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Report
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Report To: General Governance Committee
Date of Meeting: September 25, 2017
Report Number: CAO -008-17 Resolution:
File Number: By-law Number:
Report Subject: Information Technology Strategic Plan (2017 — 2022)
Recommendations:
1. That Report CAO -008-17 be received;
2. That Council endorse the Information Technology Strategic Plan (2017 — 2022) to
recognize and promote the significant role that information technology plays in relation
to effective and efficient service delivery throughout the Corporation;
3. That the CAO be authorized to fill the vacant Network Support Technician position
identified in the approved 2017 Municipal budget; and
4. That the CAO be authorized to proceed with the recommendation in the Plan to realign
IT Division responsibilities in part by reclassifying the existing Security Specialist to a
Network Administration Supervisor at an approximate 2017 impact of $2,000
(annualized cost of approximately $8,700).
Municipality of Clarington
Resort CAO -008-17
Report Overview
Paae 2
The IT Strategic Plan was prepared following a detailed review of all of the Municipality's
services that are supported by information technology applications and services. It recognizes
and promotes the integral role of information technology throughout the corporation. It is
intended to be used as a guide to help establish and support corporate strategic priorities
respecting efficient and effective service delivery.
1.0 Background
1.1 Demand for information technology services throughout the corporation has increased
significantly over the past several years. Accordingly, it was recognized as prudent and
timely to assess information technology strategies and priorities which will support the
continued development of strong customer service and effective service delivery.
1.2 Using funds allocated by the Director of Finance from the 2016 Durham Municipal
Insurance Plan surplus funds for risk management projects, the firm of Prior & Prior was
contracted to prepare an IT Strategic Plan at a cost just under $30,000. Prior & Prior
widely consulted, interviewed and surveyed staff, and received direct input from
Department Heads. They reviewed responsibilities, services, current and proposed
future major project requirements, and considered best practices to formulate a
comprehensive plan that will position Clarington to operate efficiently into the future. A
complete copy of the resulting IT Strategic Plan has been circulated separately to
Council.
2.0 Summary of Key Findings
2.1 After their extensive consultation and review of our existing practices, the consultants
identified the following issues that they deemed to be critical:
There is pent-up demand for new technology solutions. Many staff see
opportunity for efficiencies, improved effectiveness and better management
practices through technology. Legacy applications, work-arounds, spreadsheet
and paper-based manual processes no longer meet their needs or the
expectations of their customers.
2. There is no formal process for documenting and prioritizing projects. To date,
solutions have been sought by individual departments, often with little awareness
of similar needs in other departments.
Municipality of Clarington
Report CAO -008-17 Page 3
3. IT is acting as a utility provider, but not as a partner in the identification and
optimization of technology. Departments want advice on new technologies, but
the IT resource has little time for research and strategizing.
4. The reliance on low/no cost solutions has created complexity and risk in the
technical environment.
5. There is need for more complete and formal corporate policies, processes, or
procedures to address core operational activities.
2.2 The Plan recommends that the Municipality focus some of its long term investment on
technology over the next five years to sustain and improve customer service,
efficiencies, effectiveness and accountability. It notes that growth in service demand has
several Departments needing more resources to keep up, but rather than suggesting
the natural response of automatically adding staff, the Plan recommends that the
Municipality should look first to process improvement.
2.3 The following were identified as key areas for solutions that will enable business
improvements:
Complete Upgrades in Flight — GP 2016 Financials, Active Net Recreation
Management, CityWide Works
2. Planning, Engineering (LDO), Licensing and By-law System, Document
Management System — workflow and mobile
3. Automations — purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, staff
scheduling
4. Customer Relationship Management — customer service and issues tracking
2.4 The Plan notes that the "problem for Clarington is that the demand for major business
systems exceeds the current capability and capacity of the IT organization to support
the research, acquisition, implementation and sustainment of big systems". It explains
that it has never been more important to make technology investments that will make
the most of opportunities with the following three principles to guide all future effort and
investment in major business systems:
Municipality of Clarington
Resort CAO -008-17
Paae 4
Corporate a holistic view of all needs that will maximize opportunities to
achieve corporate goals.
Planned a rational roadmap that recognizes the pre -requisites such as
business readiness, resource availability, and infrastructure
supports.
Integrated maximizes opportunity to share information across systems to
eliminate duplication and improve the quality of data.
2.5 The recommendations, major projects and strategies outlined in the Plan are intended
to support these principles. It suggests a 5 year roadmap to align and build IT capability
while successfully implementing several major business systems.
Current Situation
2.6 The consultants noted that Departments have managed until now using old
technologies with limited functionality, supplemented by manual processes,
spreadsheets, single purpose databases and lots of paper. All are looking to improve
their programs and services with new business processes through technology that is
expected to enhance efficiency and customer service.
2.7 They noted that key elements of the current IT Division's services including timeliness,
quality and knowledge are well above the typical rating for most municipalities. The Plan
also notes that the IT team is very lean with everyone having a focus on support issues,
leaving little or no capacity for planning or strategic management, and that there is a
great deal of dependency on one staff resource person. The IT Division maintains a
traditional support function, providing excellent reactive service, and is now at a stage to
mature in order to increase effectiveness of service delivery to the corporation and the
services delivered.
2.8 The organizational assessment concludes that "the IT team of nine (9) has done an
impressive job building out a stable and reliable technology infrastructure nonetheless,
a number of staffing risks and challenges emerged during the assessment". A need
was identified for Clarington to direct immediate attention to the infrastructure layer to
strengthen and formalize core IT technologies and services. At the same time, it
indicates that the IT team needs to realign itself to support the acquisition,
implementation and operation of new business systems, and ultimately evolve into a
key partner in all business improvement projects.
Municipality of Clarington
Resort CAO -008-17
Paae 5
2.9 The Gartner IT Management Maturity Model, shown on page 62 of the Plan, is a
standard tool used to identify the effectiveness of service delivery organizations. The
consultants place the current IT Division at a level 1-2, which classifies services as
proactive in predicting problems, and responding positively, however moving to the next
level 3 and 4 will require investment and realignment to allow maturing over time into
the strategic "business partner" of the organization.
3.0 Key Pressures/Drivers
3.1 The Plan notes that the Municipality is under pressure to make more and better use of
technology, with the key drivers identified on page 12, as follows:
a) Changing Community - population growth has increased customer service
demand, with new customers demanding online, public network access and
social media communication.
b) Drive for Service Efficiencies — Departments are eager to better use information
technology, creating competing priorities for limited IT and project resources.
c) Rapid IT Industry Change — proliferation and consumerisation of human
interfaces i.e.: smartphones, tablets, touch screens, point of sale units, GPS
location devices, security, in addition to copier and phone technology. New
software and platform provisioning options adding additional decisions re public
cloud vs private cloud.
d) New and expanding risks — relentless external and internal threats to systems
and data from hardware and network failure, software errors, hacking, theft and
malice. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are needed to detail
the risks and mitigation strategies for best practice.
4.0 Infrastructure, Systems & Practices — Assessment
4.1 The overview of technology practices, infrastructure and systems in place is
summarized on page 13. It is a high level snapshot of gaps and improvement areas to
enable efficiency, effectiveness and good customer service. The four layers identified
are: Infrastructure, Major Business Systems, Integration, and Customer Facing
Systems. The four layers are categorized by colour and assessed as fitting in the
categories of: Meets Needs (green), Needs Improvement (orange), Risk or Key Enabler
(red), and Gap — where there is little or no technology in that area (white). It also notes
where the Municipality has recognized a need and has budgeted or initiated projects to
complete the needed work. The specific observations for each of these layers are set
out in much detail through pages 14 to 31.
Municipality of Clarington
Resort CAO -008-17
5.0 Key Enablers for Effectiveness
Paae 6
5.1 The overall assessment of the Business Systems Layer highlights opportunities to use
or improve technology in the business functions and identifies that two key enablers for
effective acquisition, implementation and integration of major business systems are
missing: Architecture and Project Management. As the Municipality invests in new
technology it is noted as being important to ensure that acquisition and implementation
are done in a manner that will maximize the chance and degree of success. Also noted
is that renewed technology is required to support increased volume and complexity of
work and opportunities to achieve efficiencies through mobilisation.
5.2 In recognition of a key enabler of success being the business approach to service
delivery, the Plan recommends the addition of a Business Development Supervisor
position to reduce IT consulting costs and allow the proposed IT Governance
Committee that will set priorities on proposed new applications to have expert advice
available as it assesses needs and then it would assist in project management of new
applications. This is a new position recommended by the Plan for 2017, with an
estimated annual salary of $87,043 or $14,500 for the balance of this fiscal year,
however it is not included in the recommendation of this Report as it was not anticipated
in the budget/staffing deliberations.
5.3 The IT Strategic Plan will become a focus of the recommendations for future budgets
regarding major projects, business applications and key strategies as identified on
pages 85 through 111, with suggested timelines. The IT Steering Committee, which
will be made up of Department Heads, will review these recommended
applications/projects/strategies and timelines, ensure that they align corporate priorities,
and set direction to enhance integration, communication and support of all Municipal
service delivery programs.
5.4 The Service Delivery review to accommodate new demands and goals laid out in the IT
Strategic Plan states that the IT service delivery should become responsive to new and
emerging needs and be proactive and strategic. To achieve this, 3 key things are
identified (page 63):
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Enable the IT Manager to focus on IT strategy and planning, business
systems and project delivery. This is noted to be critical to the successful
evolution of IT services, as noted on page 63 and 64.
2. Reorganizing the IT Division to establish dedicated teams within IT that
allow for servicing excellence an specialization in 3 key areas (illustrated
on page 65):
a. Client Services (help desk / customer support)
b. Technology Infrastructure Services (data & voice networks)
c. Business Development Services (application & data analysis).
This area would be facilitated with the addition of the Business
Development Supervisor position recommended by the Plan.
3. Building sustainability into the IT organization by:
a. Updating job responsibilities to reflect more current requirements
b. Improve training opportunities for all staff
c. Adopt a hybrid model to augment service delivery.
6.0 IT Strategic Plan Recommendations
6.1 The Council 2017 Budget staffing deliberations considered, conditional on the
completion of the IT Strategic Plan, filling the Network Support Technician vacancy at
an annual salary of $71,200. This position was noted during the budget process as
being necessary to fill a vacancy created when the person who was in this role was
required to vacate it in order to take on IT security tasks recommended as an urgent
matter in an external review and risk assessment conducted in December 2015. The IT
Plan acknowledges the resource pressures, and recommends filling the position as
soon as possible to help alleviate the escalating responsibilities in the support function
(page 71).
6.2 Within the restructuring recommendation is a reclassification of the existing Security
Specialist incumbent to a classification of Network Administration Supervisor. The
change is suggested as a re -positioning to allow a higher level focus for the network
and infrastructure components, including disaster recovery, the increasing
security/cyber risk and security programs. The existing Network Analyst would report to
the Network Administration Supervisor. The change would place the incumbent one
level higher on the grid, thereby matching the two existing supervisors, with a fiscal
impact in the remainder of 2017 of approximately $2,000 (annualized at approximately
$8,700). This reclassification will not result in any additional staff. The existing Security
Specialist position will not be filled absent consideration in future budget deliberations.
Municipality of Clarington
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6.3 The opportunities and recommended actions of the Plan are extensive and are
documented beginning on page 44, with full description of the "Opportunity" and "Action"
attached to each of the following recommendations:
1.1 Formalize an IT Steering Committee
1.2 Implement Portfolio Management
1.3 Improve Project Management
2.1 Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery Plan
2.2 Email System Update
3.1 Formalize IT Policies and Procedures
3.2 Formalize IT Service Offerings
3.3 Replace IT Help Desk and Knowledge Base System
4.1 Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
5.1 Customer Relationship Management Solution
5.2 Online Services Strategy
5.3 eForms Strategy
5.4 Intranet Refresh
5.5 Collaboration Tools
6.1 Projects in Flight (Currently in Progress)
6.2 Work and Asset Management System Phase 2
6.3 Planning, Development, Licensing & By-law System
6.4 Learning Management Solution
6.5 Technology Training Tools
6.6 Staff Scheduling Solution
6.7 Purchasing Workflow Solution
6.8 Accounting Workflow Solutions.
6.4 The Investment Strategy and Cost identified with major projects that fit into each of the
categories identified in the Overview and Assessment segment referenced above of:
Customer Facing Systems, Integration, Major Business Systems, IT Infrastructure and
IT Organization Development are set out as an Implementation Roadmap showing
timelines over 2017 through 2022, beginning on page 86, and as an Investment
Strategy with projections for capital and operating costs over the same timelines. These
are recommendations and timelines that will be helpful as guidelines for the IT Steering
Committee in determining priorities and direction for the future.
7.0 Corporate Strategic Plan Application
7.1 The Plan identifies conformity and alignment with the Corporate Strategic Plan
framework. Specifically noted on page 41 — the actions from Municipality's Strategic
Plan can be directly enabled by technology in the following:
Municipality of Clarington
Resort CAO -008-17 Paae 9
x 1.3 Streamline development approvals
x 2.1 Communicate good governance and value for the tax dollar
x 4.1 Refine and update the Asset Management plan
x 5.1 Use technology to effectively communicate with residents
x 5,6 Enhance Council and corporate communications.
In addition, the plan notes that IT can be a key enabler of achievement of four high level
goals implicit in the Municipality's Vision, Mission and Strategic Priorities: Efficiency,
Customer Focus, Effectiveness and Accountability.
8.0 Conclusion
8.1 Technology is ever evolving and with it comes exceptional advancements and critical
cyber/security risk. Technology dictates maintenance of/and ability to succeed or
expand services in every department. This IT Strategic Plan will be the foundation of
Clarington's technology platform and it will guide investment in future service delivery
standards. The priority setting and alignment of goals to produce effective service
delivery will result in a user -responsive technology infrastructure that strengthens the
Municipality and its ability to deliver services to Clarington's residents.
Submitted by: Andrew Allison, CAO
Attachment 1 — Information Technology Strategic Plan (2017 — 2022) (separately circulated)
Information Technology Strategic Plan
2017-2022
If this information is required in an alternate accessible
format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at
905-623-3379 ext. 2131
July 2017
i
Prior & Prior
Associates Ltd.
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Prior & Prior Associates page 2
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Table of Contents
Tableof Contents.............................................................................................................. 3
ExecutiveSummary..........................................................................................................5
Introduction................................................................................................................................................................................
5
KeyObservations...................................................................................................................................................................
5
CurrentSituation.....................................................................................................................................................................
6
StrategicThemes...................................................................................................................................................................
7
ITOrganization........................................................................................................................................................................
7
MajorBusiness Applications.............................................................................................................................................
8
ImplementationPlan and Budget...................................................................................................................................8
. Introduction..................................................................................................................10
1.1 Background.....................................................................................................................................................................10
1.2 Developing this Strategy...........................................................................................................................................11
!. The Current Situation.................................................................................................12
2.1 Business Context.........................................................................................................................................................12
2.2 Technology and Practices Assessment............................................................................................................13
2.2.1 Overview...........................................................................................................................................................................13
2.2.2 Infrastructure Layer....................................................................................................................................................14
2.2.3 Major Business Systems Layer..........................................................................................................................19
2.2.4 Integration Layer..........................................................................................................................................................24
2.2.5 Customer Facing Systems Layer......................................................................................................................28
2.3 Staff Survey Results...................................................................................................................................................31
2.5 Current State Summary ............................................................................................................................................35
3. Municipal Comparisons.............................................................................................
36
1. Strateqic Directions....................................................................................................
41
4.2 Strategic Alignment.....................................................................................................................................................41
4.3 Strategic Themes and Actions...............................................................................................................................42
4.3.1 Adopt a corporate, planned and integrated approach to business systems ...........................43
4.3.2 Build nimble, user -responsive technology infrastructure....................................................................45
4.3.3 Align and mature IT service..................................................................................................................................48
4.3.4 Connect Field Staff using Technology mobile & remote.................................................................51
4.3.5 Deliver Digital Services, Anywhere, Anytime.............................................................................................52
4.4 Major Business Applications...................................................................................................................................57
ITOraanization..........................................................................................................
61
5.1 Current IT Organization......................................................................................................................................61
5.1.1 Process Maturity Model....................................................................................................................................61
5.2 IT Service Delivery......................................................................................................................................................62
5.2.1 IT Leadership.................................................................................................................................................................63
5.2.2 Deliver IT Service Excellence..............................................................................................................................64
5.2.3 Restructure the IT Department............................................................................................................................64
5.3 Build Sustainability into the IT Department.....................................................................................................68
5.4 Update Job Responsibilities...................................................................................................................................70
Prior & Prior Associates page 3
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
5.5 Training.............................................................................................................................................................................72
5.6 Developing an Enhanced Hybrid Business Delivery Model....................................................................73
5.8 Contracting Implementation and IT assistance.............................................................................................73
5.9 Building Partnerships.................................................................................................................................................73
6. IT Decision Making: IT Governance.........................................................................
6.1 What is IT governance?............................................................................................................................................76
6.2 IT Governance Model.................................................................................................................................................77
6.2.1 The IT Steering Committee...................................................................................................................................77
6.2.2 Standing Groups..........................................................................................................................................................77
6.2.3 IT Team.............................................................................................................................................................................
77
6.2.4 Project Teams................................................................................................................................................................
78
6.3 IT Policies and Standards........................................................................................................................................78
6.3.1 IT Policies.........................................................................................................................................................................78
6.3.2 IT Standards...................................................................................................................................................................79
6.3.3 IT Acquisition Process..............................................................................................................................................79
7. Implementation Plan and Costs................................................................................
80
7.1 Approach..........................................................................................................................................................................80
7.2 Implementation Roadmap........................................................................................................................................81
7.3 Recommended Investments...................................................................................................................................82
8. Why invest in IT? Why invest in this Strategic Plan? ............................................
83
8.1 Invest to Save................................................................................................................................................................83
CEEIC?IXL(MTRXGI3DA9ZCMV/XSSRIII M:O XCIFISDOJ t9wth.............................................................................
84
8.3 Managing better starts with the right information.........................................................................................84
Appendix A: Recommended Project Portfolio......................................................................
85
ImplementationRoadmap................................................................................................................................................87
InvestmentStrategy............................................................................................................................................................88
Appendix B: Staff Survey Report........................................................................................ 112
Prior & Prior Associates page 4
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
Introduction
The development of an IT Strategic Plan provides the opportunity to review how IT
services are delivered and how technology is perceived at the municipality. It
provides the opportunity to assess what changes are required to re -position both the
IT department and prioritize among business enabling technology solutions.
The consultants used several techniques to understand the current state of IT at
Clarington and identify needs and opportunities for improvement from the IT
perspective. Interviews were conducted with groups and individuals in the IT team,
and a technology walkthrough and document review provided information for IT
infrastructure and organization assessments.
Stakeholder interviews were conducted with the Interim CAO and 9 department
heads and their teams. An online survey was made available to all staff which
yielded 195 responses from a broad spectrum of departments and roles. Four
comparable municipalities completed surveys on their IT staff and resource levels,
organization and major business applications benchmarking analysis.
The Discovery Phase yielded key high level observations of the current state, high
level and detailed documentation of need for IT capabilities and major business
solutions, and strategic themes which inform the criteria later used to assess the
strategic value of potential business transformation and technology projects.
