MISA redesign draft3€¦ · Design: Natalie Coombs of NatCo Design Printer: Select Printing, Toronto Advertising Rates Associate Members Non-Members $1,375 pre-printed insert $1,700

The New CollaboratorsAs budget pressures grow, IT leaders find new ways to manage

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National Professional Journal of MISA/ASIM Canada

Municipal Interface

Also in this Issue: Doing More with Even LessPage

City of Lethbridge has a new model for organizing the IT department 15Can municipalities use the Web as their inspiration for collaborating? 21Open-source software – why it’s like home cooking and worth a try 24City of Oshawa builds citizen-service efficiency the affordable way 26Asset management for a century – City of Red Deer has a vision 31

Gaston Huot, left, and Daniel McCraw have built an innovative information network serving four Quebec cities. See page 11.

MISA/ASIM News Across Canada 5• IT Security Conference preview; MRMv2 Project update;

proposal for ERP reform; BC associate members; two more companies have special offers

Municipal News 41•Showcase Ontario awards; people news

ColumnsPresident’s column – Keeping In Touch 4Roy Wiseman – Governance Issues 42

Report From RIMQFour cities create MaVille.net 13

FeaturesFour Quebec cities share information system 11Lethbridge establishes priority system for IT 15Can municipalities work like the Web? 21Open-source software – it’s like home cooking 24Service Oshawa improves efficiency for citizens 26City of Red Deer builds sustainability vision 31Report on MISA West conference 35

In This Issue

Advertisers Index Page

AGL Inc. 44Agresso 28Digital Boundary Group 32ESRI Canada 20eSolutions Group 17Fortinet Canada 19JcEvers Consulting Corp. 34KPMG LLP 2Kaspersky Lab 8Lagan Technologies 30Mid-Range Computer Group 38Miller Thomson LLP 23Oracle Canada 37RIVA Modeling Group 14SyLogix Consulting Inc. 40Teranet 7UPSforLESS 29

MUNICIPAL Interface NOVEMBER 2009

3

Journal of MISA/ASIM Canada

Suite 309, 14845 – 6 Yonge StreetAurora, ON L4G 6H8Phone: 416-662-3950www.misa.on.ca; www.misa.bc.ca; www.misa-asim.ca

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Journal ProductionCo-Chairs, Communications Committee: Ron Blakey (Durham) 905-668-7711 x 2133Kathryn Bulko (Toronto) 416-397-9921

Co-Editors: Lawrence Moule 416-662-3950, [email protected] Morgan 416-488-2878, [email protected]

French-language editor: Gaston Huot (Brossard) 450-923-6362

Design: Natalie Coombs of NatCo Design

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© 2009 MISA/ASIM Canada

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY is more and more crucial tothe operation of organizations, and municipalities cannotescape this trend. There are many reasons for this.

Citizens tend to compare services they receive fromtheir municipalities to those provided by neighbouringmunicipalities – with the result that cities that are either ofthe same size or in the same neigbourhood often end upcompeting with one another.

Ever more watchful, citizens hope to see their tax bills remain stable or decrease. While we as taxpayerscan always dream, the fact is that municipalities arerequired to do more with less.

Of course, citizens expect to receive basic services,such as waste removal, water supply, security and leisureactivities, but they also expect a minimum of online services when it suits them – seven days a week, 24 hoursa day. Citizens also compare city operating methods withthose of other organizations they do business with – andmunicipalities don’t always come out winners.

The balance between ‘’expected services’’ and ‘’available resources’’ forces municipalities to deliver moreand more services with less and less dollars. IT is in thebest position to optimize and enhance the operations ofthe organization because only IT provides an overall viewof the organization and its resources.

IT Under PressureIn addition, IT departments have the necessary expertise to understand supporting data and systems, review organizational processes, and helpthe organization meet its goals.

At the same time, however, IT departmentsare also under pressure to reduce or stabilizetheir operating costs. Paradoxically, whilethey are front and central in optimizing theorganization, they’re also being forced tostretch their dollars.

Interestingly, the IT department has justwhat it takes to accomplish this and maxi-mize existing organizational resources byusing virtualization tools including VMware,SAN and others. It still remains that,

although these technologies are not necessarily new, we’renot always familiar with them.

This is where associations and the networks they provide, such as RIMQ and MISA/ASIM Canada, canplay a lead role in facilitating discussions and informationexchanges between colleagues and other interested partiesabout leading-edge technologies and the introduction ofbetter practices. These are all essential in helping us domore with less.

A Promising AllianceMore than ever, MISA/ASIM Canada will help generateconcrete results for all our members, by enabling us towork on ambitious and large-scale projects. Indeed, initiatives such as the Municipal Reference Model (MRM2),an excellent undertaking of MISA/ASIM Canada, corre-spond precisely to the type of initiatives that will provideall IT managers across Canada with tools to do more with less.

In fact, when sharing responsibilities among many participants, we can all obtain more if we do it together.

In moving ahead, therefore, networking must not be limited to exchanges between cities, but rather must beextended to associations such as ours, which work withlimited means to help their members face new challenges.

[email protected] n

4


A ChangingReality

Keeping in Touch

By Geneviève CôtéPresident, RIMQ

TIMMINS – THE GOLD CAPITAL of theworld – is ready to host the 2009Security Conference. And, to help youmake the journey to Canada’s north, aluxury coach is all decked out, sparingyou the hazards of a 10-hour roadtrip, blizzard conditions and theprospect of moose by the roadside.

Held this year from November 8-10, the conference theme – “Miningfor Security Gold” – taps into the richgold-mining history of Timmins.

As conference host David Laneville,Director of Information Technology atthe City of Timmins, explains: “Weorganized this conference in much thesame spirit as those first prospectorswho came looking for silver, finding

gold, and ended up building this com-munity. We’ve found the IT Security‘gold,’ we brought it together here inTimmins with the security expertise to deliver it, and now we’re invitingpeople to come and get it.”

Sessions are targeted to IT securitypractitioners and offer a comprehensiveschedule of leading-edge issues,including:• Basic Penetration Testing• Intrusion Detection & Prevention• VoIP security considerations• Security in VM• Wireless security• Security policy development

• Incident handling• Open Source tools.

Three educational streams will beoffered in two formats: quarter-day ses-sions and half-day in-depth workshops.

Delegates can begin their networkingat a welcome reception on Sundayevening at the conference hotel,Timmins Days Inn. For the next twodays, all conference sessions will be held in the nearby McIntyreCommunity Centre, built by theMcIntyre Mine to attract and retainemployees. And, to also help youmake the most of your time in Timmins,on Tuesday evening delegates willenjoy a casual event at a centre devotedto another Timmins star – ShaniaTwain – and take the TimminsUnderground Gold Mine Tour.

And the bus? It will be waiting forToronto-area delegates on Sundaymorning at the parking lot of MicrosoftCanada, 1950 Meadowvale Blvd.,Mississauga. Parking-lot security willensure that cars are secure, ready andwaiting for delegates when they returnon Wednesday November 11. Therewill be one stop in Barrie along theway to pick up delegates at the carpool lot at exit #94 (Essa Road).You won’t starve on the way northeither – a meal awaits you in NorthBay on both legs of the journey.

Online registration is available atwww.misa.on.ca, and accommodationis available at the Days Inn (705-267-6211). n

5

MISA/ASIM News Across Canada


MISA IT Security Conference in Timmins To Dig Down Deep Into ‘Ore Body’ of Issues



6

THE MISA/ASIM CANADA Board ofDirectors has approved an agreementwith IBM Canada that will lead to therelease of the first version of the proposed Municipal Reference ModelVersion 2 service on the Web by theend of 2009.

That means that Canadian munici-palities will become the first in theworld to have a national serviceavailable to them for describing,organizing, and planning their service delivery in a consistent manner using a standard set of soft-ware templates and modelling tools.

With the Board’s approval,MISA/ASIM Canada has purchasedlicences from IBM Canada for theunderlying software products. Theproducts include Rational SoftwareModeler, Rational RequirementsComposer, Rational Requisite Pro andLotus Quickr, among others.

To support this initiative, IBM hasdeveloped software extensions toautomate the flow of informationamong these products.

Funds for the project were donatedby municipalities from acrossCanada: Edmonton, Fredericton,Halton Region, London, Markham,Mississauga, Niagara Region, PeelRegion, Richmond Hill, Saskatoon,Timmins, Toronto, Waterloo and York Region.

The project has also received fund-ing from the Joint Councils (PublicSector CIO Council and Public SectorService Delivery Council), in recogni-tion that some aspects of this workmay be applicable in a national orinter-jursidictional context.

The MRMv2 service is being devel-oped in a pilot project by a team ofIT professionals at the City of Torontoled by Philip Scott. The team isadvised and assisted by a DesignReview Group consisting of IT andservice-delivery representatives from a range of municipalities. Projectoversight is provided by a SteeringCommittee representing all contributingmunicipalities.

IBM Canada has been providingprofessional and software-developmentservices to the MRMv2 Project at nocost. KPMG LLP has likewise beencontributing essential advisory servicesfrom consultants who have been working with the Municipal ReferenceModel since the first version wasdeveloped in the 1990s. Their formerfirm, Chartwell, merged with KPMGin early 2009.

Both IBM and KPMG see thepotential for future or complementaryservice offerings, both in Canada andinternationally, based on conceptsdeveloped during the MRMv2 project.

Initial Version Looks GoodAll participants in the project areconfident that the initial version of

the MRMv2 service will deliver thevalue to municipalities that MISA/ASIM Canada has envisioned, saysRoy Wiseman, CIO of the Region ofPeel, Ontario and chair of theMRMv2 Steering Committee.

On September 28, Wiseman tolda teleconference of the 10-memberMISA/ASIM Canada Board ofDirectors that the Steering Committeehad viewed a demonstration of the

prototype MRMv2 service, which was conducted by IBM Canada at a meet-ing held onSeptember 25.

“Everybody there said, ‘This is on the right track; we need to moveahead with this,’ ” Wiseman reported.“We’ve seen enough now to be confi-dent in the direction we are going.”

He told the Board that the majorchallenge for the pilot-project team for the remainder of 2009 will be to harness the IBM tools so that they will serve the analytical needs ofmunicipal officials in a simple, user-friendly fashion.

“We need to do a lot of work indetermining the 10, 20 or 30 thingsthat people will want to do out of thebox so they can accomplish thosethings with one or two keystrokes,perhaps by clicking on a link or function, rather than having to goright into the tools to build things suchas a new table, report or analysisframework,” Wiseman said.

“The good news is that we will be able to do it.”

Daya Pillay, president of MISA/ASIM Canada and manager, e-Commerce & Web services for theHalifax Regional Municipality, saidthe Board is looking forward enthusi-astically to the launch of the nationalMRMv2 service.

“It has the potential to enablemunicipalities to understand, evaluate,and compare each others’ servicedelivery systems using common termi-nology, something never possiblebefore in Canada or anywhere else,”Pillay said. n

MISA/ASIM Canada Creates PartnershipsTo Develop National MRMv2 Solution


9

A GROUP OF MUNICIPALITIES workingto build a roadmap to guide theirpolicies and practices with respect toERP technologies has, for the firsttime, created a program to define thereforms they want.

