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Town
of Groton
Information Technology Committee
IT Manager Funding
Justification
Jim Selders, Chairman
January 14, 2008
Current Status
IT
Manager position approved but unfunded
Compensation
level being reviewed by PB
IT
used daily by most Town positions, and is a critical, mandatory
need
Significant
IT work is done by volunteers, across all departments and sites
Departments
have constant support needs
Several
special projects are coming
GITC
IT Manager Justification
2
Departmental Needs
All
Town staff use computers now (laborers excepted); Some departments have
additional future needs / IT projects
Public
Safety / Emergency Services
Financial
functions (Treasurer, Accounting, etc.)
Building
/ permitting functions
Administrative
functions everywhere
GIS
/ Mapping / Addresses
Conservation
/ CPA functions
Town
of Groton - IT Manager Funding Justification
3
IT Staffing, Workload
Current Staffing:
0; library has 1 part-time
Volunteers
2007
Q3: ~ 500 hours (2000 hours annual 001 FTE)
Could
easily use more for numerous initiatives
Not
sustainable at this level
Computer
Count - Grand Total: ~130+
36
Town Hall
12
Fire / EMS (Public Safety + Fire Stations)
19
Police (Public Safety + Cruisers)
~40
+ 10 coming - Library
9 -
Senior Center
2 -
Legion Hall
3-5
- Country Club
Plus
networking equipment and connections
Plus
copiers, phones, printers, etc.
GITC
IT Manager Justification
4
Why Now?
Review
of functions in 2004 by Massachusetts Department of Revenue recommended:
Investment
in full-time IT position
Enhance
computer training
Centralize
technology decisions (partially implemented)
Investment
needed to:
Improve
antiquated processes
Reduce
costs of redundancy, inefficiency, and errors
Increase
employee output / performance 00less time on paperwork & process,
more on the actual work
Increase
00ustomer00satisfaction 00faster, error-free results; automated
proactive communications, etc.
Prepare
for all future activities and functions
Ongoing
workload is not sustainable by volunteers
GITC
IT Manager Justification
5
Why Now? (cont.)
Critical
enabler: IT enables mandatory functions for all departments
Revenue
collection (assessing and taxes)
Payroll
Billing
Communications
(email, web)
Reporting
/ Management
Federal
and State compliance, legal cases, disputes
Special
Projects 002010 Census, 43D Expedited Permitting
Cost
control / efficiency initiatives
Future
initiatives such as cost reduction are enabled by IT investment, and
inhibited without it
Move
manual processes into computers, then improve and automate for efficiency
gains and cost savings
Data
& information asset protection
Required
for Town to operate
Required
for legal compliance at State/Federal levels
GITC
IT Manager Justification
6
Why Now: Recent
IT projects
Brand-new
infrastructure build-out (600 hrs)
Value:
more secure, reliable, maintainable, safeguarded, platform for future
improvements
Remote
email, remote desktop 00improved access
Town
Hall network upgrade (20 hrs)
Value:
improve computer performance, secure the private network, new public
wireless network, reduce internet access cost
Public
Safety partial network upgrade (40 hrs)
Value:
much faster computer performance, get fire & EMS personnel online
GITC
IT Manager Justification
7
Why Now: Pending
IT projects (1)
43D
Expedited Permitting software and overall initiative 00onsulting00
(200 hours)
Cross-department
billing solution for utilities, Treasurer, etc. (200 hours)
Integrate
Groton Public Library (75 hours)
Replace
Treasurer tax software (50 hrs)
Correct
& centralize address db00 (200
hrs)
GITC
IT Manager Justification
8
Why Now: Pending
IT projects (2)
Rewire
Public Safety network (50 hrs)
2010
Census (50-200 hours?)
Internal
workflow / calendar / resource scheduling (50 hours)
New
Town web site with integrated forms & workflow (200+ hours)
Upgrade
server infrastructure (200 hours)
GITC
IT Manager Justification
9
Why Now: Pending
IT projects (3)
Support
Water technology initiatives (?)
Upgrade
MIP accounting software (20 hours)
Upgrade
QuickBooks (10 hours)
Improve
records retention / compliance (25)
Support
other cost-reduction initiatives (?)
GITC
IT Manager Justification
10
Why Now: Tactical
Support
Support
consumes 20%000% of FTE per week
Scales
directly with # of people, vendors/applications
Many
IT support calls mean a department00 efficiency is impacted, sometimes
severely
Often,
immediate action is needed or business function stops; volunteers must
be readily available
Recent
examples:
Assessor
00property assessment databases
Payroll
00switch to new system, problem resolution
Taxes
00support, problem resolution
Accounting
00computer failure, software upgrade
Water
billing - support, problem identification
Fire
administration 00critical problem resolution
CPA/Building
admin 00problem resolution
GITC
IT Manager Justification
11
Why Now: IT Management
Functions
Value-add
Cost
containment though process efficiency and automation 00significant
opportunity here
Identification
and integration of operational redundancies 00significant opportunity
here
Improve
quality of Groton00 Democracy and public participation via much improved
communications and information access (meeting minutes, property value
changes, tax bill pre-notification, etc.)
Perpetual
Needs
Project
identification and prioritization
Project
implementation and follow-up
Operations
monitoring
Support
dispatch and resolution
Budgeting
Identify
training needs and implement
GITC
IT Manager Justification
12
Comparisons
IT
staffing identified on town web sites
Acton
- 1 Director ($85K), 3 technicians ($65K)
Westford
- 1 Director,1 Manager, 3 technicians
Littleton
- 1 person (title unknown)
Concord
- 1 Manager, 1 technician
Lexington
- 1 Director
Ashland
- 1 Director
Marlboro
001 Director
GITC
IT Manager Justification
13
How to Fund Position
- Ideas
Implicit
in preceding information:
Combine
redundant processes 00get depts to work together on billing processes,
mailing cycles
Eliminate
costs of using paper-based systems including errors and customer problems
00quality is cheaper!
Bring
satellite offices into TH 00Legion Hall
Automate
forms and their processing
Implement
new cross-department solutions to leverage common information (eg addresses)
Dump
vendors who drive costs into our operations
GITC
IT Manager Justification
14
Summary
IT
is a business-critical area more than ever
Tactical
and strategic technology activities are constant
Departments
need and demand support
Future
cost control lies in electronic solutions and automation
Insurance
for records retention / legal
Groton
is well overdue
GITC
IT Manager Justification
15
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