Key Observations
Throughout this phase of the project a number of key issues were identified
including the following deemed to be critical to the organization:
1. There is pent-up demand for new technology solutions. Many business
leaders see opportunity for efficiencies, improved effectiveness and better
management practices through technology. Legacy applications, work-
arounds, spreadsheet and paper-based manual processes no longer meet
their needs or the expectations of their customers
2. There is no formal process for documenting and prioritizing these projects.
To date, solutions have been sought by individual departments, often with
little awareness of similar needs in other departments
3. IT is acting as a utility provider, but not as a partner in the identification and
optimization of technology. Departments want advice on new technologies,
but the IT resource has little time for research and strategizing
4. The reliance on low/no cost solutions has created complexity and risk in the
technical environment
Prior & Prior Associates page 5
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
5. There is need for more complete and formal corporate policies, processes,
or procedures to address core operational activities
Current Situation
Figure 1 summarizes our assessment of technology practices, infrastructure and
systems currently in place at Clarington. It gives a high level snapshot of where work
needs to be done to enable efficiency, effectiveness and good customer service in
municipal service delivery.
Web Site Social Media Open Gov Open Oata
eRegister' eBoaking" ePermit ePets eForms eRe uest ePa ePa Tickets
electronic
o w
V
Customer Relationship Management ECRM
IntegrationMobile Business
Intranet Document & c
g
Colla boratlon
Record GIS and Business Intelligence/
Management Interfaces Apps Analytics
..
EMS
Planning, Development, Licensing Asset & Work Management* Recreation
a` and bylaw Management &Facility
Booking`
e E
F0000Do
Payroll alirg audgeting Purchasing' Sale and billing Capi[al Mgmt' > >
m �+
IL HR Finance and Accounting
Corporate
Infrastructure
Services
Mobility, Remote
Access, Cloud
Essential
Infrastructure Infrastructure Core Facilities
Applications
Email, Directory,
Telecom
Compute, Network,
storage, security
Figure 1: Technology Assessment Summary
Power, Cooling, Racks
Legend
I Meets Needs J
l Needs Improvement
Gap
work in progress
The diagram shows key foundational capabilities and technologies commonly found in
municipal government. As it considers significant investment in technology to enable
business improvement, the Municipality needs to strengthen its ability to manage that
investment and ensure that projects are successful in bringing maximum value for the
taxpayer dollar. Specifically it needs to strengthen IT Governance, Project
Management, Policies and Procedures and Disaster Recovery Plans.
Prior & Prior Associates page 6
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
In other areas including Major Business Systems, Integration and Customer Facing
Systems, the Municipality has some systems that are in good shape and will meet the
business needs for the next five years. In other cases the existing technology is
outdated or outclassed to deliver customer engaging, mobile, and integrated business
enablement.
Strategic Themes
The IT Strategic Plan exercise identified several opportunities for improvement in the
use of IT in business and in the IT infrastructure and organization needed to support it.
These opportunities, goals and actions are summarized in the following five strategic
themes:
1. Adopt a corporate, planned and integrated approach to business systems
2. Build nimble, user -responsive technology infrastructure
3. Align and mature IT service
4. Connect Field Staff using Technology mobile & remote
5. Deliver Digital Services, Anywhere, Anytime
These themes reflect what we heard from leaders and stakeholders. They reflect the
business customer perspective ❑the need for a partner in the acquisition and operation
of technology. They also reflect the direction of the strategic plan and implementation
roadmap. They are the things the IT unit needs to work on to become an effective
service provider. They strengthen IT capability to enable important business
capabilities.
IT Organization
The current IT team of nine (9), has done an impressive job building out a stable and
reliable technology infrastructure. Nonetheless, a number of staffing risks and
challenges emerged during the assessment, including:
1. The IT team is very lean with everyone having a focus on support and help desk
issues, leaving little to no capacity for planning or strategic management.
2. The horizontal structure leaves little opportunity for effective succession planning
3. There is a great deal of dependency on one staff resource
4. There is very little communications from IT to the rest of staff
5. IT has maintained a traditional approach to IT support, providing excellent
reactive service rather than being able to provide strategic services to help the
business move forward.
To accommodate the new demands and achieve the goals laid out in this Strategic
Plan, IT service delivery must become more:
❑ Agile and responsive to new and emerging needs
❑ Proactive and strategic
Prior & Prior Associates
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
To achieve this, we recommend three key things:
1. Enable the Manager of IT to focus on IT strategy and planning, business systems
and project delivery.
2. Reorganize the department to establish dedicated teams within IT, that allow for
service excellence and specialization in 3 key areas
3. Build sustainability into the IT organization by updating job responsibilities,
improve training, and adopting a hybrid model to augment service delivery
Major Business Applications
The Current Situation Assessment confirmed a large number of needs and opportunities
for technology to enable business improvement. Need for technology was heard clearly
through the interviews and staff survey. Municipal comparisons also showed that
Clarington needs to invest in new and better major business applications. The
municipality has opportunity for renewal or enhancement of most of its major business
applications, many of which can deliver new capabilities that will enhance the customer
experience, and provide demonstrable gains in efficiency and effectiveness.
We recommend the Municipality focus some of its long term investment on technology
over the next five years to sustain and improve customer service, efficiencies,
effectiveness and accountability. Growth in service demand has several of the
departments needing more resources to keep up. A natural response is to seek more
staff, but a lean municipality should look first to process improvement then to technology
when these challenges arise.
Key Areas of focus for solutions that will enable business improvements include:
1. Complete Upgrades in Flight GP 2016 Financials, Active Net Recreation
Management, CityWide Works
2. Planning, Engineering (LDO), Licensing and By-law System, Document
Management System [I workflow and mobile
3. Automations ❑ purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, staff
scheduling
4. Customer Relationship Management ❑ customer service and issues tracking
Implementation Plan and Budget
The strategy sets out a 5 year roadmap to align and build IT capability while
successfully implementing several major business systems. The plan assumes
successful implementation of the ActiveNet Recreation Management and Facility
Booking system, CityWide Works as a Work Management System for Operations, and
update of the Great Plains financial system as its baseline.
The work is spread out over the 5 year horizon with an initial set of projects selected
based on needs and gaps in technology found in Discovery and their alignment to
Prior & Prior Associates page 8
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
corporate business goals of efficiency, effectiveness, customer service and
accountability. Prioritization and scheduling also take corporate strategic actions,
mandate and regulatory changes, and inter -project dependencies or pre -requisites into
account. For example, the Corporate Strategy recommended improving processes that
streamline development approvals, as identified in Report, CAO -007-17. To achieve
the goals of the Corporate Strategy, Clarington needs to make progress on this action
by the end of 2018. This makes it one of the key initial priorities, and is thus scheduled
early.
There are two projects that will have starts and pauses, illustrated in the roadmap with
dotted lines between chunks of effort. In these cases, it is recommended gathering the
enterprise business requirements for both the Customer Relationship Management
system and the Document Management System, as this information will be useful in
analysis of the fit of existing systems.
ak Name
CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
Online Services Strategy
3 eForms Strategy
4 El INTEGRATION
5 Customer Relationship Management Solution
6 Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
7 Electronic Document and Record Management Solution
a Intranet Refresh
9 Collaboration Tools
10 El MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
11 Development, Licensing and By-law System
12 Work and Asset Management Solution Phase 2
13 Purchasing Workflow Solution
14 Learning Management Solution
15 Technology Training Tools
16 Staff Scheduling System
17 Accounting Worl Solutions
1a ElIT INFRASTRUCTURE
19 Adopt ff Govemance
20 Formal izeITSenAceOlferings
21 IT Help Desk System Replacement
22 IT Policy and Procedure Development
23 Email System Update
24 Business Continuity & T Disaster Recovery Plan
25 El IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
26 IT Resource Alignment
Portfolio
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business technology so that it can enable efficient customer service, workflows,
processes, mobility, communications and reporting is approximately $1.47 million for
capital budget. This amount is in line with the current commitment to capital through the
normal budget allocation however it does not include the annual IT asset replacement
(hardware and software) capital program.
Prior & Prior Associates page 9
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The Municipality of Clarington is a rural and urban mix community with a population
approaching 100,000 in 2017. It is one of eight municipalities in Regional Municipality
of Durham. Population, building permits and demand for services continue to grow,
sometimes in waves. The demographics are changing, with an influx of younger
generations expecting big city services with modern and mobile customer experiences
offered on their favourite devices.
The Municipality recognizes the value of technology in enabling efficient and effective
service delivery. Operating departments are keen on acquiring new technology to
support modernization and streamlining of their processes, some developing interim
applications to improve key parts of processes.
Technology is core to enabling municipal governments to keep up with growth in
demand and rising customer expectations. Traditional technologies such as telephones,
email, and networked file folders remain important. But as municipalities grow,
spreadsheets and single purpose databases that have worked for improving parts of
processes in the past offer little opportunity for additional value.
The next level of efficiencies and effectiveness come from comprehensive business
solutions that support complete, interdepartmental workflows, eliminate data duplication,
improve customer service, and deliver powerful and integrated information for the next
level of sophistication in business management. The Municipality of Clarington is at this
V1EJHEIL71<4-I1�7-CC CFDSDE AM implementation, and
sustain new solutions need to match.
This Information Technology Strategic Plan assessed the current state of technology,
needs and opportunities as well as the capabilities and capacities of the IT organization.
It answers fundamental strategic questions:
Are we doing the right things with technology?
Are we making the right technology investments?
Is our Information Technology environment properly managed,
maintained, secured, and able to support the clients?
Is it cost effective?
What are our future business needs?
Is our technology environment equipped to meet current and future
business needs?
The plan proposes a vision where the 0 XC [RSDQURI C&CUIDJV9DV T will become a
trusted partner in enabling and sustaining business improvements through technology.
Prior & Prior Associates page 10
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
1.2 Developing this Strategy
The Municipality engaged Prior & Prior Associates to develop this strategy beginning in
November 2016. Consultants worked with the IT team and representatives from all
departments and the Senior Management Team (SMT) to conduct a current state
assessment of the MunicipalityVuse and management of technology, and to identify
future corporate and departmental technology needs. The project was comprised of two
phases:
Phase 1: Discovery consisted of a high level review and assessment of the current
status of infrastructure, use and management of IT at the Municipality. This was
completed through a review of existing documentation such as budgets, policies and
procedures as well as interviews and discussions with management and staff from the
IT department, SMT, and representatives from every department. An online survey was
offered to all staff to gather input and feedback about the current service delivery of the
IT Department, future requirements, and suggestions for improvements. Detailed
technical assessments of the network and storage environments were conducted,
alongside an over -arching risk assessment. The findings were consolidated into an
interim report which was reviewed by the project team.
Key outputs were:
Summary of findings (technical and business)
Comparison of the Municipality to other organizations
Results of the Customer Satisfaction Survey
Emerging opportunities for improvement
Phase 2: Analysis, Opportunities, Recommendations and Implementation
Roadmap included more detailed discussions with the IT Department, research on the
future of the Microsoft Great Plains financial system, and formulating strategic themes
from the many inputs received. The goals and objectives were clearly defined and
Strategic Actions or projects were conceived to achieve one or more of the objectives.
The alignment is illustrated in a strategy map, and linkages are carried through to
project descriptions.
Key outputs were:
Organization Design and Positioning
Strategic Themes, Goals and Actions
Portfolio of Recommended Projects including descriptions and costs
Implementation Roadmap with Timelines
Prior & Prior Associates page 11
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2. The Current Situation
2.1 Business Context
The Municipality is under pressure to make more and better use of technology. The IT
organization is under pressure to make it happen. Key drivers are:
Pressure/Business Driver I
-M, &OEM
Changing Community Recent and future population growth F1 increased
customer service demand
New customers with big city demands - online
services, public network access, social media
Drive for Service Efficiencies Departments are eager to get on with making more
and Effectiveness and better use of information technology
This has created competing priorities for limited IT
and project resources
Rapid change in the IT Proliferation and consumerization of human
industry OPoIIDDFHV D(G- ;IQhW-ffl 17 KLQJ VTA/P a -IV
tablets, AVL, meters, counters, security)
New software and platform provisioning options
public cloud, private cloud
New and expanding risks Relentless external and internal threats to systems
and data from hardware and network failure,
software errors, hacking, theft and malice.
Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
are needed to detail the risks and mitigation
strategies a best practice
Prior & Prior Associates page 12
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2.2 Technology and Practices Assessment
2.2.1 Overview
Figure 2 summarizes our assessment of technology practices, infrastructure and systems
currently in place at Clarington. It gives a high level snapshot of where work needs to be
done to enable efficiency, effectiveness and good customer service in municipal service
delivery.
Web Site Social Media Open Gov Open Data
eRegister' eBoaking" ePermit Pets eForms eRe uest ePa ePa Trekets
o w
V
Customer Relationship Management (CRM
[a]
Inte rations Mobile Business
IntranetgCollaboration GIS andBusinessIntelligence/ Interfaces Apps Analytics
Planning, Development, Licensing Asset & Work Management* Recreation
a` and bylaw Management & Facility EMS
Booking'
e 'a E
F Payroll rheulirg audgeting Purchazing' Sale and billing CapRal Mgmt' > >
m �+
HR Finance and Accounting
Corporate
Infrastructure
Services
Mobility, Remote
Access, Claud
Essential
Infrastructure Infrastructure Core Facilities
Applications
Email, Directory,
Telecom
Compute, Network,
storage, security
Figure 2: Technology Assessment Summary
Power, Cooling, Racks
Legend
I Meets Needs J
lNeeds Improvement
Gap
work in progress
The diagram shows key foundational capabilities and technologies commonly found in
municipal government. The elements are organized into four layers. Each layer
represents distinct areas of technology that are managed in different ways, and which
require different technology and human skill sets to manage effectively. The layers are:
0 The Infrastructure layer is the foundation. It must be robust and reliable as it forms
the base on which all other layers are built. If the infrastructure is not robust, the layers
built on top of it are at risk
0 The Major Business Systems layer which forces focus on a small number of
l I-G-FRISRLDkdEXVtG-/VV- MhP V L HI R1FK WDVAPQ -SMY-1 LQ bLP SQQF—
systems management, and eliminate process and information silos. These business
systems provide the foundations for automated business processes and will enable
online services.
Prior & Prior Associates page 13
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
0 The Integration layer coordinates information managed within the business solutions,
reducing duplicate data entry and eliminating errors, while also providing insights into
the underlying data.
0 At the top of the stack are the Customer Facing Systems that enable customer
interaction with the municipality[] the website, online services and social media.
The colours indicate the consultantV-high level assessment of the current state of these
systems, processes and services at the Municipality of Clarington. Details and rationales
follow.
2.2.2 Infrastructure Layer
Starting at the base of the architecture the assessment indicates that IT has taken many
good steps toward building and sustaining the infrastructure and its services. Most of the
focus areas such as service management, security, infrastructure applications and core
hardware and services are meeting basic needs. The IT unit has made effective use of
free and low cost tools and components, however limited functionality and robustness of
these solutions creates opportunity for improvemeQ/EV NHL -RU DC4 D RQV-GHSHQ2-ICFH❑
on technology increases.
Two areas within the infrastructure layer are significant risks to the entire technology
architecture at Clarington.
IT Governance is ad hoc, with technology acquisitions reviewed and approved
only through the budget process. Projects are often developed with little
engagement of IT for advice, impact assessment or architectural fit.
Disaster Recovery and Service Continuity are also emerging risks. As
customer expectations for timely services increases, the municipality needs to
Prior & Prior Associates page 14
The systems and processes meet the current and near -
Meets Needs
term needs of the stakeholders
Key elements are missing or outdated, and as foundational
Needs Improvement
infrastructure components, create risk for the entire
technology capability.
There are systems and processes in place but they do not
Risk ' Enabler
meet the level of business enablement needed for efficient,
effective and quality service
There is little or no technology capability in this area.
Gap
These represent opportunities to implement new core
technologies to improve service
The municipality has recognized a need and has budgeted
Work Planned
or initiated projects to complete needed work.
2.2.2 Infrastructure Layer
Starting at the base of the architecture the assessment indicates that IT has taken many
good steps toward building and sustaining the infrastructure and its services. Most of the
focus areas such as service management, security, infrastructure applications and core
hardware and services are meeting basic needs. The IT unit has made effective use of
free and low cost tools and components, however limited functionality and robustness of
these solutions creates opportunity for improvemeQ/EV NHL -RU DC4 D RQV-GHSHQ2-ICFH❑
on technology increases.
Two areas within the infrastructure layer are significant risks to the entire technology
architecture at Clarington.
IT Governance is ad hoc, with technology acquisitions reviewed and approved
only through the budget process. Projects are often developed with little
engagement of IT for advice, impact assessment or architectural fit.
Disaster Recovery and Service Continuity are also emerging risks. As
customer expectations for timely services increases, the municipality needs to
Prior & Prior Associates page 14
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
understand its business resumption requirements and tailor its infrastructure
capabilities to match.
Another important element of the infrastructure layer are the policies, standards and
procedures for using and acquiring technology within the municipality.
❑ IT Policies and Procedures are key enablers to evolution of IT into a trusted
supplier and partner. The IT team needs to establish clarity in several areas where
clients are found wondering what they can do, what they should do or how to do it
right. A comprehensive set of standards, policies and procedures developed
should be developed and approved under the guidance of an inter -departmental
steering committee to give them legitimacy and force.
Key observations about the infrastructure layer are summarized in the following table:
IT Governance Technology acquisition process ❑ ad hoc, roles and
decision rationales unclear, no prioritization, no policy,
procedures. Rogue solutions popping up, IT sometimes
the last to know. Frustrated stakeholders looking to get
around IT
Decision -Making ❑ there is no multi -departmental body
to manage the portfolio of IT projects and provide
authority and oversight to IT policies and procedures
IT Service -1 Helpdesk ❑ custom ticketing system with limited
Management tracking and reporting functionality - Tried Kaseya but
found it was too LFO(G1U❑ needs a full project and
change plan
Service Level Agreements -No formally defined
support SLA in place ❑ after hours support needs
increasing
Incident Tracking complex issues fall off the radar
and remain unresolved
Knowledgebase ❑ there is a knowledge base but users
see analyses repeated for similar issues
IT Asset Management ❑ nothing in place
Prior & Prior Associates page 15
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
IT Security ❑ Security Standards ❑ undocumented, communicated
to department heads during the 2015 Security
Assessment. Note that all critical recommendations
from that assessment have been implemented.
Threat and Risk- no recent analysis of threats to the
corporation or operations and plans to mitigate or
respond to associated risks
Vulnerability Assessment ❑ all public facing
applications should have documented record of testing
and remediation of vulnerabilities to hacking
Access Control ❑ adequate procedure for removing
terminated employees
IT Disaster Backup and Recovery
Recovery & o Veeam (virtual backup servers)
Service o Backup Exec
Continuity o Need to standardize on one platform
o Need to test actual recovery capabilities
o QNAP used for backup storage
Disaster Recovery Strategy
o There are no formal DR procedures in place
o RTO and RPO requirements have never been
defined
� /�c� ■ ��,.��� , �e m /�ni�■ a �u
applications
o Inactive data has not been identified and
removed from current replication process
Service Continuity
o There is no formal BCM program in place
o There has never been a formal Risk Analysis
performed for the business
o There has never been a formal Business Impact
Analysis (BIA) performed for the business
IT Policies and I Very limited in IT policy and procedural documentation
Procedures Appear to have standard naming conventions
There are no Data Lifecycle Management policies in
place
Cloud Readiness is a requirement but there is no formal
policy outlining precautions and procedures
Prior & Prior Associates page 16
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
o There is a major push to the cloud (ActiveNet,
Microsoft, etc.) and projects are proceeding as
application changes are made and as deemed
appropriate.