The ERP Municipal Users’ SpecialInterest Group of 14 municipalitieshas agreed to present to vendors ofERP solutions an 11-point reform program. It sets down the negotiatingposition that the group members willuse in future when considering thepurchase or upgrading of technologiesusually found in ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) systems.

The reform program wasapproved by representatives of thegroup at a meeting September 23during Showcase Ontario at theMetro Toronto Convention Centre.

Fixing RelationshipsLouis Shallal, founder of the groupand chief information technology officer of York Region, said at themeeting that creation of the 11-pointprogram responds to the requests ofERP vendors who have asked for specific information about how municipalities want vendors toimprove relationships with them.

“We are saying to the vendors,‘We believe that you should listen tous, and here’s what we want fromyou.’ When we meet with them indi-vidually we will say, ‘Here, we wanta direct response telling us what youwill do.’ ”

The action items of the program are:1. Develop an industry-based pricing

model for licence and mainte-nance contracts.

2. Develop a bulk purchase modelfor software products.

3. Develop a shared-service deliverymodel for the municipalities toevaluate.

4. Develop a framework to enablelicence exchange – module formodule.

5. Develop a framework to enablemunicipalities to direct a portion of maintenance fees to developfeatures and products to addressspecific needs.

6. Develop a framework to permitmunicipalities to reinstate modulesthat had been dropped from maintenance.

7. Develop a framework to permitmunicipalities to drop maintenancefees on unused modules within an existing contract to reducemaintenance costs.

8. Increase training options forCanadian clients.

9. Develop implementationtools/scripts to reduce deliverytime for modules and functions,including:• Pre-built configuration examples• Scripted configuration for basic

implementations of functionsand workflows.

10.Develop extended solutions forprocesses, including:• Work with clients to design solu-

tions to common problems (forexample, PSAB)

• Combine core and partner systems to build integratedprocesses.

11.Establish a collaboration environ-ment for exchange of customiza-tions and knowledge including:• Open forum to trade customiza-

tions, reports and bolt-ons• Non-supported but adopted

functions licensed for all.

Provincial DiscussionsThe special-interest group, which hasbeen operating under the auspices ofMISA/ASIM Canada since mid-2008,has also entered into discussions withthe Province of Ontario to seewhether one or more bulk purchasingagreements could be negotiated forthe licensing and support of ERP solutions covering both the provinceand municipalities.

Those discussions are led byBruno Mangiardi, chief informationofficer of the City of Greater Sudbury.

York Region, meanwhile, hasundertaken two projects of its own toexplore alternative means of obtainingmaintenance services for its ERP system, other than to have servicesexclusively provided by the vendor.

First, the Region is evaluatingresponses received from an RFP with a deadline of October 9, seeking aconsultant to conduct a feasibilitystudy to determine what risks andopportunities would arise if theRegion hired third-party services for its ERP application support.

Second, the IT department is writingan RFP to be issued by the end of theyear, seeking a third-party vendor toprovide regulatory and tax updatesfor the payroll module. This would befor a one-year pilot project of usingthird-party support services for theERP systems. n


Municipalities Create Plan for ERP Reform



10

TWO MORE COMPANIES, the StrategyInstitute and Websense Canada Inc.,have joined MISA/ASIM Canada’sprogram of special offers to its nationalcommunity of member municipalities.

There are now 11 companies participating in the program. This isthe first time that municipalities havepooled their national purchasingpotential to obtain discounted pricesfrom companies. Their special offersare published at www.misa-asim.caand promoted by the five regionalassociations comprising MISA/ASIMCanada.

The Strategy Institute, a Toronto-based company that produces confer-

ences for business and public-sectorleaders covering IT issues and othertopics, is offering employees of quali-fied municipalities 15 per cent off thecost of attending any of its conferencesthrough October 2010.

Ottawa-based Websense Canadais offering savings of between 45 and 66 per cent from regular pricesfor its suite of Web, data and e-mailsecurity products.

Websense has set up a tailoredmicrosite on the Web specifically forqualified municipal customers. Pricesand discounts for a range of solutionsare listed at http://sites.syndication-lane.com/websense/misa/home.

Both Strategy Institute andWebsense have committed that theirspecial offers will reflect the best pricingavailable to municipalities during thelife of the offers, so MISA/ASIMCanada has designated their offersas “platinum.” DesTech Consulting &Education also has a platinum offer.

Offers designated as “gold,” withuniform discounted pricing for anysize of municipality, are availablefrom Adobe Systems Canada, ChalkMedia Canada, Digital BoundaryGroup, Kaspersky Lab, Sophos PLC,TELUS, Texthelp Systems Ltd. andTrend Micro. n

4th Utility Inc.

A2B Fiber Inc.

Access BC/BC Online

Acer America Corporation

Acrodex Inc.

Agresso

Alcatel-Lucent Canada

Algo Communication Products

Anderson Morgan Kelowna Inc.

Anixter Canada

AnyWare Group

Atomic Crayon

Autodesk Canada

Barracuda Networks

BC Assessment

Bell Canada

Burntsand Inc.

CGI

CSDC Systems Inc.

Cisco Systems

CivicInfo BC

Compugen Inc.

Com-Tech Learning Solutions

D-Link Canada Inc.

Davis Consulting Group Ltd.

Dell Computer Corporation

Digital Boundary Group

E-Comm 911

ESRI Canada Ltd.

FileHold Systems Inc.

Fluke Networks

Forte Consulting Ltd.

Glenbriar Technologies Inc.

GCS Division of Cansel

Graybar Canada

Groupe ALTA

IBM Canada Ltd.

iCompass Technologies

Ideaca Knowledge Services

IMAGINiT Technologies

Infor Public Sector

Integrated Cadastral Society

Integrated Mapping Technologies Inc.

iON Secured Networks

Laserfiche

Lin Haw International

Long View Systems

MDT Technical Services Ltd.

Matthews/File-It-Solutions

McElhanney Consulting Services

Metafore IT Solutions

Microserve

Microsoft Canada

Mitel Networks

NEC Unified Solutions

Nortel

Océ-Canada Inc.

OPUS Consulting Group

Oracle Corporation Canada

OSIsoft Canada

Pacific Alliance Technologies

Panasonic Canada

Planetworks Consulting Corp.

Prima Computer Solutions

Research in Motion

RIVA Online

Rogers Group

SAP Canada

SSP Converged Solutions

Scalar Decisions

Seven Group Data Management

Sierra Systems Consultants Inc.

Softchoice Corporation

Sophos

StarDyne Technologies Inc.

Strobe Business Services Inc.

Sudden Service Technologies

TLD Computers

TELUS Communications Co.

Tempest Development Group

Teraspan Networks

Websense Canada Inc.

We appreciate the support and participation of the following 82 associate members:

MISA BC Associate Members – 2009

National Special-Offers Program Grows Again

11


Four Cities, One Information SystemThe MaVille.net ExperienceQuebec Cities Find Collaborative Solution to Doing More with Less

The four municipalities decided to form a five-year partnership toensure the common management of their data-processing environment,at the same time outsourcing its operation to several external firms.

Daniel McCraw, general manager of the City of Boucherville, tookon the leadership challenge of organizing the partnership. GastonHuot, chief information officer of the City of Brossard, took the helm of MaVille.net on January 1, 2006. For both of them as well as thegeneral managers of the three other partner cities, this was a first insome 30 years of experience.

Emergency!As MaVille.net CIO Huot puts it, ‘’Picture four cities, which onDecember 23, 2005, find themselves stripped of 100 per cent of their software applications and computer support.

“Picture 400 employees on January 6, 2006, at 9 a.m. in need ofa workstation, computer applications and a network in working order.Add some 155,000 citizens who don’t need the aggravation from thiscomplex exercise, and you get all the elements of an emergency!’’

Three-and-a-half years later, the MaVille.net network is being considered for expansion, and the inter-city agreement is up for renewal in 2010.

By Danielle BouchardCity of Brossard, Quebec

OUTSOURCE, POOL RESOURCES, or recruit a team?

This is the question that IT managers ofcities with 100,000 residents or less askthemselves regularly. In Quebec, the cities ofBoucherville, Brossard, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville and Saint-Lambert on Montreal’sSouth Shore answered this question by creating an inter-city information-management system named MaVille.net

MaVille.net was born in the fall of 2005,right after the four municipalities voted toreconstitute their cities, which had beenmerged with Longueuil in 2002. Boucherville,Brossard, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville andSaint-Lambert found themselves cut off in shortorder from the agglomeration’s informationresources and services.

Doing More with Even Less

Gaston Huot, director of MaVille.net, left,meets with colleagues Yves Bond, technician

in the network coordination centre; GinaBorduas, coordination centre assistant, andAnne Goubet, project manager, MaVille.net

Project Office.


12


From the early stages of this process,the need quickly emerged for an inter-cityinformation technology committee (CITI)bringing together the general managers ofthe four cities and the CIO. McCraw ischair of the committee, and its five mem-bers keep a watchful eye on managementindicators and set the direction for thetechnological environment.

‘’An inter-municipal service agreementis a common occurrence,” McCrawexplains. “Less so is having to plan it inless than six months and make it opera-tional in just a few days, while taking intoaccount the needs, organizational culturesand management styles that differ fromcity to city. In this context, a central body(the CITI) must head the operations.’’

Beyond a common direction, the CITIstructure provides each of the four citieswith the necessary space and mechanismsto meet its own needs.

Major Information HubStarting from scratch in 2005 – except fora single but significant asset, a fibre-opticloop put in place when the LongueuilAgglomeration was formed – MaVille.nethas become a full-fledged administrativeentity. It can be defined as a hub for some10 suppliers, 550 computers and servers,and two host sites.

Daily management of MaVille.net restson a two-part structure: A projects office(BPRI on the chart on this page) that manages requestedchanges to the platform, and a coordination centre (CCRI)that coordinates network operations.

The management and operation of the transportationinfrastructure and the computer population are outsourced,which helps control costs.

“At times the days have 25 hours for us and our colleagues,” jokes Huot.

The FutureIf we had to do it over? What will MaVille.net look like in 2011?

Three of the four cities have opted to pursue the adven-ture. This means that MaVille.net can now discuss the

future with partners who are motivated by the continuousimprovement of the original model that they themselves created.

The agreement will be renegotiated, and the operations may be completely revised on the basis ofshared experience.

“Downsizing and mass retirements are forcing organi-zations to adopt innovative solutions,” concludes McCraw.

“MaVille.net is a management model tailor-made byand for partners who are experiencing major organizationalchanges. We consider it viable in the long term becauseit’s adaptable and upgradable.”

Danielle Bouchard, communications director for the City of Brossard, can be reached [email protected]. n

This chart shows the organizational structure of MaVille.net.

13


IMPARTIR, SE REGROUPER ou recruter une équipe? C’estla question que se posent régulièrement les Directions des ressources informationnelles des villes de 100 000habitants et moins.

Au Québec, sur la Rive-Sud de Montréal, les villes deBoucherville, Brossard, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville et Saint-Lambert y ont répondu en créant une entente inter-municipale de gestion des technologies de l’informationbaptisée MaVille.net

MaVille.net a vu le jour à l’automne 2005, au momentoù les quatre municipalités optaient pour la reconstitutionde leur ville, fusionnée avec Longueuil depuis 2001.Boucherville, Brossard, Saint-Bruno et Saint-Lambert seretrouveraient alors privées à très court terme des serviceset des ressources informationnelles de l’Agglomération.

