a result of that we need information systems that are agile enough to service all of the complexities of these different services and operations.”
Denniston said the city has a well-established structure that provides the agility required to meet the needs of each department.
“The city has reputable and widely-used information systems in place; however, upgrades are required to access the full potential of these systems,” said Denniston. “In other words, many of the city’s information systems have modernized features and functions available. It will require a consulting team to design, develop and implement upgrades. For example, the city currently pays vendors by printing cheques and mailing them.”
Denniston said through existing software and the consultants, the city would be able to change the configuration to make payments through electronic fund transfers.
“We have great systems; we just need to catch up on some modernization,” said Denniston. “Improving these systems is not a new initiative for our group. The city is four years into an eight-year process of modernizing the information systems to optimize process efficiencies.”
Denniston said the reason she is asking for funding for three projects is because in working with a consultant firm named Agilyx, the company recently informed the city of some cost efficiencies available when related projects are incorporated into a single work plan.
“Working with Agilyx, we identified that the next three projects I’m requesting funding for will be more cost effective if we are able to tackle them concurrently,” added Denniston.
The three projects include human resources software integration, a grievance mode, and an invoice register and electronic fund transfer payments module.
Denniston said it is difficult to accurately quantify the ongoing cost savings that would result from these initiatives, but it is known that past improvements have realized cost savings annually and reduced staff hours.
“It is reasonable to expect similar results with these further improvements would be realized,” she added.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said she wanted to support Denniston’s request because integrating software gives the city more bang for its bucks.
Mayor Dave Formosa said he has found it humorous since arriving as a councillor that the city does payroll by hand.
“It makes so much sense and it’s well worth it,” said Formosa.
He asked about Agilyx, which would be charging the city annual fees for a hosting subscription and maintenance support costs.
Denniston said the company is highly reputable and has provided exceptional service. She said she phoned other municipalities that have been using the services of Agilyx.
“I did a lot of research on that and relied on references from the other municipalities, and I will say Agilyx is living up to and exceeding expectations,” said Denniston.
The committee gave unanimous consent to send the expenditure to city council for approval.