Vendor/Contract Management nothing is place and
the move to the cloud is making this a priority
The corporation needs authoritative policies and
procedures to maximize opportunity to work together
La
Infrastructure :J
Corporate AV (Kaspersky) running on all desktops and servers
Infrastructure seems ok
Applications There is no formal mobile computing policy
OWA is open to everyone Lino security in place
Mobility Management - Running BES10 but there is
C RPOU ARLP DC aQS®FH
C Blackberry , Android and iPhone
❑ Remote Access a They are not exactly sure who needs
this service
❑ MS Remote Desktop in place for a few users
❑ They do not have any proper security in place for RA (e.g.
2 -factor authentication)
They are budgeting for this in 2017
Essential ❑ Active Directory 2008 R2
Infrastructure ❑ Limited Group Policies (starting to use more)
Services ❑ Email 2010 Standard (500 mailboxes)
o No clustering
o Single VM w/ 4 DBs
o This is not maxed out due to running Exchange
Std
o Want to move to cloud based 365
SPAM filtering (ok)
o FWC Watchguard
o Linux SPAM Assassin
VOIP is used in most areas
Prior & Prior Associates page 17
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Infrastructure ❑ Network design is too flat (no VLANs)
Core ❑ Limited security (expertise in-house developing)
❑ Servers are not segmented
Bandwidth appears to be ok
Wireless P2P works ok but they use an unlicensed
spectrum which can cause issues
❑ Adequate storage capacity and technology
Facilities ❑ Power - OK
❑ Cooling - Good
❑ Racks - Good
❑ Room - Security ❑ swipe cards w/ pin code
o Shared with the library
Prior & Prior Associates page 18
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2.2.3 Major Business Systems Layer
The next layer of the IT model summarizes the current situation and highlights
opportunities to use or improve technology in the business functions most important to
municipal government. The municipality has made recent investment in the core
administrative systems including HR, Payroll and Capital Management. These appear
to be delivering efficiency and effectiveness in administrative processes and
demonstrating good management of the tax payer dollar.
Two key enablers for the effective acquisition, implementation and integration of major
business systems are missing: Architecture and Project Management. More will be said
about architecture in the next section, as this capability becomes even more important
for integration. For Major Business System enablement, Clarington needs to focus on
the technology aspect of architecture: being ready with standards and diagrams to
inform analysis, recommendations and requirements for new acquisitions.
The other key enabler to successful business system implementation is project
management. The IT unit does not have any resources who are knowledgeable and
experienced in managing large technology projects. There are no standard tools,
templates or minimum requirements for planning, documenting and executing projects.
As the municipality looks to make significant investment in new technology, it is
important to ensure that acquisition and implementation are done in a manner that will
maximize the chance and degree of success. For a municipality the size of Clarington,
the IT team should provide leadership in this area ❑ establish good practice, provide
basic tools and training, be a resource for project issues, and ensure project owners are
accountable for following the methodology through reporting to project and enterprise
governing bodies.
Assuming the implementation of the CityWide Works program is successful in
Operations, the only other major system that most municipalities the size of Clarington
use is a Development, Licensing and By -Law Administration solution. It will streamline
and marshal automated workflows for customer facing processes such as service
requests and building permits, and provide integrated views of customer and case data
to all who need it. The existing system does not have the functional capabilities the
Engineering and Planning departments are asking for. The need renewed technology
to support increased volume and complexity of work and opportunities to achieve
efficiencies through mobilization. Improving the development approval process is
explicitly called for action in the corporate strategy. This system should be considered
high priority investment opportunity.
The municipality has already recognized that it should be achieving efficiencies in its
purchasing and requisition processes. A project to investigate options for a purchasing
add-on to the Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains is underway. Similarly the municipality
has a project underway to replace the Class Recreation Management System. This
replacement has been necessitated by the discontinuance of the product and support at
the end of 2017. Recreation and Fire services can also gain efficiencies with an
integrated staff scheduling system. These are key to simplifying selection of shifts for
Prior & Prior Associates page 19
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
part-time workers and volunteer fire fighters and will help ensure that scheduled work
follows entitlement and maximum business rules.
Architecture ❑ No documented blueprint of key architectures including:
o Business Architecture ❑ vision, roles and
mandates for enterprise services such as customer
service
o Information Architecture no plan for sharing data
across departments (eg. master data such as
assets, locations) ❑ asset data is copied from LIDO
to CityWide
o Technology Architecture ❑ system integration
opportunities
Currently working with vendor to map out all infrastructure
architecture
Project No project management practice established to improve
Management success of technology projects Ltools, templates,
standards
Limited project management knowledge and experience
in IT or departments
Limited business case documentation, project objectives
and measures
Training Technology training room needs renovation
More technology training is needed F at roll out and
refresher training to ensure changes stick eg. Finance
Need online training system tracking and delivery
(Learning Management System)
Human HRIS generally OK Ligood employee info repository
Resources (cloud)
ADP Workforce additional functionality needed - staff scheduling,
HRIS recruitment management
Prior & Prior Associates page 20
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Spreadsheets
(health and
safety
incidents,
WSIB claims,
insurance
claims)
Payroll recent improvements to timesheet entry, vacations
ADP Workforce request and approvals through new Workforce system
not rolled out to Operations yet, no integration with Work
Orders
Scheduling nothing at this time to schedule part time work ❑ needs
identified in fire, recreation, clerks
duplication of schedule data into ADP Workforce
timesheets
Finance and GP meets accounting needs but not used to full potential
Accounting more training and process implementation needed;
MS Dynamics need update to GP 2016
GP Finance GP has limited reporting capability; FRX dead -ended
GP/FRX GP database issues
reporting Use LDO for Permit and Development Charge revenue,
LDO Letters of Credit
❑ Diamond Toolkit - need more training
F- Need GP -Class Revenue interface
Need Shelter Buddy Interface
Budgeting � FMW Capital limited functionality
RAC Financial ❑ FMW operating budgets
Management
Workbench o used well by departments for reporting from GP
(FMW) (monthly)
eSolutions Budget entry portal is not user friendly refresher training
Budget Builder needed
Budget Builder for public engagement
Prior & Prior Associates page 21
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Purchasing ❑ Bidsandtenders.ca ❑ OK
Need to implement/improve Contract management
RFI in play for purchasing module for GP
Sale and L AR accounting works OK
Billing ❑ no AR/AP workflows
MS Dynamics no integration with electronic document repository
GP
Vailtech Tax future of Vailtech uncertain
and Billing Gtechna reconciliation issues
GTechna
Parking Tickets
Capital
❑ New systems shared by Finance and Engineering
Management
❑ Capital Planning module rolling out now
CityWide
E Systems meeting needs
Tangible
Interface required between asset inventory and capital
Capital Assets
plan ❑ wait for new asset inventory system
(TCA)
Implementation of replacement CityWide Works in
CityWide
progress
Capital
Expected completion of rollout to Operations is YE2107
Planning &
Some further rollout and assessment of fit as an
Analysis (CPA)
enterprise CRM is needed
Asset and
Service Request/Work Order/ Maintenance
Work
Management - WorkTech system underutilized due to
Management
performance and functionality issues. Interdepartmental
WorkTech
65 VCR=SSRI2%lGSRXE(HtUk_CRID ork Orders by Front
Line staff required
❑ Service
Implementation of replacement CityWide Works in
Manager
progress
(CSR)
Expected completion of rollout to Operations is YE2107
❑ Work
Some further rollout and assessment of fit as an
Manager
enterprise CRM is needed
F Asset
Need mobile functionality to be rolled out for roads,
Inventory
bridges, playgrounds and buildings
Petrovend Fuel
Asset management ❑ contracted annual sign inspection
data uploads to LDO are onerous; no processes for asset
Prior & Prior Associates
page 22
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
LDO Sign data maintenance. Finance & Engineering successfully
Viewer using CityWide TCA; CPA progressing
CityWide
Tangible
Capital Assets
(TCA)
CityWide
Capital
Planning &
Analysis (CPA)
CityWide
Works
Development, ❑ Development Applications ❑ LDO is obsolete; GIS
Box cloud ❑ Building Permits 11 basic functionality OK, limited
based File workflow, no ePermitsapplication and approval
Sharing ❑ Business Licensing
WorkTech processes manual, no eForms
Asset Inventory By -Law -Enforcement ❑ basic functionality OK, need
mobile enablement, need better links to electronic
documents
Licensing and integration good; new functionality unlikely, limited
By -Law workflow across stakeholders, field -size limitations, need
Land a complete process review
Development El Planning ❑limited functionality, workflow, reporting,
Office (LDO) notification, publishing in LDO. Reverted to old processes
and tools; recently acquired encode on their own
encode cloud � Engineering El custom
Recreation ❑ Programming and registration for recreation and leisure
and Facility opportunities, facility booking, point of sale; online
Booking registration (eReg), no online facility availability or
Class booking (eBooking)
Recreation -1 End of support of legacy system at end of 2017
Management -1 Replacement in progress
System
Prior & Prior Associates page 23
links in LDO to documents in
based Planning
Laserfiche provides basic document linkage functionality,
Document
generally not meeting needs for workflow and process
Publishing
improvement; master asset data copied to CityWide by
System
Finance
Recreation ❑ Programming and registration for recreation and leisure
and Facility opportunities, facility booking, point of sale; online
Booking registration (eReg), no online facility availability or
Class booking (eBooking)
Recreation -1 End of support of legacy system at end of 2017
Management -1 Replacement in progress
System
Prior & Prior Associates page 23
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Fire Services Existing Crisys system meets needs for incident
CriSys Fire- L] management, reporting, prevention and inspection,
Rescue System training
Spreadsheets Computer Aided dispatch system needs improvement
Volunteer hours and points are complex and paper
reporting and spreadsheet tracking is inefficient and
creates risk
Manual entry of schedules in WorkForce is inefficient
L Need more online training capacity
❑ Possible major organizational review in near future
Large Fire Equipment maintenance management out -
tasked ❑ OK
Fleet Work Orders and Scheduled maintenance L OK except
Management rest of WorkTech may be replaced
WorkTech Automated Vehicle Location ❑ OK ❑ except Emergency
Fleet and Fire Services wants AVL in more vehicles
Management
2.2.4 Integration Layer
As the municipality and the collection of technology grows, it becomes more important
to plan and document how business units, information and systems should work
together. For example, customer service can be delivered separately by each
department, sometimes fronted by a single customer services unit, or operated as a
shared service. In any of these models, the services need to be well defined, mandates
formalized and roles and responsibilities agreed. This is the business architecture.
In some customer service models, information needs to flow from system to system.
&X\AW HUM-U1FH-LFiSW-M1QDHl-UP D �EHIDEUIR XGPM
operational systems, or the standard information they seek should be aggregated in one
system. Security and privacy policies may need to be adjusted to allow access. In
some cases, accuracy and efficiencies can be gained by creating interfaces for data to
be shared between systems.
The municipality has some interfaces, but replacement of major business systems is a
good time to look at all opportunities for data sharing, establish a vision, and define
integration requirements for inclusion in RFPs. This is the information architecture.
And finally, specifying how this information will flow - the technical platforms, tools and
data standards -- are the technology architecture. Again this is critical for Clarington
Prior & Prior Associates page 24
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
to understand and document as it embarks on several large technology acquisitions,
some of which are hosted off-site. Cloud -based solutions are especially risky as access
to and even ownership of data are not top of mind for solution providers.
There is an existing intranet platform for staff information. The platform is old and
requires considerable effort to maintain. A vision and requirements should be defined
and a new platform selected. A related technology that is absent is collaboration tools.
These provide virtual workspaces for staff to share knowledge and work on projects and
ongoing subjects, and include working document repositories, task lists and calendars.
Collaboration tools can also be the platform for a modern intranet site and should be
considered for scope in the intranet update project.
Electronic Document and Record Management is a vital link between people, processes
and systems. Within the municipality, staff need to find documents to do their work,
groups need to share documents, and other information needs to be routinely published
to the public or be at the ready for freedom of information requests. Policies,
procedures need to be readily available, and major business systems need to have
interfaces to present archived electronic records. The existing image repository and
record management solutions have been working well, but they do need to be reviewed
for suitability for new types of records and upgraded or replaced.
Geographic Information is another vital link between systems in municipal government.
The municipality has a comprehensive asset inventory in the GIS database which gives
a great head start to implementation of fully functional asset and work management
systems. The maintenance of these data needs to become formalized as a baseline
and a requirement, as people or systems who build or maintain these assets will expect
seamless updates.
Almost every department sees opportunity to achieve efficiencies and improved
customer service through mobile access to information and processes by field staff.
Policies, standards, and possibly bargaining unit engagement protocol are key enablers.
IT should be leading the readiness for acquiring and implementing business
applications with mobile interfaces.
And finally, as Clarington moves to achieving its strategic goal of communicating value
for money through performance measurement, key technologies are needed to links
costs to processes and outputs and ultimately to customer satisfaction. Business
Intelligence, Analytics and Scorecards are currently out of reach for Clarington because
the underlying systems and processes are not collecting the necessary data. In the
short term, new business systems should be required to support good operational
reporting and should be able to export data for future integration in an enterprise
business intelligence solution.
' F LLU RI Ail FFRQ/X IEM 1 1[Dd-UDLIHA XP P DLR HG- LCA M
following table.
Prior & Prior Associates page 25
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Data Standards ❑ No framework formally adopted for data
standards
o What data, format, storage, maintenance,
retention
❑ No documented data model ❑ should establish
before major investment or collection
❑ Limited data collected for analysis and comparison
❑ No metadata describing what data are available
for integration
Intranet ❑ Could benefit from being used as a channel for
corporate culture sharing ❑ departmental focus
❑ Current system built on Drupal open -source
software which is reaching end of support
❑ Need a robust content management system to
support more dynamic content through distributed
authorship - ideally integrated with collaboration
tools. Content of an intranet is not typically a
responsibility of the IT Division. IT should make
sure the tool is working properly and that other
staff are able to easily provide and update content.
Collaboration Tools -1 Emerging needs to share files, tasks and updates
on projects both within workgroups and projects
Ll among staff, as well as with community agencies
and contributors
Aligns with corporate goals of community
engagement and may enable access to the
natural environment
Electronic Document ❑ Laserfiche is meeting need for storage of some
& Records classes of electronic documents
Management o Finding docs is challenging for the
Laserfiche infrequent user
Need for more classes of data to be imported,
Versatile integrated and managed (eg. Community
Services)
Prior & Prior Associates page 26
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
❑ Paper archives are full ❑ time to transform to
electronic documents where possible
❑ Versatile audit and space management
functionality limited
❑ Need a Record Management capability for both
paper and electronic documents
GIS ❑ Technology up-to-date
❑ Well-received products and services
❑ Current enterprise needs met
Integrations and ❑ Several custom built and maintained interfaces
Interfaces between business applications ❑ images, finance
docs, gis
❑ Need to identify enterprise -wide integration needs
to inform replacements of major business systems
Mobile Business ❑ Mobile devices have been deployed to key
Enablement management and front line staff Li mostly
Prior & Prior Associates page 27
used for
email and photos
❑
Links to useful content on the intranet would add
quick win value
❑
Need field worker applications to achieve major
efficiencies (eg. Building inspections, playgrounds,
roads, work orders)
❑
Need standards and plans for common business
requirements
Business ❑
Clarington has limited operational information from
Intelligence/Analytics
which to produce integrated data views and
performance measures
❑
A performance measurement and business
intelligence strategy will yield information
requirements for the major business systems
Prior & Prior Associates page 27
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2.2.5 Customer Facing Systems Layer
The municipality needs a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System. This will
EHAM-FFQAUCiDQGDXVQRRl11,U&1-i-LFFRLG-I B&AP FiLVSFORCDWRLP DA7U 1CWA_IHWN_DQG_
interaction history. The Recreation Management system and each of the two major
business systems will have built-in or modular CRM capabilities. For Recreation and
Booking, customer information will include basic identity as well as additional personal
information about age, gender, family relationships, photos, and record of achievement
in the case of swimming lessons. There is a loose tie to property for mail and
sometimes qualification for Municipality -rate fees.
Some of these same customers and others will also be requesting a variety of municipal
services. They want to track progress, and may want to complain about it. These
interactions are conducted through an Asset and Work Management system, which
will have its own set of customer information. TheVHFX\AW HIJOequests may or may
not be related to their property, but often to municipal assets.
Some of the same customers and others will be interacting with the Municipality through
a Development, Licensing and By -Law system. These systems have the usual
personal information but feature stronger organization information and accounting
capabilities for developer transactions. There is a strong link to property for
notifications, by-law complaints and inspections.
To get started creating a unified customer experience, Clarington should translate its
customer service vision into system requirements and Request for Information on CRM
functionality in the three major business systems and see if any of them can meet the
requirements for pro -active and integrated customer relationships. Some key
functionality is highlighted in the table below.
Another customer facing group of systems are the eServices, or web and mobile
electronic services. The municipality is already enjoying the success of its DocuPet
service, which provides online licensing and payment. It also has online registration
with its Class recreation system and should be expected to keep or improve it in the
system replacement.
There are several other municipal services citizens are expecting online or on their
phone. These include requests, permits, facility bookings and water bill inquiry and
payment. These are customer facing functionalities the municipality should be looking
for in each of the associated major business systems.
At the top of the technology stack are those customer facing systems that portray the
M u n i c i p a I i ty VIP DJ HLFUA n FE AKUZ C KS1 ZAM RQ_RI -U RLP I.1AUQvSDJ-KSI_-DQG
accountability, engagement, and routine disclosure of data that people and
organizations want. Social Media is an opportunity to engage more interactively with
residents and customers. It enables effective pushing of information to the interested,
and is a channel where there are conversations about the Municipality. The
Municipality should be listening and engaging in these conversations, including
Prior & Prior Associates page 28
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
investing in social media management tools that enable planned messages and
campaigns, approval workflows, and sentiment monitoring.
Customer ❑ No platform, policies or procedures to support a
Relationship F HIJH[ SHLEffHZF ?W P XCLFLSDWVT-
Management Ll services
System Customer information changes not shared across
business systems and services ❑ how many times do I
have to tell you I moved?
Multi -departmental service requests, complaints and
issues are being lost, not fulfilled status unknown,
customers not informed
No systems to support active engagement or marketing
Critical to moving to an effective organization and
address sharing and communicating information
eRegister Online registration for recreation and leisure opportunities
Class currently supported by Class
Technology obsolete; Replacement in progress
eBooking Online lookup of facilities for rent, availability,
Class reservations and issuance of permits not implemented
These are supported by the current technology
business not ready
Class replacement in progress
ePermits Currently no online request service for permits such as
building, special events, parking, burn, fireworks, curb
cuts, road occupancy, signs and licenses such as lottery
and peddlars
These should be requirements in new major business
systems
Prior & Prior Associates page 29
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
ePets Current registration and licensing system good
Docupet
eForms Online application forms for various services such as pool
eSolutions enclosures, building permit inspections are enabled by
current eSolutions web platform good customer service
These feed into manual processes for entry into business
systems a opportunity for efficiencies with integrations or
direct enablement by business systems
eRequest
Online request for services and by-law enforcement use
online forms
No link to status reports
Inefficient process to enter into Service Request
management systems
ePay
eRegistration and ePets support online payment for
service
❑ other services require mail -in or in-person payment
❑ opportunity to improve customer service by including
payment at end of request processes
ePayTickets
current online system provides good customer service
gtechna
Website
Solid municipal web platform - well used
eSolutions
Excellent content coverage
Distributed content management capability not well used
as all content is vetted F1 need style guides and standards
opportunity for improved timeliness
Planning application information is not completed for all
applications
Social Media Good presence on Facebook, Twitter and a starter
Facebook presence on Youtube a strategy and policy to limit
departmental channels has focussed interest and growth
Twitter Youtube Need video editing software and better desktops and
Sprout Social configurations
Social Listening is emerging as a valuable source of
customer satisfaction
Need ipads for Tourism field work and sales
Prior & Prior Associates page 30
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Open Accountability and transparency principles and policies
Government established
Laserfiche Laserfiche platform serves up agendas and documents
eAgenda o User interface is very formal, structured matching
the data not the user needs .I eg. Record
W ebl i n k FDM RUkiVVXFK1D/❑) LP J HQJUAX1M I UDlW❑
Calendar probably meaningless to most users
o Search capability is slow and result lists are long
Open Data Some online access to basic municipal datasets of
interest to application developers, information
aggregators, researchers, independent constituent
analysis (for example, online access to agendas and
minutes)
There is an awareness of the need for more online
openness and data will be published as is assessed and
deemed appropriate. The Region of Durham has an
Open Data program which meets many of the
requirements of land developers
Can be an extension of the accountability and
transparency principles
2.3 Staff Survey Results
Prior & Prior conducted an online survey of all staff between February 6 and February
24. A total of 195 responses were received and reflect a broad representation across
departments, jobs and locations. Detailed findings are reported in Appendix B.
The staff survey found high levels of satisfaction with IT client services. The 80 percent
Satisfaction Target is a threshold derived from use of the survey for dozens of
municipalities. Key elements of client service, including timeliness, quality and
knowledge are well above the typical rating for most municipalities.
Prior & Prior Associates page 31
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
1aa�
9a%
80%
70%
so%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
The timeliness of responses to The timeliness of resolution of The quality of the response to The knowledge of ITsupport staff
your needs yourneeds your questions and concerns
Figure 3: Staff Satisfaction with IT Support Services
Sof ISf4 Cf 14i}
Target
■Very Dissatisfied
■Dissatisfied
Neutral
■ Sati sfi e d
■Very Satisfied
The staff survey also indicated that the IT team is meeting expectations managing several
key IT infrastructure services. As illustrated in Figure 3, satisfaction is high for internet
access, network drives, email and calendaring. Virus protection, spam filtering and the
intranet platform are also approaching a high satisfaction level. However other services
including remote access, network speed, printers, mobile device management, PCs and
laptops and telephony are not meeting expectations. Many of these were raised in the
interviews as well. Most could benefit from formalization of policies and procedures, and
upgrade to enterprise -class tools.
Prior & Prior Associates page 32
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
o'°c othe nc t—rk [mail /calendar twork P ers/co ers/ demote pccex Ne ex/ —kPh—, on/ Noblle cevkes Pcand/or wtoa Intranet
Internet Drives Per/ormance( Scanners — Pa rFlt--
-need
Figure 4: Staff Satisfaction with IT Services
Satisfaction
Target
.vervolxanztled
■Uiszatistied
■Neural
.saPSfed
.VerySaNsfed
Satisfaction with the current set of business applications is low or neutral. Generally
staff are more neutral about technologies that they seldom use. Two systems stand out
as blockers to business improvement with significant indications of dissatisfaction: Land
Development Office, the development, permitting and licensing system, and WorkTech,
the work order system. These findings confirm what was discovered in interviews that
these systems are not meeting needs.
90%
ea% 5atlsfactfon
Target
70%
60%
50%
■very Dissat"fiet
ao% ■ �isatisfied
■Neutral
30% ■Sati ftd
■very SAMied
20%
10%
0%
r ,a z 0 p4 re 5 a
�q'e � �Ja�z a c�co "A n Fs a¢�d� ¢�\Jao a`1`SS �v o4� aa� r
rcv0��� o
y�r9
i�c aha yam` F
a�
Figure 5: Staff Satisfaction with Business Systems
Prior & Prior Associates page 33
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
The following chart shows the level of satisfaction reported on three key IT service
areas. Clients are generally happy with the core infrastructure services. They are less
happy with support for the implementation and operation of GIS and major business
systems. Comments and interviews indicated high levels of satisfaction with the
responsiveness and knowledge of the GIS Staff, but performance issues with the GIS
desktop and web platforms are creating challenges.
Digging deeper into the business systems rating we found that 50 percent of directors
G3 U 11 G -F I]WAKHVB P HCAI Rau KDM VIQfGFDU LIH VOAN I�7 VCP - FDC
DGffBDAII1 WAWKC R(RJ WAC-Fi[SU DF1&1- W NXSSRL)VV X'1N-IV[DQOFI
comments on the survey confirm that IT needs to improve in this area to become a
trusted supplier and partner. One illustrative comment was L,V4DD[TEH1AF0PA9-MR)UHV/
are preventing IT from being a visionary force that positions the Municipality to be able
to compete in a highly (and becoming more so) technologically advanced business and
FXV HUM -I- FH+QURCP HCMUnderstanding of the challenges of maturation was
widespread but agreement on resource level as the cause of the issue was not.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
P rovides and supports tore IT infrastructure Providesservicesto support the implementation P rovides map p i ng and GIS services.
Inetwork, telecoms, storage], IT assets (eg. PC's, and operation of the Municipality's business
laptops, tablets smartphones), and provides systems and solutions.
general user support [help desk] service.
Figure 6: Staff Satisfaction with IT Service Areas
Satlsfactlon
Target
■ Ve ry Qi ssati sfi ed
■
Dissatisfied
■Neutral
■Satisfied
■ Ve ry Sati sfi e d
Prior & Prior Associates page 34
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2.5 Current State Summary
In summary, the technology environment assessment indicates a need for Clarington to
direct immediate attention to the infrastructure layer to strengthen and formalize core IT
technologies and services. IT governance, IT policies and procedures and IT business
continuity and disaster recovery programs need to be developed before major investment
is made in new business systems. It can do these things better and more efficiently with
upgrades to a fully functional help desk system, mobile device management system, and
IT asset management system. Develop requirements soon so they can be considered in
the acquisition and configuration of the asset management solution needed by
Operations.
At the same time, the IT team needs to realign itself to support the acquisition,
implementation and operation of new business systems. It needs more time and
resources dedicated to leadership, visioning, architecture and planning. It needs to be a
sought-after partner in all business improvement projects.
In the following sections we make recommendations for changes to the IT organization
and a set of projects to enable the municipality to make more progress in using technology
to improve efficiency and effectiveness of services and help departments achieve a strong
customer focus.
Prior & Prior Associates page 35
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
3. Municipal Comparisons
Four communities were compared to Clarington on IT systems and services and major
business applications. Clarington is second lowest in population among these
comparators. It is similar to Caledon in population density, both very low compared to
the others.
The following chart plots the number of IT staff and GIS staff and the general linear
relationship to the size of the municipality. Clarington appears to be proportionately
resourced, except that its geography includes significant rural areas and sparse
population, and thus multiple, small offices and field locations for network and system
support. Caledon with a smaller population than Clarington, has significantly more IT
resourcing.
Number of IT and GIS Staff
Oshawa
(159k)
Whitby
(128k)
Ajax
(120k)
Clarington
(92k) ■ IT Staff
■ GIS Staff
Caledon
(67k)
10 15 20 25
Figure 7: Number of IT and GIS Staff
Prior & Prior Associates page 36
- • •
Caledon
66,502
96.6
Clarington
92,013
150
Ajax
119,677
1,786
Whitby
128,377
875
Oshawa
159,458
1,095
The following chart plots the number of IT staff and GIS staff and the general linear
relationship to the size of the municipality. Clarington appears to be proportionately
resourced, except that its geography includes significant rural areas and sparse
population, and thus multiple, small offices and field locations for network and system
support. Caledon with a smaller population than Clarington, has significantly more IT
resourcing.
Number of IT and GIS Staff
Oshawa
(159k)
Whitby
(128k)
Ajax
(120k)
Clarington
(92k) ■ IT Staff
■ GIS Staff
Caledon
(67k)
10 15 20 25
Figure 7: Number of IT and GIS Staff
Prior & Prior Associates page 36
Municinality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
When expressed as number of IT staff relative to population, Clarington ranks second
lowest with a ratio of 0.1 IT staff per 1,000 population. Ajax is the lowest with 0.09. Both
are below the average of 0.14 and Whitby, Oshawa and Caledon with .12, .14, and .24
IT staff per 1,000 respectively.
IT staff at Clarington support more workstations and user accounts per staff than other
municipalities. The number of workstations supported per IT staff is 50, a number higher
than all other comparators and nearly twice as high as Whitby. The same is true of
network and user accounts, again with Clarington staff supporting the most users and
their network files and accounts compared to all others.
Another observation from Figure 9 is that Clarington has largely moved away from
simple cell phones to more extensive use of smart phones. Even though the current
business applications do not directly support mobile access, staff are creating their own
semi -automated processes using basic mobile capabilities such as email and camera.
Clarington appears to have completed a relatively early transition to smart phones and
relatively widespread deployment to a large percentage of staff. These are are helpful
preparatory steps for reducing resistance to a larger mobile and paperless business
transformation.
Figure 8: Relative IT Resourcing
Prior & Prior Associates page 37
IT Leader
Manager
Manager
Manager
Director
Manager
IT Staff excluding GIS
14
7
9
15
21
GIS Staff []Corporate Role
2
2
2
1
2
Number of Employees FTE
353
454
612
606
1,100
Number of IT users /
500
508
900
800
accounts
Number of workstations
350
385
415
850
Number of smart phones
145
57
175
160
Number of cell phones
25
163
40
30
IT Staff as % of total
4.53
1.98
1.80
2.64
2.09
employees
PC's per IT Staff
50
43
28
40
Number of login accounts
71
56
60
38
per IT Staff
Number of IT staff per 1,000
0.24
0.10
0.09
0.12
0.14
POP
Figure 8: Relative IT Resourcing
Prior & Prior Associates page 37
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
The comparison also yielded valuable insights into the use of major business systems.
Prior & Prior Associates page 38
40rmnt�sjrf
E_
M I
Finance
MS
MS
—
JD
mPower
PeopleSoft
Dynamics
Dynamics
Edwards
(OP)
(OP)
GP (OP)
GP (OP)
(OP)
Budget
FMW (OP)
FMW (OP)
FMW
FMW (OP)
FMW (OP)
(OP)
Purchasing
JD
PeopleSoft
Edwards
(OP)
(OP)
Human
Info:HR
ADP
Info:HR
ADP
PeopleSoft
Resources
Dynamics
WorkForce
(OP)
Workforce
(OP)
GP (OP)
(C) and
(C) and
with
HRIS (OP)
Halogen
Diamond
(OP)
Payroll (C)
Scheduling
Schedule 24
(OP) used in
a few areas
Learning
Experi-
Management
menting
with
Moodie
Recreation
Class (OP)
ActiveNet
Class
ActiveNet
Class (OP)
Management
replacement
(OP)
(C)
with
ActiveNet
(C) in
progress
Asset
Cityworks
CityWide
CityWide
VFA (C)
Management
(OP)
Capital
(C)
replacement
Planning,
in progress
Tangible
Assets(C)
Work
Cartegraph
CityWide
CityWork
CityWorks
PeopleSoft
Management
IssueTraq
Works(C)
s (OP)
(OP)
add on (OP)
(OP)
❑
Prior & Prior Associates page 38
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Figure 9: Major Business Systems
Notes: (C) Cloud or Hosted solution, (OP) On -Premise hosting
As the table illustrates, cloud -hosted systems are making an appearance in municipal
IT, with strong adoption in the Recreation Management and Payroll business functions.
More and more major business software is transitioning to this model. For example,
0 LFU?\/ V'% current focus for its product development is the cloud, and Microsoft
' I_COP LFV� 3 _WHP XC[FLSDWVLFRLH11MCFH_DMDFFRXC= A-1vAP , has begun
receiving less development of new features compared to its cloud based counterpart,
Dynamics 365 Finance. All of the municipalities surveyed are sticking with their existing
finance systems for the near to medium term.
The table also highlights some important similarities and differences in specific business
software. For example, Asset Management, is enabled by software to widely varying
degrees, from nothing to an old application to be replaced, to VFA which is largely for
buildings, to I X01 HCUd iGI VL\AW V-Q\HIF& CLOD J 1 [LWHQW& LW 0+2 SOP HCWA&RQ/T 1
None of the comparators have Work Management systems that are tightly integrated
with Asset Management. The consultants believe a strong link is crucial to production
of valuable information and sustainment of quality data. Clarington will benefit from the
integration achieved through its recent implementation of CityWide Works.
Almost all municipalities use Amanda for their Planning, Development Tracking and
Permitting business. Oshawa is in progress of replacing its custom built application.
Similarly, almost all municipalities use Laserfiche as an electronic document repository.
Oshawa is in process of developing a strategy for ERDMS; Caledon is in process of
acquiring an integrated solution for paper and electronic records.
Prior & Prior Associates page 39
replacement
in progress
Development,
Amanda
Land
Amanda
Amanda
OLI- custom -
License and
(OP)
Develop-
(OP)
(OP)
built app (OP)
Bylaw
ment
-being
Office
replaced
(OP)
Document
Tab/
Versatile/
Versatile/
HRPM
Versatile
Management
Laserfiche
Laserfiche
Laserfich
(OP) L
(OP)
(OP)
e (OP)
strategy in
progress
Customer
Amanda
CityWorks
Lagan (OP)
Relationship
(OP)
(OP)
Management
Figure 9: Major Business Systems
Notes: (C) Cloud or Hosted solution, (OP) On -Premise hosting
As the table illustrates, cloud -hosted systems are making an appearance in municipal
IT, with strong adoption in the Recreation Management and Payroll business functions.
More and more major business software is transitioning to this model. For example,
0 LFU?\/ V'% current focus for its product development is the cloud, and Microsoft
' I_COP LFV� 3 _WHP XC[FLSDWVLFRLH11MCFH_DMDFFRXC= A-1vAP , has begun
receiving less development of new features compared to its cloud based counterpart,
Dynamics 365 Finance. All of the municipalities surveyed are sticking with their existing
finance systems for the near to medium term.
The table also highlights some important similarities and differences in specific business
software. For example, Asset Management, is enabled by software to widely varying
degrees, from nothing to an old application to be replaced, to VFA which is largely for
buildings, to I X01 HCUd iGI VL\AW V-Q\HIF& CLOD J 1 [LWHQW& LW 0+2 SOP HCWA&RQ/T 1
None of the comparators have Work Management systems that are tightly integrated
with Asset Management. The consultants believe a strong link is crucial to production
of valuable information and sustainment of quality data. Clarington will benefit from the
integration achieved through its recent implementation of CityWide Works.
Almost all municipalities use Amanda for their Planning, Development Tracking and
Permitting business. Oshawa is in progress of replacing its custom built application.
Similarly, almost all municipalities use Laserfiche as an electronic document repository.
Oshawa is in process of developing a strategy for ERDMS; Caledon is in process of
acquiring an integrated solution for paper and electronic records.
Prior & Prior Associates page 39
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
And finally, for Customer Relationship Management municipalities use either the
capability of one of their workflow systems or have a dedicated system such as Lagan
that integrates with the workflow systems to provide a common or centralized customer
engagement interface. The solution depends on the desired business model for
customer service in Clarington.
Prior & Prior Associates page 40
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
4. Strategic Directions
4.2 Strategic Alignment
Clarington needs a framework to plan its
architecture and prioritize its investments.
We recommend rooting the framework in
WHIP XC LRSD 6 WXI LFL3 00-L❑❑a
2018. The following strategic actions from
the Plan can be directly enabled by
technology
3 Streamline development
approvals
2.1 Communicate good governance
and value for the tax dollar
4.1 Refine and update the Asset
Management plan
5.1 Use technology to effectively
communicate with residents
5.6 Enhance Council and corporate
communications
In addition to contributing directly to these
specific strategic actions, IT can be a key
enabler of achievement of four high level
J RMI P S(FMN* I[O XCLFLSDUM MRQIII
Mission and Strategic Priorities:
strateg
2075
VISION
Building a sustainable, creative,
caring community
MISSION
Committed to leadership, to respect and
to the delivery of quality services
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
1. Facilitate the creation of jobs, attraction of new
businesses and expansion of existing businesses
Ensure and demonstrate good govemance and value
for the tax dollar
3. Manage growth to maintain our"small town"feel
4. Enable safe, efficient traffic flow and active
Efficiency ❑ several elements of the plan 11 transportation
reflect an efficiency theme including
6 LFr3 L R UAU1❑F11 C,/XLH 5. Promote residents engagement in our community
demonstrate good governance and value
I RJM eneralit implies the fi. Enhance access to out unique natural environment
�ltll ,V�?J Y � p
principle should be applied to any service
or process whose value or performance can be improved, and there are many
opportunities to modernize and automate. One of the specific actions mentioned in the
6 MUlr I IF -3 OQIE D,/ ---HI I LFHWP DMJ HI DC G -SIJ :1K H[P DLC HLR - CXIyP&U
illustrating the value customers and stakeholders place on efficiency.
Customer Focus there are several strategic actions to improve the communication
DQG_HQJ DJ FP HOM 1C F( XGU _& RP P XCLFD& widely,
frequently and through various channels good governance and value for the Clarington
\Q I_ M 'llL$ QXSM,Po A VW-iL& QD QI WQ_6 %VM LFL3 ®Q_I_II1( C CEQ1E;1J L6 XFFWARW
& ®UID J URQ-1I SF %FZa A X\AAP HU6 HLX'LFHI Q V D[ E+CDE ❑
need to track and resolve issues, design work with the customer in mind, and engage
Prior & Prior Associates page 41
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
with customers to understand their expectations. IT can be a key contributor and
enabler of many of these customer facing capabilities.
Effectiveness ❑ 714VJ FUCU1LLP O_U4;N IG11Q1P P L&ffUVI,mYP HCMFP P UAC- � ❑
HA -LUR V4i[ l JRLW CSP HCPJ D@R[1GF®(C�I RL&L
FRQCRM 1-I I I -FW -ICI =714NH11CF(X Fi HC XLIH_ J RRQ_J RYFLCDCFH DP Ql-l❑
development approvals pU;FHO DQGUVHXS-RQJRLQJ AH31FHTND3Dh1RCF9KlYOWbU
direction was also a topic revisited in the Update to the Strategic Plan, in its scoping of
service reviews to consider many aspects of effectiveness including understanding
customer expectations, measuring performance, and assessing the logic of program
design. The original Strategic Plan also called for technology to help the municipality
effectively communicate to residents.
Accountability ❑ The strategic plan proposed several actions that imply a goal of
increased accountability. These include promoting resident engagement, demonstrating
good governance, and demonstrating value.
In summary, these four goals are what business units need to strive for to execute the
Strategic Plan with positive impact, and DFKHYH&®LJlQJVRC 9MRQRIM/XVDUDEEOFF
creative, caring community
Increase Impr°ve Increase Inge
Effciency Customer Effectiveness Acoountahility
5ervire
In practice, all major IT project proposals should be assessed based on their
contribution to the achievement of these corporate business goals. Together they
define dimensions on which to identify, document and measure success of each
business improvement initiative. Appendix A sets out a basic project prioritization
methodology that requires proposals to articulate credible benefit statements aligned
with the four goals. These statements become the basis for an overall assessment of
project impact.
4.3 Strategic Themes and Actions
The IT Strategic Plan exercise identified many opportunities for improvement in the use
of IT in business and in the IT infrastructure and organization needed to support it.
These opportunities, goals and actions are summarized in the following five strategic
themes:
1. Adopt a corporate, planned and integrated approach to business systems
2. Build nimble, user -responsive technology infrastructure
3. Align and mature IT service
Prior & Prior Associates page 42
Municipality of Clarinqton Information Technology Strategic Plan
4. Connect Field Staff using Technology mobile & remote
5. Deliver Digital Services, Anywhere, Anytime
These themes reflect what we heard from leaders and stakeholders. They reflect the
business customer perspective ❑the need for a partner in the acquisition and operation
of technology. They also reflect the direction of the strategic plan and implementation
roadmap. They are the things the IT unit needs to work on to become an effective
service provider. They strengthen IT capability to enable important business
capabilities.
The business capabilities identified in this project as most important are online services,
automated workflows, connected field staff, better communication and engagement, and
reporting and analytics.
Each of the strategic themes is translated into a goal for IT. As illustrated below, IT
needs to focus on 5 key capability enhancements to enable new business capabilities
for its client departments.
Enhance OnlineImPfO1e Strengthen Automate Connect Feld
Cam mu nication Reporting and
Services & C. alla6orativn knalytics workflows Staff
Strengthen
Strengthen R Strengthen IT Align & Mature Strengthen&T Mobile
Infrastructure Governance rr Service Integration &Remove
1laess
Explanations and specific, measurable actions are outlined in the next sub -sections.
A set of Business Enablement Initiatives are also set out in the final section of this
chapter. These will acquire and implement major business applications to enable new
and stronger business capabilities in online services, communication and collaboration,
reporting and analytics, automation and mobilized field staff.
4.3.1 Adopt a corporate, planned and integrated approach to business systems
The Municipality needs to invest in new and updated business
systems to enable improvements in its planning and delivery
of programs and services. As the municipality grows, so too Governance
do the number of applications, requests, inspections,
Prior & Prior Associates page 43
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
registrations, permits and licenses. There is simply more work to do. At the same time
resident, business, and visitor expectations have risen to include modern, accessible
user experiences made available 24/7 on the channel of their choice for services that
are fulfilled by efficient and effective staff and processes.
Departments have managed until now using old technologies with limited functionality,
supplemented by manual processes, spreadsheets, single purpose databases and lots
of paper. All are looking to improve their organizations with new business processes
and want to acquire new technology to enable them to deliver their programs and
services more efficiently and with more customer focus. Most are ready to use more
and better management information to plan and operate more effectively.
The problem for Clarington is that the demand for major business systems exceeds the
current capability and capacity of the IT organization to support the research,
acquisition, implementation and sustainment of big systems.
At the same time, it has never been more important to make technology investments
that will make the most out of every opportunity. We pose three principles to guide all
future effort and investment in major business systems:
Corporate C a holistic view of all needs that will maximize opportunities to
achieve corporate goals
Planned C a rational roadmap that recognizes the pre -requisites such as
business readiness, resource availability, and infrastructure supports
Integrated C maximizes opportunity to sharing information across systems to
eliminate duplication and improve the quality of data
The opportunities and recommended actions of the IT strategy under this theme are as
follows:
Opportunity: The organization needs a governing body that will execute the strategy
by planning and monitoring the portfolio of projects, ensuring that policy enablers are
in place, approving and supporting standards, and ensuring a corporate -wide view of
technology is cultivated. The strategy and implementation priorities need to be
reviewed annually to accommodate new needs, halt or re -cast failing projects, and
take advantage of new opportunities.
Action: Strike a formal IT Steering Committee of senior managers and a
representative set of department heads with the IT Manager acting in a support and
subject matter expert role. Assign a workgroup to develop Terms of Reference and
meeting schedule in Q3 and meet quarterly thereafter.
Prior & Prior Associates page 44
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: Clarington does not have systems, processes or data to show a high
level view of its technology investments and report on the impact of their links to
corporate goals. Clarington needs a process for documenting, prioritizing, integrating
and managing projects and their alignment and impact on corporate goals.
Action: Establish IT leadership and departmental capability, best practices and tools
for documenting project proposals, especially emphasising meaningful benefit
statements and alignment to strategic goals. Mature the capability in year 3 by
adding measurable cost reductions and revenue increases and calculating Return on
Investment for prioritization and performance measurement.
Opportunity: Clarington has limited capability in defining, prioritizing and executing
business improvement and technology implementation projects. It needs policies,
procedures, templates, technology and methodologies to define and execute projects.
Action: Establish best practices and tools then take small, incremental steps toward
developing capability and capacity throughout the organization through training and
mentorship from consulting project managers on this portfolio of projects.
Appendix A, the Recommended Project Portfolio, includes high level proposals for these
and all strategic projects.
4.3.2 Build nimble, user -responsive technology infrastructure
The municipality needs to modernize and strengthen its
technology infrastructure. The investigation showed that the Strength:IT
technology facilities such as the server room, its power supply Infrastructure —
and environmental controls are satisfactory to meet needs for
the foreseeable future, but other elements of a sound
infrastructure such as email, network, mobility management and remote access need
modernization and enhancement to improve support for cloud -based, mobile, integrated
business systems. There is a strong corporate direction to improve communications ❑
with residents, stakeholders, partners and Council as well as among staff. The needs of
IT include ever-increasing bandwidth, more WiFi capacity, more social media channels
open and managed.
Prior & Prior Associates page 45
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
One illustrative shortcoming identified has been difficulty in setting up and using web
conferencing from within the network. Currently if a plug-in must be installed on the
GA i i iD],q-I(3C AV_F I LFH3W HDM❑ HG1RlAF H❑ ❑
and installation. However, sometimes these events are spontaneous and access is
needed immediately or after hours. This issue will grow as the use of this technology
becomes common so if the help desk call volumes agree, then the policy, standards,
desktop image and permissions should be reviewed. Improvements like this can
demonstrate pro -activeness on the part of the IT team, increase customer satisfaction
with the IT service and also create efficiencies for themselves by eliminating service
requests before they happen.
The municipality \4<RXGDmR_BH_SLIHSDIIJDJ ARMSSRIW RL1H_RIAKHAnternet of thingsu
with departments wanting all kinds of devices connected to the network from pixel
boards to traffic counters. Most of the businesses would like to consider cloud based
solutions, which have their own bandwidth and network requirements. A network
assessment should be one of the first projects for Clarington once there is agreement
on the plans for the future technology architecture. The assessment will recommend
enhancements to the network design and components that will deliver more security
and more flexibility.
Another important new role for IT in the world of a federation of things and business
systems is to provide leadership for the corporation in identifying business risks, their
impacts and in planning mitigation tactics. With that in hand they can then assess the
technology risks and conduct and Security Assessment. The Municipality has already
recognized the importance of security in recently creating a security specialist position.
The other piece of the risk management framework is the identification and
documentation of business resumption needs and development and rehearsal of a
disaster recovery plan. These are best led by third parties, but there is a fair amount of
engagement of business stakeholders.
The recommended actions of the IT strategy under this theme are:
Opportunity: The IT team is currently implementing recommendations from its 2015
Network Assessment building the foundations for a comprehensive Business
Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan. The municipality can significantly increase its
preparedness by documenting the impacts of catastrophes on every service,
prioritizing their return, and planning for recovery and return to full service.
Action: The Business Continuity plan involves stakeholder engagement exercises to
identify and define services, identify impacts of disruption, help departments prioritize
Prior & Prior Associates page 46
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
service return, identify interim or fallback processes, then recommend a plan and any
enabling actions to prepare. There is a fairly specialized body of knowledge required
which may best be acquired through out -tasking. Consider also out -tasking the
Disaster Recovery service.
Opportunity: Clarington's current email system, Microsoft Exchange 2010, will reach
end of life in 2020, and takes a lot of staff time and effort to maintain. Increasing
sophistication of security threats make failure to keep up with maintenance patches,
server currency, spam and virus prevention creates significant risks to business
continuity. The municipality needs to investigate the costs and benefits of a cloud
solution alternative and replace this solution when most of the value from its current
investments has been realized.
Action: Most municipalities the size of Clarington are moving to a cloud -based
solution for email to reduce effort and complexity of managing email servers, doing
backups, archives, and restoring content for users. Determine requirements and
constraints and determine if a cloud solution is preferred.
Prior & Prior Associates page 47
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
4.3.3 Align and mature IT service
The municipality needs to take advantage of modern business
technology to enable service improvements. The IT team hastu
:Ma re,,)
developed incrementally with a focus on sound infrastructure
management and responsive client services. In our maturity
model, the team and services can be best characterized as a solid utility, providing
reliable core services such as network, database and servers, or the equivalent of
keeping the lights on.
IT is integral to haw we do business: IT
organization is expected to closely partner
with the business to help identify, plan and
deliver significant business transformation
initiatives - plus be a trusted supplier.
IT delivers critical functionality and
services: IT organization is expected to
deliver application projects on time and on
Trusted budget, based upon the operating units
supplier requirements and priorities - plus be a solid
utility.
Keep the lights on: The IT organization is
Soli expected to provide cost effective -dial tone
utility p
reliability with transparent costs.
Increasing costs, new resources, new skills required to progress
The next level of maturity has IT taking on more roles as a trusted supplier and
custodian of technology solutions. This means leadership in helping business units
acquire and sustain business applications. There are several examples of IT taking on
this role, with platform support for the Microsoft Dynamics GP financial system and
recently with business analysis support for the Recreation Management system
replacement. However as the demand for this kind of service exceeds the current
capacity, investing in this area could produce a stronger corporate structure.
7 KHA XFFHW-R IANHDMCW1XQ CDQGVO-I1 I I HFWFiC NSI Ai[P XQF1SD 7
investments requires that the IT organization take on more of the supplier roles yet still
maintain high quality customer services and core infrastructure services. This
transformation requires two things:
People change ❑ refocussing some staff on the emerging business solution
needs and developing the necessary knowledge and skills to provide supplier]
partner services
Prior & Prior Associates page 48
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2. Policy, Process and System enhancement []strengthen old and new capabilities
with service elements that build trust
Details about the recommended people change are discussed in a later section. The
remainder of this section points out some key steps to building trust by strengthening
and expanding the IT service methodology and tools.
As the staff survey indicated, there are a few areas where improvement is needed to
achieve a higher satisfaction level. Some of the issues arise as a result of a lack of
clarity or a lack of communication. Some examples from the discovery interviews
include:
o Roles ❑ should IT help the departments pick their technologies? Do I need
permission?
o Rules ❑ ,7 A/W MJF HVADEVIA R❑❑ are the reasons communicated? understood?
o Service Definition ❑ is there after-hours support? How do I access it?
An effective approach to resolving these issues is to adopt some of the key elements of
IT governance and service management best practice. COBIT5 is an IT governance
framework and supporting toolset that provides support for a maturing IT service. With
new support for business analysis, project management, and portfolio management, the
technology services team will be able to focus on system and service management,
strengthening its capabilities in the COBIT5 areas as follows:
i
A0
y
ALAA
AUDIT & RISK INFORMATION REGULATORY GOVERNANCE OF
ASSURANCE MANAGEMENT SECURITY COMPLIANCE ENTERPRISE IT
Manage Evaluate and Oversee and Keep ahead of Align IT goals
vulnerabilities optimize manage rapidly changing and strategic
and ensure enterrise risk. information reulations. business
pg
compliance. security. objectives.
Additional service improvements can be sought in the Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL v3), a globally recognized collection of best practices for
managing IT. These include key capabilities in IT service operation areas:
o Lifecycle planning and management
o Operations and Support
o Change management
o Service Offerings and Agreements
The two frameworks should provide continuous improvement ideas for the IT service for
years. For the next 1-3 years, we recommend focussing on the following opportunities
for improvement:
Prior & Prior Associates page 49
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: There are currently limited formal policy/process/procedure documents
at the municipality. There are several critical documents that need to be developed
immediately to support this plan. Development of additional policies should be
developed through related projects and governed as needed (e.g. remote access).
1. Hosted / Cloud solutions
2. Mobile Device Standards and Acquisition
3. Acceptable use
4. IT Security (passwords, 3rd party access, physical access)
5. Backup, recovery, BC and DR
6. Asset lifecycle management
7. Data management (lifecycle, privacy)
8. IT procurement processes
9. Email & voicemail standards (including archiving)
Action: These should be developed as IT Governance projects led by the IT Manager
and documented, published, approved and maintained in accordance with a quality
documentation standard adopted by the committee. Consider referring to ISO
standards for guidance.
Opportunity: As the municipality and technology use have grown, so too have the
challenges of meeting client expectations. IT cannot be everything to everyone, but
when staff assert this reality, the result is often dissatisfaction and decline in trust. The
IT section needs to build this trust and increase client satisfaction, while at the same
time providing great services focussed on delivering customer value.
Action: The IT team should engage its clients in identifying their service and support
needs and propose simple but formal service offerings and levels. These should be
documented, approved by the IT Steering Committee and posted on the IT intranet.
As you mature, start developing formal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and service
uptake and performance measures.
Prior & Prior Associates page 50
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: The municipality currently uses a custom made application to log and
track IT service requests and trouble tickets. Garnering end user compliance in the
new process has been challenging, and reports are limited. To measure and improve
IT service management, the municipality needs to invest in a more robust solution
providing web based issue logging and tracking for end users, knowledge base
development, and performance reporting. These capabilities may be met through one
of the Customer Relationship Management modules to be acquired for other services.
Action: Make this a task for the enhanced IT team to gather requirements, partner on
or acquire a solution and configure to practice their project management and change
leadership skills.
4.3.4 Connect Field Staff using Technology ❑ mobile & remote
The municipality needs to connect field staff to technology and
information through mobile devices, applications, and services.
It also needs to provide remote access to business applications Mobile &Remote
WU?XJK3&VLDCEE1KFLIH—For IT to enable this connectivity, it Access
needs to develop a holistic understanding of the current and
short term needs and opportunities and take action on the infrastructure side to support
the needs efficiently, effectively and securely. 17[s enablement of a mobile and remote
workforce should begin with a strategy but plan on expenditure on network and mobile
device management tools.
Improvements in networks, devices and solutions also now make it viable to connect
field staff to systems used in the office. By accessing technology and systems that are
available in the office, field crews can have access to maps and information immediately
to hand, avoiding wasted trips to the office to check drawings and review information.
For example, crews can respond faster to customer requests, as office staff can send
requests electronically, in real time. Time spent by staff in the office to update records
can be e 1 i m i n a \HGDV-FL -] VLFDQIXSCDN RLNRLO-WDCG - i m e,
electronically in the field. This all adds up to increased overall efficiency and means
more time working and less time travelling into the office to access information. This will
lead to a significant boost in productivity.
The municipality should ensure that it makes the most of the opportunity to mobilize
field staff through its acquisition of major business systems. IT should act quickly to
develop a mobile and remote access strategy, informed by high level needs and
opportunities garnered from stakeholder engagement plus research into the capabilities
of potential business systems. The strategy should identify enabling policies and
Prior & Prior Associates page 51
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
standards, network capability and capacity, and security. Architecture should also plan
for capacity and flexibility for future internet device connectivity.
These are the kinds of topics that departments are looking for leadership from IT for
keeping decision makers current on technology opportunities and best practices. A
discussion of mobile devices by stakeholders may be most fruitful if IT organized a
learning event ahead of time.
There is also proven benefit from providing access to major business applications from
remote desktops. In some cases, such as email, mobile devices have reduced the
need for staff to access the network from home for email. The demand will also drop as
major cloud -based business applications provide the same web interface to any
desktop. However there remains a need for staff to access email, files, intranet
resources, business applications, reports and Microsoft Office productivity applications.
The municipality needs to develop policy, standards and request procedures for various
levels of remote network access.
The following action is recommended for Clarington:
Opportunity: Managing the security and support of mobile devices has become a
problem for IT. The variety and number of mobile devices has burgeoned and clients
may not be getting and using the best devices for their needs. The municipality
needs to identify all opportunities for business enablement through mobile devices
and remote access, and update policies, procedures, standards and management of
same. Device management technology needs to be enhanced to cover all types.
Action: Review existing mobile deployments with frontline users of the services to
identify strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned for existing deployments. Identify
all areas to benefit from mobile; re -set mobile strategy and develop rollout and
extension plan. Acquire a mobile device management system for IT.
4.3.5 Deliver Digital Services, Anywhere, Anytime
Clarington needs to maximize all opportunities to deliver value to
its residents, businesses and visitors through modern, Strengthen I&
technology -enabled services. Customer expectations now Integration
include 24/7 access to service information, booking and
application processes, status updates and personal account
information. In most cases these customer -facing systems and views require access to
Prior & Prior Associates page 52
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
real-time data, and assume that processes will move along in a predictable fashion.
Couriers have set the bar high for online service request and service tracking, and
establishing service standards.
We identified several eServices that could be introduced or improved. These included
eRequest, an electronic service request and tracking application, and ePermitting for
building permits and inspections. These functions should be sought in replacement
Work and Asset Management Solutions and Development, Licensing and By -Law
solution.
Customers also need good tools and information to be engaged in the business of
municipal government in Clarington. The current internet site is supported on a solid
content management platform, but there is need for internal and external collaboration
tools and an intranet site. The municipality also needs to begin work on performance
measurement, scorecarding and public dashboards. These will be simple and manual
measures at first, but should evolve into meaningful and actionable indicators of
performance and the value delivered for taxpayer dollars.
The municipality already has a good collection of electronic forms on the internet built
on the eSolutions platform. The technology is used widely among smaller municipalities
02 QU E T)QG P H % & QUIDJ VRQV- FXUkQA -HC1/I 4 RC IG!3-M-0 ZSP F XR DRIP V RQ❑
this platform is recommended.