Elles prirent la décision de s’associer ensemble pour unpartenariat de cinq ans afin d’assurer la gestion communede leur environnement informatique dont l’exploitation futdéléguée à plusieurs firmes externes.

Celui qui releva le défi s’appelle Daniel Mc Craw,directeur général de la ville de Boucherville. Gaston Huot,Directeur des ressources informationnelles de la Ville deBrossard, prit le volant du véhicule le 1er janvier 2006.En trente années d’expérience, c’était pour eux une première, comme pour les directeurs généraux des 3 autres villes partenaires.

Comme en mesure d’urgence..« Imaginez quatre villes qui, le 23 décembre 2005,

se retrouvent dépouillées de 100 % de leur parcd’équipement, de leur environnement applicatif (softwareapplications) et de leur support informatique. Imaginezque le 6 janvier 2006 à 9 h, 400 employés aient besoind’un poste de travail, d’applications informatique et d’unréseau fonctionnels. Ajoutez 155 000 citoyens qui n’ontpas à souffrir de la complexité de l’exercice et vous avezle topo, comme en mesure d’urgence! », explique GastonHuot, directeur des ressources informationnelles pour leréseau MaVille.net.

Trois ans et demie plus tard, le réseau MaVille peutmaintenant penser d’une part, en termes de développe-ment et d’autre part, envisager une reconduction de l’entente inter-municipale qui prendra fin en 2010.

Dès le début du processus, la décision de mettre rapide-ment sur pied un comité inter-municipal des technologiesde l’information (CITI) regroupant les directeurs générauxdes quatre villes et le directeur des ressources information-nelles s’est imposée d’elle-même. Ce comité est présidépar Daniel Mc Craw, directeur général de la ville deBoucherville. Il suit de près les indicateurs de gestion etdétermine les orientations générales en matière d’environ-nement technologique.

« Une entente inter-municipale de services est chosecourante. Ce qui l’est moins, c’est d’avoir dû la planifieren moins de six mois et l’opérationnaliser en quelquesjours, tout cela en tenant compte des besoins, de la culture

organisationnelle et du mode de gestion qui dif-fèrent d’une ville à l’autre. Dans ce contexte, unorganisme central doit donner les directions »souligne M. Daniel McCraw. Au-delà des orientations communes, la structuremise en place fournit à chacune des 4 villes l’espace et les mécanismes nécessaires pourrépondre à leurs besoins propres.

Partie à zéro en 2005 avec pour seul, maisconsidérable atout, une boucle de fibre optiquemise en place lors de la création del’Agglomération de Longueuil, MaVille.net estmaintenant une entité administrative à part

l’expérienceMaVille.net

Report from RIMQPar Danielle Bouchard

Ville de Brossard

De gauche à droite: Yves Bond, tehnicien au Centre decoordination (CCRI); Gaston Huot, directeur, MaVille.net;Anne Goubet, chargée de projet, bureau de projetMaVille.net (BPRI) et Gina Borduas, assistante au CCRI.


14

Report from RIMQ

entière. Celle-ci pourrait se définir comme un « hub » oùconvergent plus d’une dizaine de fournisseurs, 550 ordina-teurs et serveurs ainsi que deux centres d’hébergement.

La gestion quotidienne de MaVille.net repose sur unestructure fonctionnelle comportant deux volets, soit : unBureau de projets (BPRI) qui permet d’apporter des change-ments à la plate-forme et un Centre de coordination (CCRI)qui assure la coordination de l’exploitation du réseau.L’entretien et l’exploitation de l’infrastructure de transport et du parc informatique sont entièrement impartis, ce quipermet de contrôler les coûts pour assurer ce service. «Comme pour plusieurs de nos collègues, les journées ontparfois 25 heures », ajoute à la blague M. Huot.

L’avenir…Et si c’était à refaire?.À quoi ressemblera MaVille.net en 2011 ?

Trois villes sur quatre ont pris la décision de poursuivrel’aventure. Cela signifie que MaVille,net peut parlerd’avenir avec des partenaires motivés par l’améliorationcontinue du modèle original qu’ils ont eux-mêmes créé.L’entente sera rediscutée sur des bases opérationnelles possiblement complètement révisées, mais inspirées de l’expérience commune. « La rationalisation des effectifs et le départ massif à laretraite forcent les organisations à adopter des solutionsnovatrices. MaVille.net est un modèle de gestion créé surmesure par et pour des partenaires qui vivent d’importantschangements organisationnels; il nous apparaît viable à long terme parce qu’adaptable et évolutif » conclutDaniel McCraw.

Danielle Boucher, [email protected], estdirecteur de communications à la Ville de Brossard. n

15


By Sabina VisserCity of Lethbridge, Alberta

This article is based on a presentation to the MISA PrairiesAnnual Conference in Airdrie Alberta, in April 2009.

LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, IS KNOWN as one of the warmestand sunniest cities in Canada, with a population of justmore than 85,000. At City Hall, however, things were notso sunny for the Information Technology department untilwe found a way to improve its organization, its interactionwith other departments and the perception of its value within the enterprise. The story of how this was done mightbenefit other IT managers facing similar issues.

In September 2008, I was hired as the general managerfor information technology at Lethbridge. The IT departmentconsisted of 24 people and four sub-departments – SpatialData Services/GIS, Network and Telecommunications,Enterprise Applications and Application Development.

The department served 40 diverse business units. They depended on IT to provide the technology systemsand information required to collaboratively provide customer-oriented, qualitative and cost-effective services to the citizens of Lethbridge.

It soon became clear that business units felt IT wasdoing its best to provide services given the current financialand resource environment, but at times the business unitsperceived that these services did not satisfy end-userrequirements in a cost-effective way. In turn, IT believedthat business units were trying to deliver services thatrequired technology in a communicative, proactive and col-laborative way. In many cases, however, there were deci-sions made about technology without IT’s involvement.

The City had within the previous year replaced its main-frame system with a new financial system. This project usedan immense amount of IT and business-unit resources for anextended time, with minimal perceived value to the front-lineuser. IT resources were focused on creating, managing,and implementing a technology infrastructure that was verystable with minimal downtime but without communicationto the end user – with the result that this stability was oftentaken for granted.

Financial PictureThe City invests more than $15.5 million over a three-yearbudget cycle in information technology. Fifty per cent ofthat is spent on wages, and another 30 per cent on softwaremaintenance. The remaining 20 per cent is spent on new/replacement purchases and hardware maintenance.

This financial ratio of 20-per-cent investment to 80-per-centmaintenance clearly demonstrates the need to have ananalytical process to vet decisions to purchase and implementtechnology based on the business value returned. In manycases, IT is not provided the means to ensure that requiredmaintenance and support costs are included.

So, how does IT deliver required services to our businessunits, while balancing costs and ensuring that the needs ofIT are also met?

Existing Service Model When the IT team began to analyze its business model it found that it was an ad hoc, task-based approach.Technology “issues” were grouped into four categories –break-fix, end user requirements, technology maintenanceand enhancements.

These tasks were reported by end users to the HelpDesk. The Help Desk assigned staff, set priorities for tasks,and created a document trail. Additional projects wereimplemented as time permitted outside of the four cate-gories of tasks, often resulting in extended timelines andunmanaged user expectations.

There were a number of questions we could not answerwith this ad-hoc task-based approach: • Where do we spend our time (money) in order to get

the greatest business value?• How are shared corporate IT resources allocated? • What is the priority? Who decides what our

priorities are?• Do we know our capacity to handle the current and

future needs of business units?• How do we minimize the time (money) spent sustaining

operations and move toward enhancing operations?• How do we ensure that we are doing the right things at

the right times in a value-driven and cost-effective way?

City of Lethbridge IT DepartmentSolves Project-Management Dilemma



16


We needed to move to a proactive,strategic and planned approach. Wecreated a new model and called itStrategy and Portfolio Management.

New Model The Strategy and Portfolio Managementprocess collaboratively plans technologyinitiatives based on defined user needs.It has two components: the JointTechnology Strategy and TechnologyProject Portfolio Management.

The technology strategy addressesthe current and future needs of the orga-nization and enables IT in conjunctionwith corporate stakeholders to proactivelyplan technology initiatives. It helpsdirect decision making about whichtechnologies should be maintained,enhanced, and identified for improvement.

The strategy then leads to Technology Project PortfolioManagement (TPPM), which sets priorities for specific projects that are undertaken in collaboration with businessunits. The TPPM process assigns both IT and customerresources to the same priorities, empowers and educatescustomer and IT resources on their joint service requirements,and ensures that there is continuous communicationbetween our customers and IT.

Critical Role of Help DeskWith all technology services, there will continue to be aneed for the Help Desk – technology failures are reportedthere. When projects are implemented, they include atransfer of communication and knowledge to the Help Desk, which can then provide valuable first-call resolutionwhenever possible.

The Help Desk also communicates trends or recurrentissues into the technology strategy. To demonstrate theimportance of customer service and the role of the HelpDesk, we merged the Application Development andEnterprise Systems sub-departments together and created a customer-service area to focus specifically on improvingthe services we provide to our end users.

Getting StartedWe decided to begin by implementing Technology ProjectPortfolio Management instead of creating the more dauntingand time-consuming Joint Technology Strategy first.

We determined corporately that theTPPM process would be facilitated by ITon behalf of the organization. To besuccessful, the defined process neededto be collaborative, simple, understand-able, transparent and living – therebyproviding a means for handling changeand supported at all levels of the orga-nization. Final decision-making authorityrested with the Leaders Group.

The first step was to understand whatactivities need to be accomplished overthe business cycle. IT activities weredefined in two categories: projects andoperations.

We defined a project as an activitythat either handles technology mainte-nance or enhancement, or improvesoperations and uses corporate ITresources (people and/or infrastructure).

IT operations or systems problems (break-fix) are handledas work orders – not projects – to make the system opera-tional. Solutions that prevent the issues from reoccurringare handled as projects.

To manage projects, the TPPM process we created isorganized into two stages: Organizational and TechnologyAlignment Priority Definition, and Planning Order Definition.

Stage 1: Priority DefinitionThere is a four-step process to assign priorities for IT projects:1. Review funded projects – Business units prepare funding

requests for projects in accordance with their businessplans and the Corporate Strategic Plan. For each budget cycle, submitted projects in each business unitare reviewed by a member of the Leaders Group, thebusiness unit manager and the general manager for IT.

2. Move mandated projects to Planning – Once an inventoryof projects is produced and reviewed, mandated projectsare moved directly to the Planning group. Mandatedprojects have either a legislated, safety, facilities orpolitical requirement.

3. Consolidate projects – Related projects are combined ina single business unit. This removes duplicates and col-lapses projects with similar objectives and synergies.

4. Place projects in sequence – Two sets of criteria areused to define the sequence of projects to be undertaken:1) organizational and technology alignment and 2)planning importance. The criteria for planning importanceare shown in the chart on page 18.

Sabina Visser addresses the MISA Prairies Annual Conference..

17



For Criteria 1, we assign scores to projects by numeri-cally quantifying each project’s organizational and technol-ogy alignment. The higher the score, the greater the technology project realizes the organization’s values andcorporate strategy.

Once projects are scored this way, group membersreview projects to confirm that the order matches their gutfeelings about the project’s priorty. The sequence of projectsacross the organization is shared with all business units toensure that they agree and understand the scores.

We then proceed to Stage 2 to define the planningorder of projects.

Stage 2: Planning Order DefinitionWe determine the planning order of projects based oneach project’s magnitude and organizational impact.Projects with a larger planning score are more complex,affect many users, and require further scoping effort. This

score is used to sequence projects that result in the samealignment score (i.e. break ties).

Organizationally all projects are then re-sequencedbased on the alignment score and the planning order, andput forward for approval.

As the projects are planned, there is the opportunity toadjust/discontinue projects if there is a large variancebetween what was proposed and what realistically willtake place. This helps to ensure that adequate resourcesare allocated, realistic timelines are produced, and userexpectations are managed. Projects are then implementedbased on the plan that is created.

Results of ProcessThe Technology Project Portfolio Management process hasbeen well received and supported – it is collaborative,transparent and simple. It also demonstrates what is happening across the organization.


18


More than 250 projects wereproposed when we started theTPPM process. We reduced thisnumber to 140 by combining anumber of duplicate efforts anddelaying or eliminating projectsbased on capacity issues.

The process works well ifyou are in a stable environ-ment. If you are still fightingfires and spending all of your ITresources keeping the organiza-tion operational, you are prob-ably not ready for this process.

TPPM has enabled us toanswer questions we previouslycould not answer. • What is the priority? The alignment score is used across

all projects to define priority based on business value.Business value is associated with technology investment.IT expenditures are no longer seen as a bottomless pit of money with no return.

• Who decides what our priorities are? The alignmentscore and planning order, which are jointly derived,are used as the basis to make priority decisions. Thedecision-making process provides visibility into what IT is doing, why we are doing it, and for whom. This creates a cross-functional understanding across the organization.

• Do we know our capacity to handle the current andfuture needs of business units? The planning processenables us to identify our project requirements. It movesresource allocation from a task-based to a strategy-focused approach by sharing corporate IT resourcesacross the organization. It also commits business-unitand IT resources to projects based on business value.

• How do we minimize the time (money) spent sustainingoperations and move toward enhancing operations?Projects are identified within the process to stabilizeand manage our existing environment. This balancesthe need to sustain and improve business operations inrelation to existing and new technology endeavors.

Where Do We Go From Here?IT has begun scheduling projects based on the prioritydefined using the TPPM process. Projects are moving forward in a collaborative and planned manner.

In 2010, our plan is to create the Joint TechnologyStrategy with all City of Lethbridge stakeholders using the

criteria defined during the TPPM process. This strategy willbe the basis for our 2012-2015 business cycle, from whichbudgets and resources can then be allocated based on thevalues defined in our strategy.

By starting with the TPPM process, our stakeholders willhave a better understanding of technology-business driversthat will facilitate the creation of our Joint TechnologyStrategy for the next business cycle.

TPPM facilitates communication across the organizationand enables us to move forward in a collaborative andsynchronized manner. As with any type of change, theprocess requires patience and persistence because, as our business model changes, we are slowly changing our corporate culture.

The process has raised awareness and resulted in theacknowledgement that, although the business depends ontechnology, technology investment is more than a cost ofdoing business.

Within IT, the TPPM process has had a positive reception.IT staff are now able to ensure that project priorities are aligned with business priorities in a proactive and collaborative manner.

We now jointly prioritize and implement technology initiatives based on their business value, thereby enhancingthe level of services provided directly to our citizens.

Sabina Visser, general manager of information technology at the City of Lethbridge, can be reached at [email protected]. n

Stage 2: Planning Importance Definition CriteriaCCrriitteerriiaa//SSccoorree 33 22 11 00

SSccooppee ooff EEffff oo rrtt Project is greater Project lasts six Project lasts three Project lasts lessthan 12 months -12 months -six months than three months

MMaaggnnii ttuuddee ooff Has impact on Affects multiple Affects one No significantcchhaannggee ffoorr entire organization business units business unit noticeableuu ssee rr ss and/or public change

RRee ssoouu rrccee Project requires Project requires Project requires Project requiresaall llooccaatt iioonn resources from resources from IT resources IT resources intt oo iimmppll eemmeenn tt multiple BUs and a single BU and a consultative

IT IT manner

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21


By David EavesQueen’s University

This article is based on a presentation to the MISA WestAnnual Conference in September 2009.

IN MAY 2009 the City of Vancouver passed what is nowreferred to as "Open 3," a Council motion that called onthe City to share its data.

This motion states that the City will use open standardsfor managing its information and apply open-sourcelicences to software it creates. It will also treat open-sourcesoftware on an equal footing during the procurement cycle(see “Vancouver Adopts Open Data Standards” in theSeptember Municipal Interface).

While a great deal of media attention has focused on thecitizen-engagement potential of open data, the implicationsof the second half of the motion – that relating to open-sourcesoftware – has gone relatively unnoticed.

This is all the more surprising since last year the mayorof Toronto also promised that his City would apply anopen-source licence to software it creates. This means thattwo of Canada’s largest municipalities are set to applyopen-source licences to software they create in-house.

Consequently, the source code and certain other rightsto the software will be available for free under a licencethat is public domain and that permits users to use, change,improve, and redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms.

Creative NetworkThese announcements – if capitalized upon – could heralda revolution in how cities procure and develop software.

Rather than having thousands of small municipalitiescollectively spending billions of dollars to recreate products,the open sourcing of municipal software has the potentialto link Canada’s municipal IT departments into one giantnetwork. Their expertise and specialized talents couldboost quality and security to the benefit of all while collapsing the costs of development and support.

What is needed to make this happen is a central platform from which the source code and documentation for software that cities wish to share could be uploaded. In short, Canada needs a SourceForge (http://source-forge.net) or better, a GitHub (http://github.com) for munic-ipal software.

Municipal IslandsFor 200 years one feature has dominated the landscapefor the majority of municipalities in Canada – isolation.Most Canadian municipalities are highly effective but ultimately self-contained islands.

Municipal IT departments are no different. In manycities across Canada IT solutions are frequently developedin one of two manners.

The first is through procurement. When the product isoff-the-shelf or easily customized, deployment can occurquickly. This is rarely the case, however.

More often, larger software and expensive consultingfirms are needed to deploy solutions, frequently leavingthem beyond the means of many smaller municipalities. Mostsolutions are also proprietary and so lock a municipalityinto the solution in perpetuity – unless the provider goesout of business, in which case the municipality is saddledwith an unsupported system.

The second option is to develop software in-house. For smaller cities with limited IT departments this optioncan be challenging but is often still cheaper than hiring an external vendor.

Here the challenge is that any solution is limited by theskills and talents of the municipality’s IT staff. A small citywith even a gifted IT staff of two to five people will bechallenged to effectively build and roll out all the IT infrastructure that city staff and citizens need. Moreover,keeping pace with security concerns, new technologiesand new services poses additional challenges.

In both cases the IT services a city can develop andsupport for staff and citizens are limited by either the skills and capacity of its team or the size of its procurementbudget. In short, the collective purchasing power, develop-ment capacity and technical expertise of Canada’s municipal IT departments are lost because we remain isolated from one another.

Can We Create Municipalities That Work Effectively Like the Web?



22


With each IT department acting like an island, this createsenormous constraints and waste. Software is frequentlyrecreated hundreds of times over as each small municipalitycreates its own service or purchases its own licence.

The OpportunityIt need not be this way. Rather than a patchwork of isolatedislands, Canada’s municipal IT departments could be avast interconnected network.

If even two small communities in Canada applied anopen-source licence to a software product they were producing, permitted anyone to download it, and docu-mented it well, the cost savings would be significant.

Other municipalities could download the software andwrite patches that would enable this software to be integratedwith their own hardware/software infrastructure. Thesepatches could also be open source, making it easier forstill more municipalities to use the software.

The more municipalities that would participate in identi-fying bugs, supplying patches, and writing documentation,the lower the costs would become to everyone.

This is how Linus Torvalds started a community whoseoperating system – Linux – would become world class. It is the same process by which Apache came to dominateWeb servers, and it is also the same approach used byMozilla to create Firefox – a Web browser whose marketshare now rivals that of Internet Explorer. The opportunityto save municipalities millions, if not billions, in softwarelicensing and/or development costs every year is real and tangible.

The Necessary PiecesWhat would such a network look like, and how hardwould it be to create? I suspect that two pieces would needto be in place to begin developing a nascent network.

First, a handful of small projects is required. Often themost successful source projects are those that start collabo-ratively. This is why smaller municipalities are the perfectplaces to start collaborating on open-source projects.

Small municipalities are not only more nimble, but theyalso have the most to gain. By working together and usingopen-source technologies, they could provide levels of service comparable to those of the big cities, at a fractionof the cost.

An even simpler first step would be to ensure that, whencontractors sign on to create new software for a city, theyagree that the final product will be available under anopen-source licence.

Second, MISA/ASIMCanada or anotherbody should create a SourceForge clonefor hosting open-sourced municipal-software projects.

SourceForge is an American-based open-source soft-ware development Web site that provides services to helppeople build and share software with coders around theworld. It hosts more than 230,000 software projects andhas two million registered users.

SourceForge operates as a sort of marketplace for soft-ware initiatives – a place where you can locate softwareyou are are interested in and then both download itand/or become part of a community to improve it.

A SourceForge clone – say Muniforge – would be arepository for software that municipalities across the countrycould download and use for free. It would also be the platform upon which collaboration around developing,patching, and documenting would take place.

Muniforge could also offer tips, tools and learningmaterials for those new to open-source concepts on how to effectively lead, participate, and work within an open-source community.

If MISA/ASIM Canada wanted to keep costs even lower,it wouldn't even need to create a SourceForge clone. Itcould simply use the actual SourceForge Web site andlobby the company to create a new "municipal" category.

David Eaves, left, of Queen’s University, and Kevin Bowers of theCity of Vancouver address the MISA West conference in Kamloops.

Municipal IT departments could form a vast network

23



Second OpportunitySuch a platform could completely restructure the governmentsoftware business in Canada. At the moment Canadianmunicipalities must choose between competing proprietarysystems that lock them into a specific vendor. They mustpay for both the software development and support.

A Muniforge could encourage a new type of vendormodelled after Redhat – the company that offers support tousers that adopt its version of the free, open-source Linuxoperating system. While vendors could not sell softwarefound on Muniforge, they could offer support for it.

Municipalities would have the benefit of outsourcingsupport without having to pay for the development of acustom, proprietary software system. They would have theoption of supporting it themselves. Moreover, nothingwould prevent several companies from supporting the samepiece of open-source software – enhancing service,increasing competition, and driving down prices.

There is another potentially global benefit to thisapproach to software development.

Over time, a Muniforge could begin to host all of thesoftware necessary to run a modern-day municipality. Thiscould have dramatic implications for the developing world.

Today, thanks to rapid urbanization, many towns andvillages in Asia and Africa will be tomorrow’s cities andmegacities. With Muniforge they could potentially down-load the entire infrastructure they need for free – enablingprecious resources to go toward other infrastructure suchas sewers and drinking water.

