HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 13 - REVISED Staff Report - Approve Agreements with Carahsoft Technology Corp. and IK Consulting, LLC Information Technology
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Item # 13
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
October 1, 2024
TOPIC: Enterprise Land Management System Software and Implementation Services
AGENDA TITLE
Approve Agreements with Carahsoft Technology Corp. and IK Consulting, LLC, for
Enterprise Land Management System Software and Implementation Services
(Specification No. 24-087A) (General Fund and Non-General Fund) (Revive Santa
Ana)
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Carahsoft Technology
Corp. for software subscription licensing, support, and training of Accela Civic
Platform planning, permitting, and licensing system, in an aggregate amount not to
exceed $1,800,000, for an initial one-year term beginning October 1, 2024, with
provisions for four optional one-year renewals. (Agreement No. A-2024-XXX)
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with IK Consulting, LLC for
Accela Civic Applications implementation services, in an amount not to exceed
$1,107,445, for a 27-month term beginning October 1, 2024 and expiring December
31, 2026. (Agreement No. A-2024-XXX)
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
DISCUSSION
The Santa Ana Property Information Network (SAPIN) is an internally developed land
management, permitting, and code enforcement system that was implemented in 2000
for plan checking, building permitting, building inspections, Public Works permitting, and
Code Enforcement case management. Although the SAPIN system has been
enhanced over the years and has met the needs of the City for more than two decades,
its capabilities have fallen behind the technology and functionality now available from
off-the-shelf applications on the market. In example, SAPIN lacks the capabilities
allowing the City to conduct business transactions in the digital environment and to
interface with third party software commonly used by the development community.
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SAPIN lacks mobile accessibility in the field and real-time automated reporting, which
hampers decision-making and responsiveness which the public has come to expect
from a service provider with current technologies. More significantly, because SAPIN
was developed in-house utilizing a programing language that is no longer taught and
supported in the industry, the City will lose the necessary knowledge to support the
software with staffing changes and retirements.
It is imperative for the City to move from SAPIN to a state-of-the-art software that can
better meet the City’s needs now and in the future, and provide the improved
functionality that the SAPIN system is lacking.
On June 15, 2021, the City Council approved agreements with Clariti Cloud and
Avocette Technologies to implement the Clariti Permitting and Licensing system. The
consultants worked with the Information Technology Department (ITD), Planning and
Building Agency (PBA), and the Public Works Agency (PWA) to document the City’s
business processes, use cases, and information requirements. When changing to a new
system, this early stage of the process is the most important and the most time
intensive as it establishes the foundation for all future work to build upon.
As an outcome of this intensive effort, the City now has documented the workflow and
processes, and procedures for building a system allowing the City to efficiently complete
business transactions and permitting activities through an online portal. While this was
a critical step in the process and resulted in a substantial work product by the
consultants, it became apparent from reviewing the various functioning software
modules provided by their support team that the Clariti Cloud system would require
extensive configuration and customization in order to meet the needs of the City.
This was a major concern for staff as it would require the City to again, build the various
modules, in some instances from scratch, and to maintain the system in-house, making
the system extremely labor-intensive to support and with limited options to upgrade and
enhance over time. Since these systems typically are utilized for many years (15-20
years or longer), the project team made the difficult decision of terminating and not
investing further into the project with Clariti Cloud and Avocette Technologies. Given
that these systems are typically in use for 15-20 years or longer, the project team
collectively decided it would be beneficial for the City to halt the project with Clariti
Cloud and Avocette Technologies. At this point, only 31% of the project budget, or
$1,053,548, had been spent, and the team concluded that switching to a different
solution would be a better long-term fit for the City.