Consultants also heard significant need for staff to have access to integrated business
systems. In the case of customer service requests, for example, some workflows
require notifications and creation of work orders in multiple systems. In some cases, it
is helpful for providing good customer service if appropriate participants anywhere in the
SU; FMM-FDQ—I CQARAN irn RUTRL04JKLARUTRLNAUXVlQZ-1 The re a re
several other key opportunities to create or improve integration by creating a single
authoritative source of master data such as locations and assets or by sharing
kUXXUFU'RCVA0TKZVD1U RU-DA'RCff RLH-UVN441FU W KHGXW A/L\APoP
and population of instructor in recreation courses. Opportunities for integration include
the following:
- Capital Planning - Asset inventory
- Recreation Management []Asset Inventory
- Recreation management []Work Order Management
- Work Orders and Payroll
- Work Scheduling - Recreation Management
The IT unit needs to improve its own capability for managing all these interfaces. The
number and complexity of integration requirements is going to increase dramatically in
the near future, so IT should document the current integration architecture, identify high
level integration needs of major business systems, and plan the appropriate network
and integration architecture.
Specific initiatives to strengthen IT Integration are the following:
Prior & Prior Associates page 53
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: The Municipality does not have adequate systems and processes for
recording and managing customer service interactions. The current WorkTech
system does not meet needs for service request and complaint tracking. A new
recreation management solution will have CRM capabilities for that register for
activities and rentals, and a new development tracking and bylaw system will have
accounts for customers with interests in property. Customers' personal and property
information is collected in different ways, over and over, creating inefficiencies and
customer inconvenience. There is no integrated customer record across processes
such as complaint, inquiry, service request, account inquiry, billing etc. The
municipality needs a central Customer Relationship Management system to serve as
the hub and give a unified view of the customer across apps and departments.
Action: Collect CRM requirements across all customer facing services in the short
term for use as configuration and integration inputs for the big 3 new solutions - Work
and Asset Management, Development, Licensing and Bylaw, and Recreation. Public
expectations for eservices, self-service and personalization of the web experience
should be captured in a single engagement for all three projects. This could be done
as a sidebar on the WMS project, or could be the first phase of technology
enablement of a future customer service review. These requirements will inform the
data integration architecture for a central corporate customer service application and
e -services. After digesting the requirements, acquire an off -the -shelf or cloud based
CRM solution to meet the need.
Opportunity: Clarington has a geographically dispersed and increasingly technology
savvy customer base. It needs to provide customer facing service access interfaces
that are easy to use, and are available on the customer's channel of choice, anytime
and anywhere.
The municipality has an excellent opportunity to provide many more services online
as components of new major business systems. While the requirements gathering
process for new business systems will reveal eservice needs for each, a holistic view
will lead to a more consistent and integrated customer experience. In some cases the
built-in eservice functions of business systems will not be satisfactory. A high level
online service strategy will identify priorities, standards and integration architecture.
Action: Develop an online service strategy by engaging external and internal
stakeholders to establish priorities and expectations. Consider combining with the
mobility strategy since device of choice is becoming a real expectation.
Prior & Prior Associates page 54
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: Clarington has a large number of internal and external forms in paper
and various electronic formats that will not be replaced by application interfaces of
new business systems. It needs consistency in look and feel, data standards,
compliance with AODA regulations, and integrations with systems and processes.
The existing form solution provided by eSolutions may suffice, however the
development of a planned and standardized approach to forms development requires
knowing the priority list of electronic forms and the common information to be
captured.
Action: Conduct a strategy exercise to identify needs and opportunities to use
electronic forms for internal and external processes that do not have direct online
service interfaces. Conduct a fit/gap analysis with eSolutions and consider
augmenting other technologies such as Adobe forms.
Opportunity: Several departments indicated that they need to communicate better
with each other. While the municipality has an intranet, the technology is old and the
information architecture has developed in a ad hoc manner through individual
department initiatives. The platform needs to be updated to better support distributed
content management and the information needs to be designed for easy access from
a variety of perspectives.
Gather requirements and priorities for corporate information and departmental
information. Use weblogs to identify the most important pages and look for ways to
standardize their format. Design a new site with multiple perspectives including
corporate, departmental sharing, and departmental internal perspectives. Select a
technology that meets the needs and implement core content all at once.
Prior & Prior Associates page 55
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: Several stakeholders, including senior managers, noted that the
departments operate separately, often unaware of what each other is doing and thus
missing opportunities for collaboration, process integration and efficiencies. Key
documents are often locked inside file server structures, invisible or inaccessible to
innovators. Internal communications platforms are needed to provide alternative
sharing and discussion opportunities for groups based on project, position or areas of
interest.
Action: Acquire or subscribe to basic collaboration tools for use in all new technology
projects. Develop a formal pilot project including training then measure the value. If
successful, encourage other groups to use the technology.
Prior & Prior Associates page 56
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
4.4 Major Business Applications
The remaining projects recommended in this strategy are for the acquisition and
implementation of major business applications. The needs for these systems was
heard clearly through the interviews and staff survey. Municipal comparisons also show
that Clarington needs to invest in new and better major business applications. As the
current stat assessment indicated, the municipality has opportunity for renewal or
enhancement of most of its major business applications, most of which can deliver new
capabilities that will enhance the customer experience, and provide demonstrable gains
in efficiency and effectiveness.
Web Site Social Media Open Gov Open Hata =
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eRegister e6oaking ePermit Pets eForms eRe nest epa ePa Tickets
v
Customer Relationship Ma 'agement lCRM
Electronic Integrations Mobile Business
Intranet Document &
Collaboration GIS and Business Intelligence/ °
Record
Management Interfaces Apps Analytics
c
m
v
Planning, Development, Licensing Asset & Work Management` Recreation
and Bylaw Management & Facility EMS
Booking'
v�. .
e Rayroll Schedulirg Budgeting Purchasing' Sale and billing Capital Mgmt' m
HR Finance and Accounting
The following acquisitions and their enabled business transformations are
recommended:
At time of writing the Municipality has three important projects in flight. These are:
❑ Recreation Management and Facilities Booking System (ActiveNet)
❑ Work Management System (CityWide Works)
❑ Enterprise Financial System Update (Great Plains 2016)
This strategy assumes that these projects will be successful in meeting the major
business enablement needs of the Recreation and Operations departments for the
next five years. It assumes the Great Plains system will be upgraded and remain an
Prior & Prior Associates page 57
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
on-site hosted system for the next five years since the strategy recommends several
new integrations and extensions.
The municipality has invested in new work management technology with the initial
phase focused exclusively on the Operations Department. Full value of the solution
can be gained by rolling it out to Parks and Recreation for facilities management.
Both departments should use the new system to plan and track daily activities in
service delivery work such as park maintenance and ice cleaning.
Action: This phase of the project should proceed with more planning, stakeholder
engagement, project management and quality management. Follow a sound
software implementation lifecycle and take the time to document processes and do
prototypes and pilots where change is profound or user acceptance is at risk.
Opportunity: The municipality does not have adequate systems and processes for
recording and managing transactions associated with property. These include
development tracking, engineering, bylaw enforcement, permits, and licenses.
Current processes will be unsustainable with continued growth. Clarington needs
technology to enable more efficient and effective management of processes and
information, with e -service, mobile and GIS integration.
Action: Acquire an on -premise off-the-shelf or cloud -based municipal planning and
compliance solution.
Opportunity: The municipality does not have a robust technology for online delivery
and management of training. Fire Services, Operations, and HR have onboarding
and ongoing training needs, and IT needs to support better technology
implementations with more and better training. Online, self -paced courses are an
Prior & Prior Associates page 58
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
effective and efficient choice for many policy, procedure, safety and technology
training for broad, dispersed audiences. Solutions deliver online training and track
both online and other training experiences.
Action: A Business Co-ordinator/Supervisor should detail the municipality's short and
medium-term training requirements and acquire a cloud -based learning management
platform. Once selected and architected for both corporate and departmental needs;
this platform can be implemented in phases, starting with Fire, Operations and IT.
Opportunity: As the municipality makes significant investment in new technology over
the next 5 years, it needs to ensure that users fully understand the capabilities and
procedures of the new systems.
Action: Technology training should be supported by a learning culture, adopting IT
training best practices such as planning and assessment, and the train -the -trainer
model. The current training room needs to be modernized. Select and support a web -
conference service for web- based interactive training and purchase access to self-
directed modules for each new solution for knowledge reinforcement. Plan to spend
capital money on multifaceted training for all new solutions.
Opportunity: Parks and Recreation, Operations and Fire and Emergency Services
need technology that streamlines the processes of applying for and scheduling
workers into part time roles and time slots. There is also need for a volunteer
management solution.
Action: Acquire an off the shelf or cloud based solution that integrates with the payroll
system. Look for remote access and mobile enablement as key requirements
Prior & Prior Associates page 59
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Opportunity: The municipality currently uses manual processes for creating purchase
orders, receiving goods, and matching invoices to them. Processes involve moving
paper or images of invoices and no three way match. The municipality needs further
enhancements to automate its purchasing process with electronic workflows.
Action: Determine desired business model and conduct a fit/gap analysis of the
capability in the most recent MS Dynamics GP accounting system. If that is not
suitable acquire an off the shelf solution that integrates with it. Look for mobile
enablement as a key requirement and integration with Laserfiche for archiving image
records as desirable.
Opportunity: The municipality currently uses manual processes for managing the flow
of payables and receivables. Processes involve moving paper or images of invoices.
The municipality needs to automate its accounts payable and accounts receivable
processes with electronic workflows.
Action: Determine desired business model and conduct a fit/gap analysis of the
capability in the most recent MS Dynamics GP accounting system. If that is not
suitable acquire an off the shelf solution that integrates with it. Look for mobile
enablement as a key requirement and integration with Laserfiche for archiving image
records as desirable.
Prior & Prior Associates page 60
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
S. IT Organization
5.1 Current IT Organization
The current IT team of nine (9), has done an impressive job building out a stable and
reliable technology infrastructure. Nonetheless, a number of staffing risks and
challenges emerged during the assessment, including:
1. The IT team is very lean with everyone having a focus on support and help desk
issues, leaving little to no capacity for planning or strategic management.
2. The horizontal structure leaves little opportunity for effective succession planning
3. There is a great deal of dependency on one staff resource
4. There is very little communications from IT to the rest of staff
5. IT has maintained a traditional approach to IT support, providing excellent
reactive service rather than being able to provide strategic services to help the
business move forward.
5.1.1 Process Maturity Model
The effectiveness of service delivery organizations can be measured in a variety of
ways. One of the most commonly used tools is the process maturity model
C -1-W( FiaE- NH1 DLX&-Ill LPXS-1 DIYQiJY�GFIlQ11 QV -1
7 --interactive tool for assessing the maturity of process -driven organizations
enables business and IT leaders to sense and evaluate their current readiness for
progress in the discipline of business process management and improvement, while
providing a full ❑MITHEI[O1E]❑❑��❑LLLLL 1❑
Prior & Prior Associates page 61
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Level 0
Chaotic
• Ad hac
• Undocumented
• Unpredictable
• Multiple help
desks
• Minimal IT
o pe rations
• User call
notification
Level 2
Level Proactive
• Analyze trends
Reactive • Set thresholds
• Fight fires
• Predict problems
• Inventory
• Measure app lica-
•Desktop
tio n avai lab i lity
software
• Auto mate
distribution
i Mature problem,
•Initiate problem
configuration,
rranagement
change, asset
process
and performance
•Alert and event
rngrnt processes
Level 3
Service
• IT as a se rvic e
provider
• Define services,
classes, pricing
• Understand costs
• Guarantee SLA,-
• Measure and
report service
avai lab i I iry
• Integrate processes
• Caparrty
management
Level 4
Value
• IT as a strategic
business partner
• IT and business
metric linkage
• ITfbusiness
col labo rah is n
improves business
p roc ess
• Real-time
infrastructure
• Business planning
Manage IT as a Business
Service and Account Management
management
-Measure component Service Delivery Process Engineering
availability (upJdown)
Operational Process Engineering
Tool Leverage
Gartner IT Management Maturity Model
Analysis of this model and the current IT Department indicates the department would be
at a level 1 - 2. This is primarily due to the fact that everyone in IT has a focus on
support and help desk response. The IT team works very well together, is supportive
and respectful of one another. Yet, there is little opportunity for strategic thinking or
planning resulting in the reactive mode of IT services. There are few opportunities to
plan ahead, to predict problems or to analyze issues. The IT team responds very
quickly to issues and requests for help and always put forward their best effort to
resolve any problem. The IT Department is not always involved in discussions
regarding technology, existing or new. As the municipality moves forward to achieve its
strategic goals, it will need to ensure IT is involved to ensure corporate standards are
being met.
5.2 IT Service Delivery
To accommodate the new demands and achieve the goals laid out in this Strategic
Plan, IT service delivery must become more:
❑ Agile and responsive to new and emerging needs
❑ Proactive and strategic
Prior & Prior Associates page 62
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
To achieve this, we suggest three key things:
1. Enable the Manager of IT to focus on IT strategy and planning, business systems
and project delivery.
2. Reorganizing the department to establish dedicated teams within IT, that allow
for service excellence and specialization in 3 key areas:
a. Client and Application Services (help desk and customer support)
b. Technology Infrastructure (data and voice networks)
c. Business Development Services (application and data analysis)
3. Building sustainability into the IT organization by:
a. Updating job responsibilities to reflect more current requirements
b. Improve training opportunities for all staff
c. Adopt a hybrid model to augment service delivery
5.2.1 IT Leadership
A strategic area of focus for the municipality is to more effectively manage the intake,
selection and management of technology projects. To do this, the recommendation is
the addition of resources. The Manager of IT should have the responsibility for working
with departments on a continuous basis to integrate technology into business plans, and
ensure that technology strategy reflects business needs. In addition, the Manager will
be responsible for building out the IT governance model, methods and practices. In a
smaller department such as this, the Manager will also be tasked with Project
Management and project portfolio tasks in order to provide leadership and guidance on
technology projects.
The Manager will move towards establishing other operational improvements such as:
❑ Overall project and portfolio management
❑ Coordination and relationship building with the IT Steering Committee
❑ Developing new service targets for setting expectations, managing and
communicating performance
Implementing change control processes to more effectively track, monitor and
manage systems changes
❑ Implementing an after-hours, standby and call out service
❑ Developing a communications plan for IT, to improve corporate communications
to staff about technology and IT services
Leadership in the formation of the IT technical standards, policies and
procedures.
Current support and operational duties performed by the IT Manager will have to be
assigned elsewhere in IT. This will not be an easy transition but will be critical for the
successful evolution of IT services.
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Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
5.2.2 Deliver IT Service Excellence
The caliber of the IT team is high. They are helpful, resourceful and ready to do
whatever they can to provide support and assistance. The challenge is they are
focused on help desk support and operational tasks. They do not have the time or the
direction for planning, for detailed analysis, for building relationships, for determining
training requirements or for software and business application support or development.
At a high level, the IT Department as currently configured and staffed, lacks adequate
resources (for example, there are gaps in applications support and in business analysis)
or skills (for example, in data and application architecture, systems integration, and
cloud systems implementation and management) to support the program of work that is
underway and expected.
There remain many more opportunities for continuous service improvement which the IT
Team should continue to drive. This will require a focus upon several areas:
❑ Making it simpler and easier to understand how to access IT services and
resources
❑ Establishing clear service expectations for IT service delivery (e.g. how quickly
will my helpdesk problem get resolved?) Set a service standards
❑ Formalizing internal IT processes and documentation
The IT team should work on improving corporate communication to staff about IT plans
and initiatives to help promote the work that IT performs and their contribution to the
overall success of service delivery. Moving forward, responsibility for communicating
about IT initiatives, especially those projects that impact more than one department
become the responsibility of everyone involved. Improved communications should help
to reduce staff frustration and improve awareness of technology projects as well as
overall coordination of the new initiatives.
5.2.3 Restructure the IT Department
Ideally the IT Department is set up to specialize in three teams to address all the
different functions and requirements around technology implementation and support.
The following is a best practice breakdown of the different job functions:
Prior & Prior Associates page 64
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
This model works well to position the IT Department to provide a higher level of service
with the business departments. With the growing expectations in the use of technology
and applications at the municipality, support for a planned and managed technology
environment is more important than ever. With several new business applications
coming on board in the near future (Document management system, Recreation
system, and Asset Management), the existing team will not be able to meet the near
term requirements. IT will need to have the business leadership and project
experience to complement the technical expertise. This model provides for the
development of the application support and project management skills. It may be a
consideration for the future to move GIS into the Applications section but is not
necessary at this time.
As well, this model allows for a greater focus on providing good service delivery.
Although there have not been significant complaints, as the use of technology grows
and as staff become even more dependent on IT support, expectations for excellent
service delivery will increase. Through the formalization of IT service management
processes and practices the IT Department should continue to adopt best practice
standards (e.g. ITILI) to deliver improvements to service delivery. Specifically, the team
will focus on setting service expectations, improving incident, problem and change
management processes, expanding the use of self service, and automating repetitive IT
tasks wherever possible.
1 ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a set of detailed practices for IT service
management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business.
Prior & Prior Associates page 65
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
The strategy recommends a new leadership structure in IT along with staff being added
over the next few years to augment capacity and fill in gaps in skills, but it also requires
existing staff to change their roles and change the way IT operates to be better
prepared to meet the new expectations.
Some of the underlying changes described require a mindset or culture change for both
IT and the business departments. These changes will be gradual, and will not happen
overnight. However, significant progress must be made over the next few years if the
municipality is to be able to deliver on the strategy outlined here.
The following organization chart depicts how the IT department should be restructured
in the interim to meet the immediate requirements:
Prior & Prior Associates page 66
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Recommended 2017 Restructured IT Division
Client/ Application
Services Supervisor
Network Support
Technician *
(vacant) 2017
Network Analyst
I Network Anal st
Y
Quick Summary:
IT Manager
Network
Administration
Supervisor
IT Security
Specialist **
2018
"Network Analyst
Business
Development
Supervisor ***
Non Affiliated Non Affiliated Union Union
NEW NEW
Existing staff complement 9
Recommended changes:
Database
dministrator
iior GIS Analyst
J
GIS Analyst
* Fill vacant position (approved in 2017 budget)
** Re -call existing IT Security Specialist to Network Administration
Supervisor
*** Add Business Development Supervisor
Total IT Staff 2017 ❑from 9 to 11 (note: 1 additional in 2018)
Prior & Prior Associates page 67
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
5.3 Build Sustainability into the IT Department
Once the major business systems are in place, consideration should be given to moving
into more digital and online service delivery. The organization will want to take
advantage of emerging technologies such as analytics and business intelligence and
SHLKDSV_EHJ LQP RYLQJ ARuDL&/FHFRP LQJ IDLA/P DWLN L\KP RIJHROIEH-customer
engagement and intuitive customer facing online services. The IT department will need
to evolve and grow in order to meet these future service demands.
Given the changes in play, IT roles cannot remain static. New skills for the IT team in
these areas will be required. In some cases, the current Application Analysts with some
training and development may be well positioned to fill these requirements, and will
evolve into those areas and a redefined role. In other cases, new skills may be required,
and an existing job role may be repurposed as vacancies naturally arise to address the
need. The IT Manager will have to work with Human Resources to regularly update job
responsibilities, to adjust job roles and move staff between teams as needed. This is a
challenge in a department with a mix of union and non-affiliated positions.
Consideration will have to be taken as new skills requirements evolve and new job
responsibilities are developed. It is recommended that investment be made in IT staff
skills development to grow their knowledge and prepare them to implement and support
solutions in these areas such as cloud solutions, data analytics and business
intelligence.
To achieve this and to deliver on this strategy, the addition of a number of resources is
recommended. In addition to the changes in job responsibilities noted above, it is
recommended a new Business Development Supervisor position be added to the staff
complement. This new position will take responsibility for working with departments on
a continuous basis to integrate technology into business plans, and to ensure that
technology strategy reflects business needs. This position will be part of the IT
Leadership team with a focus on the business application and data management
portfolio. This team will include the Business Analyst resource, Database
Administration and GIS. They will be responsible for leading and participating on
technology projects and working with the business departments to better implement
solutions that will work for the longer term.
The importance of business process reviews and meeting the business requirements
have been stressed throughout this plan. It is understood that service reviews are a
current practice of the municipality and have achieved much success to date.
Continuation of this CAO initiative is encouraged with the addition of the IT perspective.
IT or the inclusion of technology often can enable a good business process by
increasing efficiency as well as accessibility. This should be considered as part of every
service review moving forward.
The role of the Business Development section is crucial in helping departments step
back from their day-to-day operations and look critically at the way they conduct
business. Using business process mapping and analysis, and applying process
optimization techniques (e.g. lean six sigma), this team will work with departments to
Prior & Prior Associates page 68
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
significantly improve business processes, usually while reviewing technology options.
The analysts will also be able to determine if the best practices built into some software
applications provide opportunities for the municipality to improve their business
processes. Redefining and remapping process will encourage a more efficient service
delivery model.
The following figure illustrates the recommended future organizational model, required
to achieve the anticipated future goals of the organization.
Recommended Future Structure for IT Division
IT Manager
Client/ Application Network
Services Supervisor Administration
Supervisor
pplication Analyst
(Mitel, Exchange - Application Analyst IT Security
previously Network (Laserfiche) Specialist
Analyst
Application Analyst Client Services
(Dynamics) Support Tech. Network Analyst
(previously Network
Support Tech)
Client Services Application Analyst
Support Tech. Network Analyst
pp (Active - previously
Network Analyst)
Quick Summary:
Business
Development
Supervisor
Database
Administrator
Business Analyst
Non Affiliated Non Affiliated Union
NEW NEW
Existing 2017 staff complement after restructuring ❑ 11
Additional future positions - 6
Total IT Staff future a 17
Senior GIS Analyst
GIS Analyst
Prior & Prior Associates page 69
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
The new IT leadership team must focus a significant portion of its attention on
developing, stimulating, motivating and challenging team members, and building a high
performing IT team. This will involve careful handling of organizational changes,
thoughtful selection of new hires, clear definition of roles and responsibilities, and
delegation of tasks. This should be accompanied by ongoing team meetings, team
building activities and collaborative service design work.
Budgets are tight right now for all municipalities but it can be argued that investment is
required to enable the organization be ready to move these critical initiatives forward to
realize the benefits of making the business more efficient and to be more customer
service focused rather than just getting the job done. Hiring these new resources who
will be dedicated to delivering the large systems required by the municipality will help to
ensure success and effective service delivery. It should be noted that by hiring these
resources as full time positions, the municipality will avoid some future costs where they
would need to hire contract resources to implement projects and would then lose much
of the knowledge gained through the project. By evaluating the longer term needs as
opposed to a short term reaction, the IT team will gained much needed expertise and
build further capacity in the department for the successful evolution of IT to becoming
the trusted partner of the business departments.
5.4 Update Job Responsibilities
The IT Department structure and competencies are a function of the needs of the
organization at the time. The expertise and experience of the staff are exactly what has
been needed to deliver on these earlier requirements. Moving forward, redefining roles
to better meet the current and future needs of the organization is necessary.
It is recognized that resource and funding constraints exist, and that this model cannot
be achieved immediately. With that in mind, the following table provides an outline of
the roles and a suggested timetable for the creation of these new roles, based on the
identified needs of the organization. The changing of the structure to be more vertical
yet still meeting the needs of the different functions supports succession planning and
career growth opportunities. It also encourages greater specialization and more
focused training opportunities for the IT staff who no longer have to be generalists
across all the different disciplines.
Year
Recommended Organizational
Change
Rationale
2017
Manager, IT
Redefine role to provide leadership
to the IT Department, including
project and portfolio management,
establishing processes and building
relationships with other department
heads and staff.
Prior & Prior Associates page 70
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2017
Network Support Technician
This position is currently left vacant
pending this strategic plan. It is
recommended that it be filled as
soon as possible to help alleviate
the help desk and support function.
As the other positions become more
focused on escalated
responsibilities, there is a need for
front-line technician to do call triage
and tracking.
2017
[Change] Client & Applications
Re- position current Network
Senior Analyst/Supervisor
Administrator to this role to have
greater focus on leading the client
services (Help desk) and
applications solutions side. This will
include business analysis, project
management and developing
functional specifications. The
position will also provide oversight
to the help desk function ensuring
client support is always a top
priority.
2017
[Change] Network
Re -position IT Security Specialist
Administration/Supervisor
for this role to provide oversight to
the network team, and to provide a
2nd level of support for the network
and infrastructure components.
This includes a focus on both voice
and data networks, backups,
disaster recovery and security
programs.
2017
[New] Business Development
This role will be dedicated to
Supervisor
managing specific large projects
such as Asset Management,
Document Management as well as
major application upgrades and
new installs. Responsibilities will
include project management,
business analysis, process and
workflow documentation and
software contract management.
Prior & Prior Associates page 71
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
2018
[Change] Network Analyst
Modify these two positions to
provide general application support
for business solutions. The position
should be the first point of call for
application support and would
escalate calls to vendors as
appropriate. In the future, titles
should be changed to better reflect
the focus on Applications rather
than the more generic network
term.
2018
IT Security Specialist
Fill this position that was left vacant
when the current staff member
moved into the Supervisor role.
This position was identified as a
crucial requirement from the 2015
Security Assessment done by
Digital Boundary
Future
Business Analyst
This role brings skills, with training
and experience to help translate
business needs into systems
requirements, and help implement
the projects. (please see below for
more information)
Future
Client Services Support
This role provides front line support
Technicians
for all IT support calls. They
perform triage on all issues, solve
where possible and escalate when
necessary. All calls are tracked so
trends can be identified and dealt
with appropriately. The Technicians
can also do the routine tasks such
as device deployment, asset
tracking support the rest of the IT
Department.
5.5 Training
One of the results of our staff survey was that approximately 29% of staff surveyed
indicated that they have not received any formal technology training in the past 2 years
and 16% have never received technology training. It is recommended that the
municipality establish and fund a formal corporate level training program which defines
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Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
base competencies for staff using technology and then ensures that each member of
staff completes the necessary training (and certification) to achieve that level of
competency. With the many new major business systems being planned for the future,
the project methodology should reinforce the need to properly plan short, medium and
long term training programs that support staff in their adoption of new technologies. It is
important that the new project plans provide sufficient attention and funding to address
immediate and ongoing training needs. These projects represent an opportunity to
define a training model that works and that can be replicated across future projects, and
for new employees. IT should partner with HR in strengthening the toolset so staff can
develop and deliver effective technology training.
The broader training program is also designed to address this area by ensuring that all
staff have a basic understanding of the tools and capabilities available to them which
will help them make the right choice of tools (for example knowing when to use Word
vs. Excel) to achieve their end goal.
5.6 Developing an Enhanced Hybrid Business Delivery Model
In order to address this resource challenge moving forward, the municipality should
adopt a Hybrid IT Service Delivery model. Smart IT organizations rely on a team of in-
house IT staff, who in turn work with a network of trusted partners, vendors and solution
providers to deliver the required services. This is what we call a hybrid model of IT
service delivery. This model relies on a combination of internal IT and business skills as
well as external market based expertise and services. The IT Department has
recognized the value of this model of support and has been utilizing it at times. It is
recommended that the IT Manager continue this practice and look for more
opportunities where appropriate.
Ultimately this means that the IT team will take on an expanded role that allows it to
properly support the business needs of each department and the municipality as a
whole.
5.8 Contracting Implementation and IT assistance
It is also important that the municipality recognize the significant resource demands of
some of the major projects identified such as Asset Management and Document
Management. These are significant projects that will require fully allocated resources
with previous experience. When undertaking such significant projects, the municipality
should consider funding temporary staff (e.g. project manager, analysts) as part of the
overall capital project, to resource the project and to backfill existing resources both in
IT and the business departments.
5.9 Building Partnerships
As has been noted throughout the document, successful business transformation
comes through a combination of people -process -technology. IT, in partnership with the
business units are responsible for the technology component -1 but departments are
responsible for the people and process elements. An excellent example of this type of
partnership is the position of Active/Class Administrator in the Recreation Department.
Prior & Prior Associates page 73
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
A close working relationship with the IT department will ensure a successful adoption of
technology best practices in all departments. Technology is such a part of every
business now that there needs to be this kind of bridge between the business
requirements and the technology available.
7 KHP XC IFLS W DQGI 1Pl1❑G1 MHVDL HIG-W q-Q_I.7 K4 L
transformative level of business and service change cannot be lead from the IT
Department. Business vision and leadership is critical to transformation. Digital
transformation is not just about technology ❑ it is about people, process and culture
change.
To effectively and consistently take advantage of technology across the municipality,
department heads and those involved in service design need to fully understand the
potential of technology and digital services. Department Heads should proactively
develop the technological literacy of those in leadership positions so that they can lead
technology driven business transformation. This will mean partnering to deliver
education and training programs that can expose leaders to the potential and
opportunity that technology and a digital approach can bring.
As previously mentioned, the Gartner Process Maturity Model details the steps needed
to take an IT Department from being purely reactive to one that provides full value to the
organization. This is achieved when IT can become a strategic business partner, when
both IT and the business department collaborate on new operational means using
technology to improve the overall service delivery. Developing stronger partnership
EHWI I[[] 10EH1 FUWDaRV&� IP XC FISDWV-DEL DSSUUFK❑
technology in a new way, and to successfully deliver this plan. The following figure
illustrates the transition that is required ❑ moving from an IT organization that is focused
upon keeping the lights on, to a trusted supplier, to a proactive business partner.
Increasing
Costs
and/or
Resources
IT is integral to how we do business: IT
organization is expected to closely partner
with the business to help identify, plan and
deliver significant business transformation
initiatives - plus be a trusted supplier.
ITdelivers critical functionality and
services: IT organization is expected to
deliver application projectson time and on
budget, based upon the operating units
requirementsand priorities - plus be a solid
utility.
Keepthe lightson: The IT organization is
expected to provide cost effective -dial
tone reliability with transparent costs.
Organization Type Pyramid
Prior & Prior Associates page 74
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
The strengthening of the governance arrangements through the new IT Governance
framework recommended in Section 6 is one mechanism that is designed to foster
stronger partnership and joint working between business units and IT.
The leadership of IT will become more connected to the departments and providing
stronger leadership around the Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Business
Systems.
Prior & Prior Associates page 75
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
6. IT Decision Making: IT Governance
6.1 What is IT governance?
IT Governance encompasses the processes and structures that inform, direct, manage,
and monitor how the organization makes the best and most effective use of technology.
The goal of establishing IT governance is to ensure that the right people are making the
right decisions about technology, armed with the right information, at the right time and
for the right reasons.
Organizations often view such decisions about technology as complicated, technical
DQGF1EH`\AMVVU1HM SHLW40/ /FmR❑HYHL DQ7ffases, decisions about technology
have ramifications, well beyond the technology itself:
o How do we want to use technology in our business?
o What technology do we want our people to use, and how do we want them to use
it?
o How much should we spend on technology?
o Which of our business processes should we direct our IT dollars towards?
o What do we need to tackle first?
o Should we do this now, or later?
o How secure do we need to be?
These are not decisions for technologists alone; they are fundamental business issues
that should be addressed by Municipality VADDC3 LMQSTQ'N-IrFD\/H- I-SXLHDT +-KQFCG
decisions, the right IT staff (with the appropriate skillsets) may lead the decision-making
❑ but in most cases IT experts should be advising and providing recommendations to
business leaders for them to evaluate and approve. Strategic decisions will be made by
an IT Steering Committee, project and policy decisions by project teams and standing
groups.
Prior & Prior Associates page 76
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
6.2 IT Governance Model
The following diagram depicts a typical governance model:
Standing Groups
Web, GIS,
Intranet
Figure 10: Recommended IT Governance Model
6.2.1 The IT Steering Committee
)ject Teams
FIS, H RIS
The primary body is the ITSC through which all of the key technology decisions will
be considered. Other teams and staff will do the detailed hands on project and
planning work and the ITSC will provide the strategic oversight and direction.
6.2.2 Standing Groups
Some business solutions are not projects, but ongoing programs of work. The
M u n i c i pa I ity VL[[ F E\4W-I RUIN DP S(HAV-E Q-RQJ F4U F DQG+IYI-UFKDQJ LQ17 FFRLIH_EX iCFW
solution that requires co-ordination across all departments. In areas that cross
departmental boundaries such as Web, Intranet and GIS, the Municipality may consider
establishing Standing Groups, with departmental representation that meets 4 to 6 times
a year to discuss current and new initiatives, and to identify and agree on priorities.
These groups will also report into ITSC ❑ providing updates on strategies, roadmaps
and major decisions.
6.2.3 IT Team
The IT Team remains responsible for delivery of IT services and for operational IT
matters. The IT governance arrangements are designed to assist the IT Manager in
strategic decision-making ❑ not take over operational responsibilities. The IT Manager is
Prior & Prior Associates page 77
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
responsible for sharing the insights about IT operations (e.g. IT resource availability,
emerging risks) that are necessary to assist the IT Steering Committee in strategic
decision-making.
In terms of project work, while IT staff will lead technology infrastructure projects, for
business systems, integration and customer facing projects, the IT team will be a
strategic business partner with the business lead for the initiative. In these cases it is
not IT who will project manage the initiative, a business leader should lead this work.
The IT Manager will be the communication conduit for project status updates.
6.2.4 Project Teams
Successful implementation of new solutions (e.g. a work management solution) requires
involvement and participation from key stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
The Municipality will need to establish project teams to carry out key initiatives. Project
leads will report on project progress to the IT Steering Committee. Key decision points
may also be referred to the ITSC for consideration. These teams will be
decommissioned once a project is complete, or when the group is deemed to no longer
be required.
6.3 IT Policies and Standards
6.3.1 IT Policies
Policies and standards establish the parameters within which the Municipality uses
technology, creating clear expectations for those that use and manage technology. In
keeping with the commentary throughout this section, many of the decisions related to
technology are business or management decisions. These are not decisions to be made
by IT on behalf of the corporation. For example;
❑ Which employees get smartphones
❑ Who is authorized to register a web domain for the Municipality
❑ Which websites staff can access, and whether that activity should be tracked
❑ What content is saved when an employee retires
❑ How much space does an employee have in email
For each of these decisions a number of factors need to be weighed, including business
impacts, employee impacts and importantly, cost impacts.
A standard IT policy framework typically addresses the following areas.
❑ Acquisitions
❑ Acceptable use
❑ IT Security (passwords, 3rd party access, physical access)
❑ Backup, recovery, BC and DR
❑ Asset lifecycle management
❑ Hosted / cloud solutions *
❑ Data management (lifecycle, privacy) *
Prior & Prior Associates page 78
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
C IT procurement processes *
F Email & voicemail standards (including archiving)
The IT team should review, revise and augment the corporate IT policy framework in the
context of this roadmap, to ensure that it accurately reflects how the Municipality wishes
to use and manage technology. The items flagged with an * should be of particular
focus for Clarington.
6.3.2 IT Standards
Documentation of IT technical standards are important internal documents to help the IT
team deliver its mandate and comply with policy directives. Published standards make
it clear to clients the boundaries of choice in technologies that fit within the
Municipal ityV[ID1 KL\FnF\XLIHFFF&Qt-CVJ-L®FFHSVCQGAk-DIFK4RUstandards when they have
been engaged in their development.
6.3.3 IT Acquisition Process
One of the first orders of business for the IT Steering Committee, should be for the
Municipality to adopt policy and procedures for all technology acquisitions. Large and
small, cloud or otherwise, all technology acquisitions affect the technology foundations
of the entire organization. They need to be strategic in spending vital money and
human effort on the right projects. They also need to fit with the current and planned
technical architecture networks, systems, security, services.
The policy should require all technology acquisitions to be initiated by a formal request.
Desktop software, peripheral devices, mobile devices and anything users want to put on
the network or a network device should be available through a straight -forward request
process marshalled by a new Help Desk System. Any acquisition above $10,000 must
be assessed and prioritized as to its strategic merit and impact on human resources anc
appetite for change.
Prior & Prior Associates page 79
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
7. Implementation Plan and Costs
7.1 Approach
The table below lists 27 key initiatives and actions that should be tackled over the next
five years.
The intranet development project is already funded for 2017. The strategy projects for
online services and mobilizing the workforce should be done as soon as possible, as
their discoveries and strategies will inform the other projects.
The list includes several projects that are large business enablement initiatives requiring
engagement of multiple corporate or operating departments. The projects that are
already in flight should be completed. The others need to be spread out over the five
year horizon since they will use some of the same IT and other resources. They are
also dependent on a strengthened project management capability, which can be
developed through training and participation in these projects as a mentee. We
recommend these projects include funding for backfill of key resources and for
experienced consulting project managers.
It is also important to establish the business and technical architecture for Customer
Service early on. Several of the proposed systems have built-in Customer Relationship
Management capabilities, one of which may meet all the needs. Alternatively, if the
municipality chooses a centralized customer service call centre model, then integration
requirements may become important for the business solutions. We recommend
doing that discovery and analysis work in 2018, and look for an integrated solution after
businesses succeed in getting automated processes.
IT organization initiatives, service improvements and infrastructure upgrades should be
defined and prepared for action. The project management capabilities are necessary as
soon as possible. Service management projects should be started as soon as
practicable. Once the frameworks are established, the formalization and documentation
and implementation of quality processes and tools can proceed as a series of
continuous improvement projects.
Prior & Prior Associates page 80
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
7.2 Implementation Roadmap
The following chart provides a high level outline of the recommended projects and their
scheduling over the next 5 years. Details about each of these projects can be found in
the Recommended Project Portfolio, Appendix A.
1 CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
2 Online Serkes Strategy
3 eForms Strategy
4 D INTEGRATION
5 Customer Relationship Management Solution
6 Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
7 Electronic Document and Record Management Solution
$ Intranet Re6esh
Collaboration Tools
10 0 MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
11 Development, Licensing and By-law System
12 Work and Asset Management Solution Phase 2
13 PurchasingWoWowSolution
14 Learning Management Solution
15 Technology Training Tools
16 Staff Scheduling System
17 AccountingWorlrflowSolutions
18 0 IT INFRASTRUCTURE
19 Adopt. IT Governance
20 Formalize IT Service Offerings
21 IT Help Desk System Replacement
22 T Policy and Procedure Development
23 Email System Update
24 Business Continuity & ff Disaster Recovery Plan
25 O IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
26 T Resou rce Al ign me nt
27 Project Manage roe ntCapa6ility
28 Portfolio ManagementCap6ility
2013 12019 12020 12021 12022
Prior & Prior Associates page 81
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
7.3 Recommended Investments
The following table summarizes the recommended technology investment strategy for
the Municipality of Clarington for the next 5 years. Cost is the total capital cost of
technology implementations, capability development, and deeper dives into key areas
for future investment. Operating costs are incurred the year following implementation
and thereafter.