Moreover, a Muniforge would encourage small local ITsupport organizations to develop in those cities, providingjobs and fostering IT innovation where it is needed most.Better still, over time, patches and solutions would flow theother way so more and more cities could help improve thecode base of projects found on Muniforge.

Follow the Logic of the Web The Internet has demonstrated that new low-cost models of software development exist. Open-source software development has shown how loosely connected networksof coders and users can create software that rivals and even outperforms software created by the largest proprietary developers. This is the logic of the Web – participation, better development and low-cost development.

The question that Canadian municipalities need to askis: Do we want to remain isolated islands, or do we want

to work like the Web, working collaboratively to offer better services, more quickly and at a lower cost?

Even if only some municipalities choose the latteranswer, an infrastructure to enable collaboration can beput in place at virtually no cost, while the potential benefitsand the opportunity to restructure the government softwareindustry would be significant.

Island or network – which do we want to be?

David Eaves is a consultant on public policy and negotiationwho advises the Mayor’s Office at the City of Vancouver onopen data and open government. He is a fellow at theCentre for the Study of Democracy at Queen’s University and can be reached at [email protected] Bowers, who collaborated in the MISA West presentation, is manager of technology planning for the City of Vancouver and can be reached at [email protected]. n

24


By Anthony RogersDistrict of North Vancouver

This article is based on a presentation to the MISA BC SpringConference in Victoria in April 2009.

THE DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER would like to start aclub for municipal users of open-source technologies. Wethink of it as a dinner club. Here’s why.

When sizing up FOSS (free open-source software) asan alternative to commercially licensed products, it istempting to concentrate on those commercial products withthe highest cost to our organizations: desktop operatingsystems; groupware such as MS Exchange and Outlook;and productivity suites such as MS Office.

We take the first tentative steps, and then realize thatthe interconnections among these products, the changes tothe user experience and the corresponding amount ofrequired retraining make their replacement not unlike tryingto swallow an elephant whole.

Open source is too hard, we say.There is, however, an opportunity to reduce costs in

those parts of our IT infrastructure that are viewed as commonplace black boxes by our users.

Perfect SubstitutesThe interfaces to these components are usually well definedand governed by open standards. This makes them relativelyeasy to replace with what economists call perfect substitutes– products that work in a way that makes them indistin-guishable from each other, like margarine and butter –increasing utility and saving money at the same time.

Examples of such systems are:• DNS (domain naming system)• E-mail gateways and spam filters• Network inventory and monitoring• Firewall and VPN• NIDS (network intrusion detection systems)• Help-desk and bug-tracking systems.

Many such commercial products consume a significantportion of our budgets to purchase, deploy, and maintain,with learning curves no less steep than their FOSS counter-parts. Indeed, the FOSS “alternatives” to the commercialproducts are actually the de facto standards in widespreaduse in mission-critical enterprise settings.

The decision to use FOSS components to provide ITinfrastructure is not unlike the decision to prepare home-cooked meals instead of buying shrink-wrapped meals“ready to heat” at the supermarket.

Limitations and UnknownsMany shrink-wrapped commercial software products sharethe following characteristics with processed food:• Limited selection – Many variants but little true variety.• Limited integration – Products are monolithic solutions,

with little opportunity to integrate them with others. • Limited customization – If you want macaroni, you get

cheese, whether you can eat it or not. Separating thetwo is an exercise best left to the imagination.

• Unknown ingredients – This can be further characterizedinto two risks:– Black-box risk – Commercial products contain

proprietary code for which the source is not available for peer review. This is the “hydrogenatednon-animal shortening” of the software industry.

– Melamine risk – Because of the closed nature oftheir code base, commercial products may containunknown security or data-integrity flaws, which themanufacturer may take a long time to acknowledge,let alone rectify.

• Limited and costly support – Few commercial applicationsprovide free support for their products, and few municipalgovernments are of sufficient size to warrant specialattention from the suppliers.FOSS mitigates some of these issues by sharing some of

the characteristics of fresh ingredients:

Municipalities Urged to Try OutHome-Cooking Approach to Software


25



• Cost Savings -- The ‘F’ in FOSS doesn’t just mean freeas in speech – it usually means free as in beer as well.Even where FOSS does have a licence fee attached, itis usually far less than that of commercial alternatives.

• Standards-Based Behaviour -- Few people will argueabout what an apple is. The Requests for Commentsstandards (www.ietf.org/rfc.html) to which most FOSSproducts adhere are tried and tested, and Internet services depend on them for their correct operation. Within this framework, endless flavours and varietiesare possible, just as they are with apples, but the core(if you'll excuse the pun) behaviours and characteristicsare reliable.

• Modular Construction -- Rather than being monolithicSwiss-Army-Knife solutions, many FOSS solutions arebuilt from pre-existing modular blocks that interact witheach other, much like fresh ingredients are combined tocreate dishes. Like base cooking ingredients, FOSScomponents can be used in any way imaginable.• Community and Peer-Based Support -- Support for

the more commonly used FOSS projects is readily avail-able, often in real time via online forums and chat rooms,and through books and online documentation. A quick perusal of O'Reilly's Web site(http://oreilly.com/opensource/) provides an idea of the quality and depth of resources available.

But just as important as the benefits of using FOSSproducts in our IT infrastructure is the adoption of FOSSmethods in our operations. In an IT department, this is thedifference between paying someone to open a box of KraftDinner and microwave it, and paying someone to learnhow to make macaroni-and-cheese from scratch.

With a little practice and perhaps a recipe book, peoplewho learn how to make mac-and-cheese from scratch canthen teach themselves to make lasagna or goulash.

Sharing RecipesThe FOSS community facilitates this process by sharing recipesand providing peer support just as cooking enthusiasts do.Very seldom do we, in our work, encounter problems(sorry, opportunities!) that no one has encountered before.

The nature of the FOSS community means that it is relatively easy to find someone who has solved exactly theissue we are facing and who has shared the solution in apublic forum where it has been tweaked into a best-of-breedrecipe for the very dish we want for dinner.

So, the first benefit of adopting FOSS methods is thatwe invest our scarce financial resources in chefs and freshingredients rather than stockpiles of KD. When we need totweak a dish for a vegetarian, we have chefs who can

make it to order, rather than having to go back to a storeto look for yet another shrink-wrapped box. We are teachingour staff to fish.

But there is another benefit that we, as nonprofit entitieswho are not in competition with each other, can reap.

How many of us are paying a third-party vendor forhosted DNS, mail gateway or even Web-site services?Among MISA/ASIM Canada association members, wehave the resources and the geographical diversity to provide hosted primary and/or secondary services to each other, avoiding costs and providing both businesscontinuity and FIPPA compliance.

So, the District of North Vancouver would like to start adinner club. We would like to hear from other MISA/ASIMCanada member municipalities who would be interested ineither offering or using the following services in a mutuallybeneficial, best-effort environment:• Primary DNS services – Smaller municipalities sometimes

outsource their entire DNS hosting to a third party.Instead, they could use the DNS infrastructure of theirlarger counterparts.

• Primary MX services – Similarly, smaller municipalitiesmay outsource their entire e-mail gateway to a thirdparty or pay for an expensive mail-filtering gateway.Instead, larger municipalities could provide these services to their smaller counterparts; to them, the additional mail volume would be negligible.

• Secondary DNS/MX services – Larger municipalitiesprobably manage their own primary DNS servers ande-mail gateways, but many outsource their backup services to a third party. This service could be mutuallyprovided among similar municipalities.In addition, the District of North Vancouver would like

to invite any operational-level IT staff in MISA/ASIMCanada member organizations to join me (CunningPike) in the #misabc IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, where we can share recipes and resolve operational issues as acommunity rather than in isolation.

Other non-profit and governmental communities, suchas the education and military IT community, have operatedthis way for decades, providing some of the core infrastruc-ture of the Internet.

As municipal governments, we have a duty to maximizethe value of each tax dollar entrusted to us by the taxpayer.If there is a FOSS product that is a perfect substitute for acommercial one at a fraction of the price, we are almostobligated to try it.

Anthony Rogers, business systems analyst with the District ofNorth Vancouver, can be reached at [email protected]. n

26


By Brenda JeffsAnd Dave Mawby

City of Oshawa, Ontario

This article is based on a presentation to the MISA OntarioAnnual Conference in Oshawa in June 2009.

WHAT STARTED AS a strategic initiative to improve customer-service practices and corporate culture has resulted in theCity of Oshawa’s ability to work more effectively, enhanceefficiencies, and undertake restructuring that has resulted incost reductions throughout the organization.

This “more for less” achievement has been demonstratedin a number of ways: extended hours, increased productivityand services, elimination of winter third-party call-centreservices, performance-management reporting, the sale ofblue boxes and transit passes at one central location, andthe ability to function as a public inquiry centre in theevent of an emergency. (Just to name a few!)

In response to feedback from citizen-satisfaction surveys, Oshawa established a customer-service centre,Service Oshawa, which consolidates phone, counter ande-mail channels into one delivery model. Service Oshawa’smission is to provide a positive and professional image toall customers by presenting consistent and accurate infor-mation and advice in a timely and courteous manner.

ImplementationThe initiative began in 2005 with a consultant’s review ofexisting service delivery. The review found service deliveryvaried by branch, calls frequently required transfers, andcustomer service was not seen as a core activity in many posi-tions. There was a lack of benchmarking and measurementtools, as well as minimal customer-service training for staff.

As a result we developed a Customer Service Strategyin 2006 (www.oshawa.ca/service), which recommendeda number of goals to better meet the needs of customersunder the headings of: Performance Measurement,Customer Service Development and Training, Informationand Technology Access and Centralized Service Delivery.

A phased-in approach was implemented in April 2008with the following Phase I services: Parks, Public Works,Revenue and Tax, Transportation and Parking, City ClerkServices and Switchboard. Phase II, the integration ofMunicipal Law Enforcement and Licensing, began in spring 2009. Recreation, Planning, Buildings and WebSelf-Service will follow in Phase III.

The implementation required the involvement and collaboration of staff throughout the organization. Animplementation team was established and included repre-sentatives from Human Resources, Facility Management,Information Technology, Corporate Communications & Marketing and the Inside Workers Union Local. The new central customer-service function became part of City Clerk Services.


City of Oshawa’sCost-EffectiveService-DeliverySolution PleasesCitizens, Staff Adrienne Mehta, left, and Sheila Speake work in Service Oshawa’s

consolidated customer-service centre.

27



To truly improve efficiencies, it was not enough to addnew software to existing processes. Process mapping wasundertaken for all services to be integrated into the centre.The re-engineering of processes was time consuming andrequired the assistance of subject matter experts from allbranches. Oshawa learned it was important to have theright people involved in the process mapping – it requiredthe assistance of those who were taking the calls and staffdoing the follow-up work.

Human ResourcesService Oshawa is staffed with one manager, one coordinator,one technical administrator, and six full-time and sevenpart-time customer service representatives (CSRs). The fundingassociated with customer-service positions with the depart-ments was transferred to Service Oshawa, and interestedCity staff were required to apply for the new positions.

The implementation team worked diligently to managethe transition effectively including: presentations to theunion executive, presentations to staff and one-on-one meetings with staff in affected positions. As a result, implementation has been well received with no grievancesor negative feedback received from staff.