To move the project forward, the City team re-evaluated the Accela Civic Platform,
which was one of the runner-up solutions from the previous procurement. This included
extensive reviews and live demonstrations of the system, it’s capabilities, and user
interface. The City team also interviewed other cities already using the system and
received positive feedback regarding system performance, capabilities, company
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support, and ease of set up and use. The team determined that the Accela Civic
Platform would be the best solution to assist the City with quickly resuming the project
and that they have the software solution that will successfully meet the City’s
requirements due to their long history providing this technology to municipalities, the
robust functionality of their existing system, and the successful track record with
numerous other cities here in California.
Accela was formed in 1981 and incorporated in California in 1999. Accela is a leader in
the permitting and licensing space and has more than 2,000 separate agencies that
utilize their software. Their latest solution is the Accela Civic Platform which is a cloud-
based system that includes modules for planning, permitting, code enforcement, and
licensing. The system is currently operating in many local California agencies, including
the cities of Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Ontario, Whittier, Torrance, Moreno Valley,
Sacramento, Stockton, and Roseville, among others.
Santa Ana City Ordinance No. NS-3041 authorizes the City to purchase against
contracts from any public agency utilizing a competitive bid process. The National
Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) awarded contract #AR2472 to
Carahsoft Technology Corp. Technology Corp., an authorized reseller of Accela Civic
Platform software and related support services. The contract was awarded as a result
of an open and competitive bidding process that meets the City’s requirements. The first
action of this agenda item is to approve the Accela Subscription Services Agreement
(Exhibit 1) and authorize purchases of Accela software subscription licensing, support,
and training through Carahsoft Technology Corp. (Exhibit 3)
In addition to system licensing, the City requires an implementation partner to assist
with the system configuration, data migration, interface development, report
development, training, and technical support of the Accela Civic Platform. On June 27,
2024, the City issued RFP No. 24-087A for Accela Civic Applications Implementation
Services on the City’s online bid management and publication system. A summary of
vendor participation and results is as follows:
1,009 Vendors notified
0 Santa Ana vendors notified
23 Vendors downloaded the RFP packet
3 Proposals received
Proposals were solicited, opened on July 17, 2024, and evaluated. The three proposals
submitted by the RFP deadline were all determined to be responsive to the
specifications and met the City’s requirements. A selection team consisting of staff from
the IT Department, Planning and Building Agency, and Public Works evaluated the
proposals and recommend awarding an agreement to IK Consulting, LLC, the best
suited vendor. Proposing firms’ rankings according to the criteria listed in the RFP are
as follows:
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Vendor Name Location Rank
IK Consulting Tucson, AZ 1
TruePoint Solutions Loomis, CA 2
Bryne Software Technologies Chesterfield, MO 3
The second action on this agenda item is to approve an agreement with IK Consulting
to serve as the implementation partner for the Accela Civic Platform. (Exhibit 2)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding is available in the FY 2024-25 Planning & Building Agency—Permit & Plan
Check, accounting unit 01116530, Public Works - Development Engineering,
accounting unit 10117605, and American Rescue Plan Act accounting unit 18120013.
Future fiscal year funding will be included in the proposed budgets for City Council
consideration. The following table is an estimate of the account distribution by fiscal
year; however, the actual amounts for each fiscal year may vary based on the timing of
the system implementation.
Account
Unit –
Account #
Account
Description
FY
24-25
FY
25-26
FY
26-27
FY
27-28
FY
28-29 Total
01116530-
66511
Planning and
Building Agency-
Permit & Plan
Check - Computer
Software
Subscriptions
72,000 225,000 243,000 255,000 285,000 1,080,000
10117605-
66511
Public Works -
Development
Engineering -
Computer Software
Subscriptions
48,000 150,000 162,000 170,000 190,000 720,000
18120013-
62300
ARPA - IT -
Contract Services
Professional
300,000 525,795 281,650 1,107,445
Total $2,907,445
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EXHIBIT(S)
1. Agreement with Accela
2. Agreement with IK Consulting, LLC for Implementation Services
3. Draft PO to Carahsoft
Submitted By: Jack Ciulla, Chief Technology Innovations Officer
Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager