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GARLAND
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT

Work Session Item 1.

City Council Work Session

Meeting Date:

03/18/2024

Title: Licensing, Permitting and Inspection Solution

Submitted By:

Mike Betz

Strategic Focus Area:

Customer-Focused City Services

Issue/Summary

The City is considering transitioning to the Salesforce platform, partnering with Vivid GovTech for implementation services, to provide the City's land management, licensing, permitting, and inspection solution.

Background

In May 2023, the City Council authorized the purchase of licensing of Clariti Software as a land management, licensing, permitting, and inspection software, and authorized the execution of a contract with Unisys as the Clariti software implementation partner. In the months that followed, the implementer was unable to timely provide firm pricing and implementation timing satisfactory to the City. This delayed the project significantly. The City ultimately determined that implementation of Clariti would not be a viable solution for the land management, licensing, permitting, and inspection software needs of the City. As a result, in February 2024, the City canceled the contracts with Clariti and Unisys and sought an alternative solution. The existing, licensing, permitting, and inspection software, Microsoft CRM, is no longer supported and at risk of imminent failure. Therefore, an alternate solution must be implemented.

A Budget Amendment to the FY 2023-24 Operating Budget will be brought to the City Council for consideration at a future date to appropriate an additional $1,504,330 in the IT Project Fund for this software purchase and implementation. The additional appropriation will be funded through a one-time transfer from the General Fund, Sanitation Fund, and Customer Service Fund to the IT Project Fund as part of the FY 2023-24 Revised Operating Budget.

Consideration / Recommendation

In alignment with our commitment to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in City operations, staff recommends moving our land management, licensing, permitting, and related inspection software needs to the Salesforce platform by approving the contracts for Salesforce licensing and Vivid GovTech for implementation services. This transition signifies a strategic move towards modernization, offering enhanced functionalities, scalability, and integrative capabilities crucial for our evolving needs.

Salesforce offers several advantages to the City:

Enhanced Scalability and Flexibility: Salesforce's cloud-based architecture readily accommodates the City’s future growth and changing needs.
System Customization: Tailoring Salesforce to meet the specific needs of each Department while implementing best practices, contributing to long-term success.
Improved User Experience: Its intuitive interface simplifies tasks for staff, streamlining processes.
Integration: Salesforce integrates with existing City systems, eliminating data silos and fostering collaboration.
Citizen Engagement: Simplified public access to key City services and information enhances citizen and developer experiences with City staff.