CSRs participated in an extensive six-week training program. Subject matter experts, who were provided withTrain-the-Trainer classes, instructed the CSRs on programsincluding City-wide services, policies and accessibility needs.

Staff were trained on many applications includingPeoplesoft, Class, Manta, GIS and the customer-relationship-management (CRM) application. Customer-service skillstraining and an introduction to the nature of call-centreoperations were also provided. This resulted in highlytrained and knowledgeable CSRs, who on a daily basisdemonstrate their professionalism in dealing with customers.

Facility StrategyWhen the Customer Service Strategy was approved, theCity was in theearly stages of aCity Hall construc-tion project. Thetiming was perfectfor the creation ofan accessible customer service-centre to accommo-date the consolida-tion of staff andservices. ServiceOshawa is locatedon the first floor –

close to a main entrance and public parking, and witheasy accessibility to back-up power in the event of apower failure.

The City worked with a supplier to design workstationsthat met the CSRs’ job function requirements: less work sur-face, adjustable keyboard trays and desk heights, dualmonitors and frosted-glass adjustable privacy panels thatmove with the desk when the height is changed.

The consolidated counter was designed so staff can col-lect payments, provide applications, and respond to a vari-ety of in person inquiries. One station is at a lower heightto accommodate customers with accessibility needs. Thelobby area provides a variety of promotional literature aswell as a computer kiosk so customers can surf governmentWeb sites.

Communication StrategyAn internal communication strategy was required to ensurethat accurate information was shared with staff on a timelybasis. This strategy included “lunch and learn” presentationsabout the new positions, project presentations at depart-mental meetings and updates in staff newsletters, on theintranet and via e-mail.

An external communication strategy was required toadvise the public of the availability of this new service. Thisstrategy included ads in local media (newspaper and radio),signs on the side of refuse vehicles, a grand opening andopen house, a new Web page (www.oshawa.ca/service),mailings and give-aways to customers, and presentations tocommunity groups and other municipalities.

Word-of-mouth marketing was also initiated. When customers called to offer a compliment on a City service,the details were recorded in the CRM software and the customers were sent a thank-you letter and two city pens,one for them and one to give to a neighbour when sharingthe positive story.

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28


All forms of communication have been successful.Citizens regularly call to advise that they appreciate our service and inquire about other services. We have alsoreceived positive media coverage on numerous occasions.

Technology StrategyThe service centre is supported by innovative technology.An investment in a customer-relationship-managementapplication was required to respond to informationrequests as well as document, distribute, and track requestsfor service. Phone technology also required updating toprovide queuing, messaging and recording functions.

The City opted not to use computer-telephone integrationin the initial stages. As a result, telephony requirementswere not significant. Voice-over-IP was already in use insome parts of the corporation and was accommodated torespond to the needs of this group.

Contact Center Manager Server (CCMS) by Nortel wasinstalled to provide statistical reporting, queuing and real-timemonitoring. CCMS provides quick, customizable views

enabling the coordinator to monitor the status of staff andcalls in the queue. It also provides the reporting required todetermine if service-level goals are being met and identifycall-volume trends used in preparing staff schedules. AudiologVoice Server by Verint Systems was installed to record callsin order to perform quality monitoring for staff coaching.

The acquisition of CRM software was a detailed andlengthy process. The City wanted to ensure that the appli-cation met immediate and future needs and would be aninvestment that could grow over time. To permit an “applesto apples” approach in comparing bids, it is important fora municipality to understand and thoroughly document itsimmediate needs, future “must haves” and future possibilities.

After thorough evaluation, vendor demos and visits toother municipalities, Oshawa chose the Lagan CRM appli-cation. Oshawa was the first Canadian municipality to usethe product. Other municipalities quickly followed, includingToronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Requests TrackedThe key differentiator in the evaluation was that Lagan wasa complete solution for Oshawa’s needs. It provides the abilityto track information requests so the City can understandwhat the community is asking for and provide a mechanismto improve publications and Web-site information.

Lagan provides a searchable and trainable knowledgebase, which ensures that information provided is consistentamong CSRs. Information is grouped into subject-based“communities” of information. The caller or CSR does notrequire knowledge of the organizational structure to searchfor or find information on any particular topic.

The scripting provided in the application has been verybeneficial. A series of questions and menu options guidethe CSR through the interaction. Rather than viewing acomplicated screen with numerous fields, the CSR has onlylimited details visible based on customer responses to thequestions asked.

The scripting has eliminated unnecessary work beingtransferred to branches (for example, a curb cut that doesn’tmeet zoning requirements is not sent to the traffic engineer,who previously had to ask a variety of questions andanswers). Duplicate checking is a regular part of the scriptingprocess and eliminates the need for staff to respond twiceto the same complaint.

Complete customer-interaction history is maintainedincluding phone calls, counter visits, e-mails and applicationsto City programs and services. Reporting capabilities areextensive and can be very detailed depending on theneeds of the user.

Staff members are able to report on case volume anddetail, user workload, request for information volume anddetail, service levels and reports by city location (such as

29



ward sections). Weekly reports are delivered to Councilmembers indicating activity within their wards, and monthlyreports are also delivered, indicating service levels metthroughout the entire city.

Relative to other applications the City supports, theCRM application infrastructure requirements were fairlycomplex. Eight servers are used, and integration of manycomponents is required – Web applications, business intelligence, knowledge base and integration components.

The CRM implementation required the assistance ofmany positions within IT including manager, DBA, GIS,webmaster, LAN manager, BA and some consulting services. The maintenance and configuration of the newand revised services is a major job function of one business analyst.

Future technology considerations include the integrationof CRM with other business applications, CRM upgradeand implementation of enhanced security features, Webself-service intake and potential screen scrape software.

Service Oshawa responds to an average of 8,000 callsand 570 e-mails a month. Average talk time is approximatelytwo minutes and most calls are answered in 17 seconds.There are 70 different case types configured in the software,and about 16,000 requests for service were received inthe first year.

‘More for Less’ AccomplishmentsOshawa has benefitted in many ways:• The technical administrator is responsible for the main-

tenance of the knowledge base as well as content moderation for the City’s Web site. This connectionbetween knowing what our customers need and want,and knowing what is available on the City’s Web site,has proved very beneficial.

• Partnerships with third-party organizations (utilities,regional government) have been established sorequests can be sent electronically and eliminate theneed for the customer to make another call.

• Residents applying for City services previously had toprovide proof of eligibility to many branches. This eligibility information is now consolidated and onlyneeds to be provided once.

• Seventy-five per cent of the calls received are “one and done.”

• Systems permit the City to quickly respond to the needsof the community. After a recent fire at a local HumaneSociety, Service Oshawa staff were able to accept callsand donations and provide information.

• The Emergency Public Inquiry Centre is now fully functional and came into play during a recent trainderailment.

• New services have been integrated without an increasein staff – sale of transit passes, City souvenirs and merchandise, accessibility complaint tracking,

licensing-services inquiries and batching of tax post-dated cheques.

• Service Oshawa provides back-up administrative assistance to other areas of the organization.

Positive FeedbackOshawa looks forward to the implementation of futurephases, as it continues to improve services provided to customers. Unsolicited feedback from the community hasbeen very positive:

“It’s nice to see first hand that my tax dollars are beingspent on something that benefits me. Keep up the goodwork, and I look forward to my next experience with yournew service.”

Brenda Jeffs, customer service manager for the City ofOshawa, can be reached at [email protected]. DaveMawby, director of information technology services, can be reached at [email protected]. n

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31


By Dan Newton, City of Red Deer, Albertaand Norah Prior, Prior + Prior Associates

THE CITY OF RED DEER, a mid-sized Alberta municipality,has tackled the complex problem of asset management bybuilding a solution for its urgent short-term needs while atthe same time devising a long-term strategy -- very long.Red Deer now has a vision for asset management andfinancing that extends for a century.

BackgroundMunicipalities have become intimately familiar with therequirements of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB)legislation, and to a large extent with the need for work-management solutions. The demand for policies, proce-dures and business analysis in these areas has been theprimary focus of local government in 2008-2009.

Widespread demand also exists for work-managementsolutions for those who lack them, and there is emerginginterest in the longer-term strategic aspects of asset-man-agement planning. By taking a comprehensive approach to all these developments, Red Deer has moved ahead ofmost of its peers.

In 2006, The City of Red Deer (population 88,000) recognized that the upcoming PSAB legislation presented aunique opportunity to deal with one of its emerging priorities,asset management. The City established an asset-manage-ment initiative modelled on international experience.

A fund of $2.9 million supported the project. The City setup a corporate steering committee of senior representativesfrom each asset-intensive division, Financial Services andInformation Technology Services. The committee chair isDan Newton, manager of IT services.

In early 2007 Red Deer retained a consulting firm, Prior + Prior, to assist in defining and implementing theasset-management strategy. The Enterprise AssetManagement Project moved forward under the leadershipof project manager Tony Woods for the first two years.

The project charter, endorsed by senior management in October 2006, set out the objectives shown in the chartbelow. These were later mapped to the three major compo-nents of the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Project,outlined on page 33.

Strategic Planning The EAM strategic planning has two major components:• Gap analysis

• Long-term asset managementplans and financial forecasts. The gap analysis employed a

series of workshops to developthe business drivers and conducta methodical assessment of theCity’s asset-management compe-tencies for each of its majorasset types: pavement, bridges,sidewalks, streetlights, linearwater, sanitary and storm,water and wastewater treatmentplants (reservoirs, lift stations,booster stations, piping, recre-ational and civic facilities, andelectric light and power).


City of Red Deer Meets PSAB NeedsWhile Creating Sustainability Vision

Project Objectives Major Components1.An accurate registry including a valuation of all relevant

assets owned by the City PSAB 2.Review existing business processes related to asset

acquisition and maintenance, and establish corporate standards to ensure consistency in how assets are identified,measured, and tracked Work-management system

3.Where required, modify current business processes to ensure adherence to corporate standards

4.Where possible, modify current business processes to improve operational effectiveness and efficiency

5.Standardize and integrate asset datasets6.Deploy analysis tools, including GIS integration to permit Asset-management plans

short- and long term asset planning. (including gap analysis)


32


The project team conducted gap analyses for each ofthe asset types covering each of the elements identified inthe illustration at right.

The asset-management plans and 100-year financialforecasts focus on best management practices and relatedcosts for each asset type, based on maximum effective life,condition and risk.

The asset-management plan profiles the asset from theperspective of asset register, levels of service, life cycleanalysis and demand for new infrastructure.

The gap analysis examined the competencies of RedDeer’s practices for each of the six elements in the illustration at right that contribute to the development of the long-term asset-management strategic plans.

The idea is to determine how well the organization is performing in each element against best practices andidentify gaps where practices and other elements can beimproved, so improving the quality of the plans.

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The gap-analysis roadmap identified improvement projects at both the corporate and departmental level. At the corporate level, the foundation projects identifiedimprovements that would have an impact on every division/asset, and where a policy, standard or guideline wouldfacilitate a consistent approach.

One of the foundation projects was to “establish a customer/stakeholder survey methodology to more effec-tively determine and measure levels of service,” whileanother recommendation was to implement a corporatework-management solution.

A third recommendation focused on the recruitment of a full-time asset-management program coordinator (this position was created in September 2008).

Departmental or asset-specific recommendations focusedon the development of capital-improvement-program justifica-tion processes and asset-life-cycle analysis and decision-making processes. Altogether, the gap analysis identifiedabout 40 areas of improvement, some overarching, othersspecific to one or more asset types.

Major Steps AccomplishedSince the start of the program in 2007, Red Deer has completed: • The PSAB strategy and initial valuation• The gap analysis of asset processes, practices, data

and systems for all eight major asset classes• Development of specifications for work-management

and decision-support systems, and the subsequent selection and initiation of a solution

• Beginning of the development of three of the five long-range forecasts and asset-management plans (pavementand sidewalks, linear water, sanitary and storm, andwater and wastewater treatment plants), which arescheduled for completion by the end of 2009. Gap analysis and the PSAB workshops occurred almost

in parallel in mid 2007. The PSAB initiative took precedencefor the balance of 2007 and throughout much of 2008.Under Tony Woods’ leadership, the functional specificationsfor work management and decision support were developedalongside the PSAB activity, and a solution – Hansen – wasselected in early 2009.

The more formal aspects of the asset-management program were repositioned in early 2009 with the appoint-ment of the asset-management program coordinator, RussellCrook, a senior manager from the City. The tasks of imple-menting the gap-analysis road map and long-term asset-

management plans and forecasts were assigned to him inMarch 2009. Crook is also responsible for the developmentof the emerging policies and organizational awareness ofasset management.

Elsewhere, asset stewards have been identified formajor asset portfolios, and cross-divisional teams havebeen established for the work-management selection andimplementation.

Both the City and the consulting team see the success of the EAM Project stemming from its status as a top-down,executive-sponsored initiative, with strong support at seniormanagement levels across the City. The project has beenone of Red Deer’s top five priority initiatives since 2007.

The Asset Management Steering Committee has playeda significant role in its success. Composed of senior managers, the committee meets bi-weekly to reviewprogress, sets priorities for work activity, allocatesresources, co-ordinates responses to each of the threemajor components, discusses challenges, and generallymaintains the momentum of the EAM Project.


How Asset-Management TasksAre Allocated in Red Deer

Asset management in Red Deer has three major components:

• PSAB 3150 data collection, reporting and asset registry – This component has been led by FinancialServices and supported by Information TechnologyServices. It has involved collecting data as well asdeveloping and implementing the data-collectionprocesses.

• Work management – Led by IT Services, this componentincludes tasks to track assets, improve processes, man-age workflow, and improve tactical decision-making.

• Asset-management plans -- These are led by the asset-management program coordinator, whose responsibilityis to set standards and practices, measure progress,manage risks and plan for the future operating andcapital budgets, support tactical and strategic decisionmaking, and implement the processes, practices, policies and procedures following from the gap-analysisimprovement projects.


34


Corporate and Departmental ProjectsIn addition to the foundation projects cited above, a corporateawareness and communications program, now under waythrough the asset-management program coordinator, focuseson education and awareness sessions through presenta-tions to the senior management committee and at divisionalmanagement meetings. Corporate Communications hasbeen very supportive of the need to promote the programthrough brochures and publications.

Six projects were identified at the departmental level,some applying to specific assets, but generally requiringimprovements to all asset types:• Document current levels of service and demand • Enhance asset registers (broaden attributes) to provide

a single source of comprehensive information about the asset

• Complete historical and replacement cost asset valuations• Implement risk, strategic lifecycle planning and capital

improvement program practices

• Implement work-management practices and software• Align rate models to the long term forecast and plans

when appropriate. Of the six departmental projects, two are well under

way -- asset registers and work management. Through thePSAB initiative, new asset registers have been compiledand, while they are not yet considered databases, the Citynow has complete inventories for civic and recreationalfacilities. The opening inventory is scheduled to be completedby the end of October 2009.

The Hansen work-management solution is scheduled togo live in February 2010 with linear water, wastewaterand storm modules.

The City of Red Deer is developing five strategic asset-management plans and long-term forecasts. All are to becompleted by May 2010, giving the City an understandingof future infrastructure requirements in 2009 replacementdollars.

Benefits and OutcomesIn the short term, the asset-management program hasreduced barriers between departments and helped management and staff gain a better appreciation of eachothers’ issues concerning assets.

Looking at asset management corporately has alsoresulted in considerable synergy. Education and awarenessare on the upswing – people are talking about assets andasset management in the context of their day-to-day activities.

The work-management system is expected to create synergy and capacity throughout the organization and,more importantly, provides the opportunity to scrutinizeand improve current processes and practices.

The asset-management planning activities act as awake-up call to asset managers and finance staff alikeregarding asset funding, risk and condition. For example,as a result of the storm- management workshop it suddenlybecame a high priority to assess and replace the old claystorm-water pipes in the downtown area. Red Deer is oneof a handful of jurisdictions who now monitor storm-waterinfrastructure.

Despite the urgency and profile of growth-related activitiesand shrinking budgets, there is a growing realization thatthe City must plan to properly manage its assets. In thelonger term, the program will provide a wide range ofinformation to support effective decision-making aboutasset management.

Dan Newton, [email protected], is manager of information technology services for The City of Red Deer,Alberta. Norah Prior, president of Prior & Prior AssociatesLtd., can be reached at [email protected]. n

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solutions to more and more issues, including the very sustainability of municipalities.

Along with this message of promise, though, came warnings that governance methods are not keeping pace with technologicaladvances and that changes in IT governance might need to be revolutionary, not evolutionary.

The flashpoint for ideas came right at the beginning of the conferencewith a keynote speech by Ray Kurzweil, a US inventor, author andfuturist whose Web site, kurzweilai.net, is a thought-leadership centrewith more than a million readers.

“Nobody can do their job without information technology,”Kurzweil declared in a presentation demonstrating the ever-growingimpact of technology and its explosively increasing capabilities.

The price-performance, capacity and bandwidth of technologiesacross the board are roughly doubling every year, Kurzweil noted. Hegave an example of how problem-solving capabilities are evolving bydemonstrating one of latest inventions, a hand-held scanner that can

Energetic MISA West ConferenceHears of Accelerating Impact of ITBy Lawrence MouleCo-editor, Municipal Interface

ONE THING BUILDS on another. That’s a simplestatement but, when you apply it to informationand communications technologies in munici-palities, there comes a point where the built-upcapabilities can change everything.

Each technological advance adds to theresources used to build the next one. And this is not going to stop – technological capa-bilities will keep growing exponentially.

This was the central idea that illuminatedthe MISA West conference in Kamloops, BC,on September 15-18. It means that the technologies managed by IT departments willempower more and more people to find

Above, conference chair Frank Mayhood, left, gives a commemorative painting to keynote speaker Ray Kurzweil.Left,a congenial gathering at the OPUS Consulting Groupbooth in the trade show includes, from left: Wayne Klamut,District of West Kelowna; Carole Powell, Dell Canada;Richard Brown, president of OPUS; and Richard Johnson, City of Prince George.

David Hennigan of the CapitalRegional District, president of

MISA BC, left, presents the 2009Peter Bennett Award, Canada’s

highest IT honour, to GerryMatte of the Municipality of

Saanich, a founder ofMISA/ASIM Canada. The

award was announced in Juneat the Lac Carling Congress.

36


Delegates dance on the second night of the conference to the music ofVancouver-based band Johnny and the Wallkers, featuring, from left: John Samulski of Forte Consulting, an associate member of MISA BC; bassist Fabio Walker; Stefano Walker of PrinterWorks; and drummer

Jim Wall. John and Stef previously played with Les MISA-Rabbles.

Above, David Hennigan presents the Spiritof Innovation Award to Paul Hurst of theCity of Airdrie, Alberta.

The organizing team for the City of Kamloops’ third MISA conference in 10 years drew warm praise from the 238 delegates.

Garry Broecling of the District ofSquamish met Nicole Stokes of

Samsung Electronics at the 2008MISA West conference in

Nanaimo; now they’re engaged.

Gwen Leahy of the City of Kamloopsand Ward Nimmo of TriGeoNetwork Security describe howKamloops enhanced its IT security.

Alvin Chok of the City of New Westminster, left,Greg Smith of Metro Vancouver Corporate Servicesand Sarah Hood of the BC Capital Regional District

take part in a panel discussion on IT leadership.

At right, the musical “Rhythm ofthe Rails” followed the banquet.

For inspiration and entertainment, keynote

speakers included, centre,Derek Hatfield, the first

Canadian to sail aroundthe world alone, and,

right, comedian Lorne Elliott.

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read text, convert it into spoken words, and translate it intomultiple languages in moments.

Such solutions are only the beginning of technologicalprogress because technologies of all kinds will be a billiontimes more powerful in 25 years.

“What now fits inside your pocket will one day fitinside a cell in your bloodstream,” Kurzweil predicted.

His ideas rippled through the conference, giving it anenergetic, optimistic atmosphere and adding new meaningto the theme of "Better the Third Time Around.”

Conference chair Frank Mayhood, director of IT forKamloops, reflected in conversation about how expandingcapabilities are giving shape to the future of municipal IT departments.

”It’s an ascending spiral,” he said. “It’s not a straightpath. There are technology cycles that we go through,such as centralizing versus decentralizing, in conjunctionwith raising the bar of technology.

“So the scope of what we have to deal with as IT managers is a spiral that is increasing in diameter. Back inthe mainframe days the scope of what we dealt with inside

the enterprise was quite small. We had applications forfinance and purchasing and maybe HR.

“What we deal with today – well, the presentation bythe city of Brampton, Ontario, this morning (by AlberHanna, citizen-services program manager) pointed out thatthey are tracking 340 different services being delivered!

“That shows you how the spiral has widened. If we shutdown, the sewers don’t operate because the pumps are runby a SCADA system. The traffic lights will fail to function ifthe IP network goes down. Everything that the enterprisedoes now is dependent on technology.”

Growing SophisticationOne of the most rapidly evolving and powerful types ofmunicipal technologies is geographic information systems(GIS). The Kamloops conference continued the tradition ofdevoting a day-long session to it, organized by the InteriorGIS Users Group. Presentations showed how GIS applica-tions have become capable of aggregating and displayingdata in sophisticated ways to help deal with environmental,health and asset-management issues.

Richard Kirk of Stratchcona County, Alberta, who wasattending his last MISA conference before retirement,

Exhibitors

40


predicted that GIS will be the biggest driving force in thefuture of municipal IT.

“GIS is at the heart of municipal government becausethe role of a municipality is to manage on, below and abovea certain boundary of land,” Kirk said. “As municipalitiesuse GIS technologies more, there will be more tools developedthat will be easier and easier to use so they will becomepart of the mainstream.”

Green ProductsAnother powerful influence is clearly the greening of IT, as was evident in both the conference sessions and on theexhibit floor. Many new products are being designed withenvironmental features, such as a printer/scanner fromOcé-Canada Inc. with an “ozone scrubber” to preventharmful emissions and a new class of “net-top” computersfrom Acer America that use 60 per cent less energy thanstandard desktop PCs.

David Wilkins of TELUS Business Solutions observed,“Many of the speakers here are tying green initiatives intotheir business on a day-to-day basis.

“That has become a significant motivating factor formany of the councils and the leadership of municipalities.

And it certainly has trickled down to the data centre andthe IT team, who are building green solutions into theirdecision-making model.”

Meanwhile, on a day-to-day basis municipalities inWestern Canada continue to implement creative projects.The City of Airdrie, Alberta won the Spirit of InnovationAward for the second year in a row. This time it was forimplementing a low-cost wireless network with high-poweredWi-Fi radios mounted around the city and in vehicles.

Competing projects for the award, presented on thefirst day of the conference, included:• A security-information and event-management solution

by the City of Kamloops• A server-virtualization project by the Regional District

of Central Kootenay that demonstrated climate-changeleadership

• Implementation of a downtown Wi-Fi network by theCity of Langford

• A call-sheet application for the City of Nanaimo’sPublic Works department.

Management ChallengesAmid all the talk of progress and achievement came somesober warnings from municipal leaders and consultantsthat management practices need to change along withtechnologies.

Alvin Chok, CIO of the City of New Westminster, saidduring the panel discussion “Transforming IT Leadership in Municipalities” that IT departments are too often unsureof who controls the department’s vision and decision-making criteria.

“We need to think about a new IT model, one that isfocused on a strategic outlook to the future,” Chok said.“Beyond organizational effectiveness and efficiency, weneed to look at the value of the IT organization in themunicipality.”

Consultant Norah Prior, president of Prior + PriorAssociates, said IT department leaders need to becomemore business-savvy and work to overcome a gap inunderstanding that leads senior managers to believe that IT departments are “out of control.”

“IT governance is about the need to engage, involve,and educate,” she advised.

As delegates left Kamloops after three days of experi-encing camaraderie, new ideas and new technologytrends, they could reflect that the widening impact of thetechnologies they are managing seems to be pointing tothe need for a widening spiral of collaboration, too.

With files from Wayne Ikesaka, information services managerof the City of Vernon, host municipality for the next MISAWest Fall Conference, September 14-17, 2010. n

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THREE CITIES have won awards ofexcellence from Showcase Ontario forIT-related projects, led by the City ofToronto with five.

Toronto officials were presentedwith two Diamond Awards and threeAwards of Merit at the awards cere-mony in Toronto on September 22. The cities of Kitchener and Londoneach picked up an Award of Merit.

The awards ceremony was a highlight of the 11th annual ShowcaseOntario, the largest public-sector

information and IT educationevent in Canada, which drewrecord crowds September 21-23 at the Metro TorontoConvention Centre. MISAOntario had a booth in theexhibit hall and the Executiveheld a meeting in one of thesession rooms.

An appplication imple-mented by the City of TorontoEmployment and SocialServices Division called WebAccess to Your Services(WAYS) was awarded theDiamond Award in the category“Serving Ontario’s Citizens.”Developed by SyLogixConsulting Inc., WAYS was created toprovide a safe and private avenue forsocial support inquiries and applica-tions. It is the first social-assistanceapplication of its kind in Canada.

Toronto Emergency MedicalServices also took home a DiamondAward for its Electronic Patient CareReporting System, which enables paramedic crews to use tablet PCs to instantly document informationthroughout the day.

Toronto won Awards of Merit for:• A service directory produced by

the Shelter, Support and HousingAdministration Division

• An online inquiry tool launched by Toronto Court Services

• An electronic information exchangetool from Children’s Services.In the “Employee Engagement”

category, the City of Kitchener won an

Award of Merit for employing “superusers” in implementation and trainingthroughout the Delta Project to integratefinancial systems.

The City of London earned its awardin the “Government Modernization”category for its eBudget documentmanagement system developed by the Technology Services Division.

The MISA Ontario display on theShowcase Ontario exhibit floor, orga-nized by Cindy Ravenscroft of HaltonRegion, drew much attention from visitors who inquired about MISA andits initiatives, especially the MunicipalReference Model Version 2 Project.

Exhibit volunteers Teresa Soulliereof the City of Waterloo and DavidLaneville of the City of Timmins promotedthe benefits of MISA membership andencouraged attendance at the MISA ITSecurity Conference, November 8-10in Timmins. n

Municipal NewsAcross Canada

Three Cities Win Showcase Ontario Awards

Colin Low-Ring, left, and Antwanet Gonzales ofDesTech, an associate member of MISA Ontario, chatwith Halton Region’s Cindy Ravenscroft, senior IT adviser,and Ralph Blauel, director of technology services, atthe MISA Ontario booth at Showcase Ontario.

WE ARE SAD to report thatDDeennnniiss SStteeeenn,, a founder and lifemember of MISA Ontario, diedOctober 7. Municipal Interfacewill pay tribute to Dennis in anarticle in the January issue.

DDaanniieell MMuunnnnss, formerlysenior network analyst at the Townof Whitby, Ontario, became man-ager of information systems for theTown of Whitchurch-Stouffville on September 21. He is also secretary of MISA Ontario.

HHuuww MMoorrggaann, formerly anenterprise architect with the OntarioMinistry of Health, is the newhead technology architect in theI&T Division at the City of Toronto.

&PeopleAppointments


IF THE TITLE OF THIS COLUMN SOUNDS FAMILIAR, it isbecause I have taken it from a piece written by DenisChamberland, a commercial lawyer with Aird& Berlis LLP,in the October 2009 issue of Municipal World.

The trigger for me was a Toronto Star editorial onOctober 18, “Untendered at City Hall”, reporting a findingby Toronto’s auditor general that the City spent $125 million in 2008 “buying goods and services from favouredsuppliers that didn’t have to enter a bidding process for thecontracts. This amounts to about six per cent of the City’sannual purchases.”

Lest this column be interpreted as critical of the City of Toronto, my expectation is that the proportion of sole-source contracts would be similar in other municipalities.Toronto’s proportion may, in fact, be below average.

The Star editorial follows the conventional line that sole-source contracts should have limited use (such as in emergen-cies or where there is only one qualified supplier), butthat generally “everyone is best served by fair and open competition for municipal contracts.” In his article,Chamberland quotes a Toronto councillor who says thatthe practice sends a “poisonous message to the public.”

Lengthening ProcessesWhile I fully support the notion of “fair and open competi-tion”, the level of procurement effort, time and costs shouldalso be commensurate with the value of the goods beingpurchased. My concern is that the current demonization of sole-source procurement will simply result in longer procurement processes and higher procurement costs (forboth the municipality and the vendor), without any offsettingbenefits of lower prices or better purchasing decisions.

Many of the sole-source purchases with which I havebeen involved in IT have, in fact, been the end stage of an “informal evaluation” in which a range of potential solutions have been evaluated, based on information that isreadily available and (don’t tell anyone) even from talkingto vendors at venues such as the MISA annual conferences.

In some cases, we “legitimize” the results of our informalevaluation by issuing a competitive bid (usually a request forquotation) for a specific product that we have determined,through our research, will best meet our needs. It is just thereseller channel that we are opening to competitive bid.Nevertheless, such purchases meet the requirements for a“competitive process” and do not usually show up on theradar of most audit reports.

(This process of doing our research, talking to others forrecommendations and references, and then shoppingaround for the best price on our selected product or productsreflects how most of us go about purchasing our next caror home appliance. The difference, of course, is that whenspending our own money, we are not obliged to adhere tofair and open competition. While I understand that spendingpublic money imposes different obligations, there is also anobligation to have a process that is efficient and effective.)

Time ConstraintsBut on the subject of such informal evaluations, the TorontoStar editorial also notes that “before entering into fourother contracts, city officials conducted their own, informalcompetition to test the market.

“This informal process took up to four months. Then theofficials insisted that time constraints left them no choicebut to use an untendered supplier. That just isn’t right.”

So what is the solution?First, I agree with Chamberland that municipalities would

be well advised to adopt a formal process for genuineexamples of sole sourcing. He suggests, for instance, thatreview and approval of the proposed sole sourcing by asenior manager who is not directly involved in the specificprocurement could lend immediate credibility to the process.

Second, IT (and others) in the municipality must workwith Purchasing to develop a range of procurementprocesses that are consistent with the requirements of the situation. And, if you believe that “informal evaluation”is appropriate, work with Purchasing to develop a processthat meets its needs.

At the same time, Purchasing should understand that aformal bid process is not the only mechanism for achievingfair and open competition. In an era in which informationabout suitable solutions can be accessed through anInternet search and potential suppliers may be anywhere inthe world, expecting such suppliers to respond to a formalmunicipal procurement process is unrealistic and deprivesus of many of the most innovative solutions.

The world is no longer waiting for us to issue a requestfor procurement (if it ever was).We are living in a world inwhich we have to seek out the best solutions. We needprocurement processes that support this reality. n

‘Sole Sourcing Don’tGet No Respect’

Governance IssuesBy Roy Wiseman

Chief Information OfficerRegional Municipality of Peel, Ontario

42


National and Member Executives

National OfficersPRESIDENT Daya Pillay, Halifax Regional Municipality902-490-6550 (fax 490-4525) [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTMaurice Gallant, City of Fredericton506-460-2830 [email protected]

TREASURER Garry Bezruki, City of Waterloo519-747-8726 (fax 747-8727)[email protected]

SECRETARY David Hennigan, The Capital Regional District250-360-3141 [email protected]

www.misa-asim.ca

MISA PrairiesPRESIDENT Chris Fisher, City of Regina306-777-7193 [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Corey Halford, City of Airdrie403-948-8800 x [email protected]

TREASURER Dan Newton, City of Red Deer403-342-8283 [email protected]

SECRETARY Michelle Bohachyk, City of Fort Saskatchewan780-992-6225 [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP Natalia Madden, County of Grande Prairie780-532-9722 [email protected]

www.misaprairies.ca

MISA BCPRESIDENT David Hennigan, The Capital Regional District250-360-3141 [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Bill Grant, District of West Vancouver604-925-7071 [email protected]

TREASURER Guillermo Ferrero, City of Nanaimo250-755-4486 [email protected]

SECRETARY Linda Kreutz, Greater Vancouver Regional District604-436-6974 [email protected]

http://misa.bc.ca

MISA OntarioPRESIDENT Garry Bezruki, City of Waterloo519-747-8726 (fax 747-8727)[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT Geoff Hogan, County of Grey519-372-0219 [email protected]

TREASURER David Laneville, City of Timmins705-360-2605 (fax 705-360-2686) [email protected]

SECRETARY Dan Munns, Town of Whitby905-430-4300 x [email protected]

COUNSEL Lou Milrad, Miller Thomson LLP416-595-7926 (fax 595-8695)[email protected]

www.misa.on.ca

MISA AtlanticPRESIDENT David Muise, Halifax Regional Municipality902-490-4000 [email protected]

TREASURER Daya Pillay, Halifax Regional Municipality902-490-6550 (fax 490-4525) [email protected]

SECRETARY Maurice Gallant, City of Fredericton506-460-2830 [email protected]

Réseau del’InformatiqueMunicipale duQuébec (RIMQ)PRESIDENTGeneviève Côté, Ville de Sainte-Thérèse450-434-1445 x [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTDaniel Naud, Ville de Québec418-641-6413 x [email protected]

ADMINISTRATOR Gaston Huot, Villes de Boucherville, Brossard, Saint-Bruno et [email protected]

SECRETARY-TREASURER Michel Hurteau, Ville de Sorel-Tracy450-780-5714 [email protected]

www.rimq.com

43

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