71 HARDGM I)MWffl V9HI1E D1JSL J LEP WG*HO S[& OLID ,J7 RMDEMWV DM
business technology so that it can enable efficient customer service, workflows,
processes, mobility, communications and reporting is approximately $1.47 million for
capital budget. This amount is in line with the current commitment to capital through the
normal budget allocation however it does not include the annual IT asset replacement
(hardware and software) capital program.
CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
50,000
Online Services Strategy
15,000
eForms Strategy
15,000
INTEGRATION
0 430,000
Customer Relationship Management Solution
200,000
Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
20,000
Electronic Document and Record
Management Solution
300,000
Intranet Refresh
50,000
Collaboration Tools
30,000
MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
2,500
Development, Licensing and Bylaw Solution
250,000
Work Management System Phase 2
150,000
Purchasing Workflow Solution
75,000
Learning Management Solution
25,000
Technology Training Tools
10,000
Staff Scheduling Solution
50,000
Accounting Workflow Solutions
150,000
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Adopt IT Governance
0
Formalize IT Service Offerings
0
IT Help Desk System Replacement
10,000
IT Policy and Procedure Development
0
Email System Update
60,000
Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery
Plan
20,000
IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
IT Resource Alignment
20,000
Project Management Capability
10,000
Portfolio Management Capability
10,000
TOTAL COSTS
1,470,000
Notes:
COST= Total Capital Cost
OPERATING = Annual Costs after Implementation
0 0 0 0
0 15,000
0 15,000
20,000 50,000 150,000
5,000 20,000
50,000
50,000
2,000
10,000
50,000
10,000
10,000
0 430,000
30,000
50,000
50,000
200,000
50,000
150,000
10,000
75,000
5,000
25,000
2,500
10,000
10,000
50,000
20,000
150,000
0
0
2,000 10,000
0
35,000 60,000
12,000
120,000
20,000
2,000
10,000
2,000
10,000
415,500
0 430,000
10,000 10,000
0
150,000 100,000
450,000 190,000 300,000 100,000
Prior & Prior Associates page 82
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
8. Why invest in IT? Why invest in this Strategic Plan?
To implement the IT Strategic Plan requires increased in investment in IT, both capital
and operating.
The plan maintains that this investment is warranted, as it will build the foundation for
delivering service excellence, efficient and effective government and for meeting
FXVUNP Hl9 expectations.
8.1 Invest to Save
IT should be seen as an investment a long-term investment in increased productivity
and improved customer service. The investment is in building a platform, the digital
foundations for delivering efficient services. This is investment that will keep delivering
benefits year over year by enabling corporate flexibility, releasing capacity to grow and
add new services, without adding new administrative staff and hence new costs.
,Q+MRHWAC1,!AA4ZX(GEH [ DYH[L7KH[Municipality makes
investments upfront in technologies and expects to receive pay back, year over year on
an ongoing basis. But, technology projects should be considered in the longer term on
their ability to transform services, achieving future cost avoidance, not just immediate
cost savings. A pay back of three to five years is a reasonable time frame for IT
investments; some deliver much faster payback.
Many of the solutions that Clarington plans to implement over the course of the plan are
expected will deliver a range of benefits. Some deliver tangible returns on investment
such as time savings. The Development Management solution will save considerable
time in streamlined transactions and work flows for building permits, and development
application tracking. An improved record management solution will save staff time spent
looking for records, as well as support improved records management practices.
In other cases, the new systems will create new work data entry work to be done by
front line staff that will support performance measurement, decision-making and
transparency. Work Management is a good example. In these cases, the technology
will make doing that extra work palatable by enabling it to be done efficiently.
So, many of the investments in technology, specifically in business systems, are
designed to simplify processes, eliminate data duplication and reduce errors, saving
time for staff and customers alike.
Prior & Prior Associates page 83
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
8.2 Build foundations to support the 0 ❑ LFLSDOiI V growth
The Municipality is poised to grow over the coming years. The pace and volume of
development and building is expected to accelerate, new facilities and new
infrastructure are expected to be added to the MunicipalityV responsibilities. This
growth will place pressures on existing service delivery avenues, as volumes of service
requests, applications for permits and licenses and customer expectations for services
grow.
As the Municipality Jl9Z❑ P V1DLI I APEIMNAFSHIEJ ❑
effectively. So, the focus should be upon ensuring that its business process and
technology foundations are well established now. Building these efficient business
processes and supporting systems now, will ensure that as the Municipality can contain
its costs as it grows, as it can minimize the number of staff that it needs to hire to
support these business functions.
8.3 Managing better starts with the right information
� 111' 1. � 1�.1►,1''' � �,1`�illl' 1 � � l�. ,1''' �1�� ,1l
Experience has shown that if service managers can access the right data they can use
the data to identify the best and most efficient ways of delivering services.
More effective information management, tracking and analysis as to the work that staff
do and how staff time is spent will lead to many opportunities to streamline operations
and reduce costs. For example, one City found by analyzing their own data that nearly
❑[I[SHIFHC I VQ -i1111 DAN-] DhU -ISDLR HCV" I RLW DV�SHQAVVR0Q LSLREOP VFW
1.4 percent of customer sites. With this information, the city developed and
implemented a repair plan that resolved these ongoing issues and ultimately reduced
FRA"VV6"WSWR U1 KUB EIS RLP D/flC0 C M-I(S-RLD DC40-YH❑
money and deliver better value.
Access to data and information in real time helps Directors and Managers monitor and
manage their programs, and direct staff to ensure that services are running smoothly.
Changes can happen in real time, resulting in immediate improvements to service
quality and effectiveness. Cities, such as Waterloo, that have implemented real time
management dashboards for the Building Department, have made significant
improvements in customer satisfaction and staff efficiency. The knowledgeable access
to data also builds the foundation towards future service delivery options such as open
data. Open data is a program being adopted by municipalities as a means of improving
transparency and accountability but also because it provides access to hundreds of app
developers who will create apps that can be shared by all. These apps are key to
improving citizen engagement, providing new opportunities to push information out, as
well as to receive valuable feedback.
Prior & Prior Associates page 84
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix A: Recommended Project Portfolio
Prior & Prior Associates page 85
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Table of Contents
W
Implementation Roadmap 87
Investment Strategy 88
Recommended Project Descriptions 89
CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
Online Services Strategy 89
eForms Strategy 90
INTEGRATION
Customer Relationship Management Solution 91
Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy 92
Electronic Document and Record Management Solution 93
Intranet Refresh 94
Collaboration Tools 95
MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
Development, Licensing and Bylaw Solution
96
Work Management System Phase 2
97
Purchasing Workflow Solution
98
Learning Management Solution
99
Technology Training Tools
100
Staff Scheduling Solution
101
Accounting Workflow Solutions
102
ITINFRASTRUCTURE
Adopt IT Governance 103
Formalize IT Service Offerings 104
IT Help Desk System Replacement 105
IT Policy and Procedure Development 106
Email System Update 107
Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery Plan 108
IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
IT Resource Alignment 109
Project Management Capability 110
Portfolio Management Capability 111
Prior & Prior Associates page 86
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
.mplementation Roadmap
201R 2019 2020 2021 2C
CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
0
0
0
0 0
Online Services Strategy
15,000
0
0 0
0
eForms Strategy
15,000
0
0 0
0
INTEGRATION
0
0
0 0
Customer Relationship Management
Solution
200,000
20,000
0 0
0
0 0 0
Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
20,000
5,000
0 0
0
Electronic Document and Record
Management Solution
300,000
50,000
0 0
0
00 00
Intranet Refresh
50,000
10,000
0
0 0
Collaboration Tools
30,000
10,000
00
0
MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
0
0
0
0 0
Development, Licensing and Bylaw Solution
250,000
50,000
0 0
0 0
0
Work Management System Phase 2
150,000
50,000
0 0
0
Purchasing Workflow Solution
75,000
10,000
0 0
0
Learning Management Solution
25,000
5,000
0 0
0
Technology Training Tools
10,000
2,500
0 0
0
Staff Scheduling Solution
50,000
10,000
0 0
0
Accounting Workflow Solutions
150,000
20,000
00
0
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
0
0
0
0 0
Adopt IT Governance
0
0
0 0
0
Formalize IT Service Offerings
0
0
0 0
0 0
00
0
IT Help Desk System Replacement
10,000
2,000
0 0
0
IT Policy and Procedure Development
0
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
Email System Update
60,000
35,000
0 0
0 0
0
Business Continuity and IT Disaster
Recovery Plan
20,000
12,000
00
00
0
IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
0
0
0
0 0
IT Resource Alignment
20,000
120,000
0 0
0 0
0
Project Management Capability
10,000
2,000
0 0
0 0
0
Portfolio Management Capability
10,000
2,000
0 0
0 0
0
TOTAL COSTS
1,470,000
415,500
Prior & Prior Associates
page 87
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Investment Strategy
CUSTOMER FACING SYSTEMS
0
0 0 0 0
Online Services Strategy
15,000
0
15,000
eForms Strategy
15,000
0
15,000
INTEGRATION
Customer Relationship Management
Solution
200,000
20,000
50,000
150,000
Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
20,000
5,000
20,000
Electronic Document and Record
Management Solution
300,000
50,000
50,000
150,000 100,000
Intranet Refresh
50,000
10,000
50,000
Collaboration Tools
30,000
10,000
30,000
MAJOR BUSINESS SYTEMS
Development, Licensing and Bylaw Solution
250,000
50,000
50,000
200,000
Work Management System Phase 2
150,000
50,000
150,000
Purchasing Workflow Solution
75,000
10,000
75,000
Learning Management Solution
25,000
5,000
25,000
Technology Training Tools
10,000
2,500
10,000
Staff Scheduling Solution
50,000
10,000
50,000
Accounting Workflow Solutions
150,000
20,000
150,000
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Adopt IT Governance
0
0
Formalize IT Service Offerings
0
0
IT Help Desk System Replacement
10,000
2,000
10,000
IT Policy and Procedure Development
0
0
Email System Update
60,000
35,000
60,000
Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery
Plan
20,000
12,000
10,000 10,000
IT ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
IT Resource Alignment
20,000
120,000
20,000
Project Management Capability
10,000
2,000
10,000
Portfolio Management Capability
10,000
2,000
10,000
TOTAL COSTS 1,470,000
415,500
0 430,000
450,000 190,000 300,000 100,000
Notes:
COST= Total Capital Cost
OPERATING = Annual Costs after Implementation
Prior & Prior Associates page 88
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Online Services Strategy
Project Type
Strategy
Description
Clarington has a geographically dispersed and increasingly technology savvy
customer base. It needs to provide customer facing service access interfaces
that are easy to use, and are available on the customer's channel of choice,
anytime and anywhere.
The municipality has an excellent opportunity to provide many more services
online as components of new major business systems. While the
requirements gathering process for new business systems will reveal eservice
needs for each, a holistic view will lead to a more consistent and integrated
customer experience. In some cases the built-in eservice functions of business
systems will not be satisfactory. A high level online service strategy will
identify priorities, standards and integration architecture.
Approach
Develop an online service strategy by engaging external and internal
stakeholders to establish priorities and expectations. Consider combining
with the mobility strategy since device of choice is becoming a real
expectation.
Stakeholders
Corporate Services, Planning, Engineering, Operations, Parks and Recreation
Benefits and Outcomes
* improved customer service - rationalized portfolio of eservices with
requirements and standards for a consistent look and navigation * improved
effectiveness - prioritize the right eservices
Strategic Alignment
* Enhance Online Services>l m prove Customer Service
* Enhance Online ServicesAncrease Efficiency
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
15,000
Operating Cost
0
Timing
2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 89
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
eForms Strategy
Project Type
Strategy
Description
Clarington has a large number of internal and external forms in paper and various
electronic formats that will not be replaced by application interfaces of new business
systems. It needs consistency in look and feel, data standards, compliance with AODA
regulations, and integrations with systems and processes. The existing form solution
provided by eSolutions may suffice, however the development of a planned and
standardized approach to forms development requires knowing the priority list of
electronic forms and the common information to be captured.
Approach
Conduct a strategy exercise to identify needs and opportunities to use electronic
forms for internal and external processes that do not have direct online service
interfaces. Conduct a fit/gap analysis with eSolutions and consider augmenting other
technologies such as Adobe forms.
Stakeholders
Corporate Services, Planning, Engineering, Operations, Parks and Recreation
Benefits and Outcomes
* improved customer service - consistent format and design, auto -filled
fields, electronic submission anytime, anywhere, any device * improved
efficiency - re -use parts of forms
Strategic Alignment
* Enhance Online Services>l m prove Customer Service
* Enhance Online ServicesAncrease Efficiency
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
15,000
Operating Cost
0
Timing
2019
Prior & Prior Associates page 90
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Customer Relationship Management Solution
Project Type
New Technology
Description
The Municipality does not have adequate systems and processes for recording and
managing customer service interactions. The current WorkTech system does not
meet needs for service request and complaint tracking. A new recreation
management solution will have CRM capabilities for customers who register for
activities and rentals, and a new development tracking and bylaw system will have
accounts for customers with interests in property. Customers' personal and property
information is collected in different ways, over and over, creating inefficiencies and
customer inconvenience. There is no integrated customer record across processes
such as complaint, inquiry, service request, account inquiry, billing etc. The Town
needs a central Customer Relationship Management system to serve as the hub and
give a unified view of the customer across apps and departments.
Approach
Collect CRM requirements across all customer facing services in the short term for
use as configuration and integration inputs for the big 3 new solutions - Work and
Asset Management, Development, Licensing and Bylaw, and Recreation. Public
expectations for eservices, self-service and personalization of the web experience
should be captured in a single engagement for all three projects. This could be done
as a sidebar on the WMS project, or could be the first phase of technology
enablement of a future customer service review. These requirements will inform the
data integration architecture for a central corporate customer service application and
e -services. After digesting the requirements, acquire an off -the -shelf or cloud based
CRM solution to meet the need
Stakeholders
Corporate Services, Operations, Parks and Recreation, Planning, Engineering
Benefits and Outcomes
improved customer service - relationship, tracking, notification
improved efficiency - reduce duplicate collection of data, electronic
notification
❑ improved accuracy and completeness of data
Strategic Alignment
❑ Improve Communication and Collaboration> Improve Customer Service
❑ Automate Workflows> Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
200,000
Operating Cost
20,000
Timing
2018 (requirement and architecture), 2021
Prior & Prior Associates page 91
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Mobile Device and Remote Access Strategy
Project Type
Strategy
Description
Managing the security and support of mobile devices has become a problem for IT.
The variety and number of mobile devices has burgeoned and clients may not be
getting and using the best devices for their needs. The municipality needs to identify
all opportunities for business enablement through mobile devices and remote access,
and update policies, procedures, standards and management of same.
Device management technology needs to be enhanced to cover all types.
Approach
Review existing mobile deployments with frontline users of the services to identify
strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned for existing deployments. Identify all areas
to benefit from mobile; re -set mobile strategy and develop rollout and extension
plan. Acquire a mobile device management system for IT.
Stakeholders
All departments needing mobile devices and remote access, IT Client Services
Benefits and Outcomes
Policies, procedures and standards to reduce current frustrations with mobile
device choices and remote access tools and privileges
❑ Proactive identification of all near term needs and a rational plan to meet
them
❑ Increased adoption of technologies to improve operational efficiency and
information quality
Strategic Alignment
❑ Strengthen Mobile and Remote Access > Connect Field StaffAncrease Efficiency
❑ Strengthen Mobile and Remote Access > Connect Field StaffAncrease
Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
20,000
Operating Cost
5,000
Timing
2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 92
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Electronic Records and Document Management Solution
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
The municipality needs to upgrade its existing electronic and paper records
management capacity and capability. Physical archives are full and paper records
continue to be generated. The legacy records management system is out of date.
Approach
In the first of two phases, conduct a detailed assessment of the current situation and
enterprise needs for records and document management. This analysis will identify
opportunities and requirements for integration with new business systems and
processes, and requirements for legacy document disposition. In the second phase,
review the existing Laserfiche/Versatile system for fit and gaps to the enterprise
requirements. Upgrade these systems or select and implement new solution.
Integrate record and document capture in parallel with Major Business System
rollouts, then migrate legacy documents where necessary. In the meantime, develop
enabling policies, procedures, forms and standards to initiate the business change.
Stakeholders
All Departments
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ demonstrable compliance with Federal and Provincial records management,
accessibility and privacy regulations and standards
❑ increased efficiency in storing, finding and retrieving important records
❑ increased accessibility
❑ reduce physical warehousing costs
Strategic Alignment
❑ Improve Accountability
Improve Communication and Collaboration > Improve Efficiency
Project Sponsor
Clerk
Project Cost
300,000
Operating Cost
50,000
Timing
2018, 2021-2022
Prior & Prior Associates page 93
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Intranet Refresh
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
Several departments indicated that they need to communicate better with each
other. While the municipality has an intranet, the technology is old and the
information architecture has developed in a ad hoc manner through individual
department initiatives. The platform needs to be updated to better support
distributed content management and the information needs to be designed for easy
access from a variety of perspectives.
Approach
Gather requirements and priorities for corporate information and departmental
information. Use weblogs to identify the most important pages and look for ways to
standardize their format. Design a new site with multiple perspectives including
corporate, departmental sharing, and departmental internal perspectives. Select a
technology that meets the needs and implement core content all at once.
Stakeholders
Senior Management
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ better platform, information architecture and governance to deliver valuable
information and tools to staff
efficient access to important corporate information
broader knowledge and understanding of business across departments
Strategic Alignment
❑ Strengthen IT Infrastructure>lmprove Communication>Increase Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
50,000
Operating Cost
10,000
Timing
2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 94
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Collaboration Tools
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
Several stakeholders, including senior managers, noted that the departments operate
separately, often unaware of what each other is doing and thus missing opportunities
for collaboration, process integration and efficiencies. Key documents are often
locked inside file server structures, invisible or inaccessible to innovators. Internal
communications platforms are needed to provide alternative sharing and discussion
opportunities for groups based on project, position or areas of interest.
Approach
Acquire or subscribe to basic collaboration tools for use in all new technology
projects. Develop a formal pilot project including training then measure the value.
If successful, encourage other groups to use the technology.
Stakeholders
Senior Management
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ greater team engagement and user acceptance and satisfaction with new
technology and processes
❑ broader knowledge and understanding of the business across departments
❑ efficient and effective project task and document management
Strategic Alignment
❑ Strengthen IT Infrastructure>lmprove Collaboration>Increase Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
30,000
Operating Cost
10,000
Timing
2020
Prior & Prior Associates page 95
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Development, Licensing and By-law System
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
The municipality does not have adequate systems and processes for recording and
managing transactions associated with property. These include development
tracking, engineering, bylaw enforcement, permits, and licenses. Current processes
will be unsustainable with continued growth. Clarington needs technology to enable
more efficient and effective management of processes and information, with
eservice, mobile and GIS integration.
Approach
Acquire an on -premise off-the-shelf or cloud -based municipal planning and
compliance solution.
Stakeholders
Engineering, Planning, Operations, Finance, Clerk
Benefits and Outcomes
improved customer service - e -submission, tracking, notification
improved efficiency - enable electronic workflows & document management for
faster approvals
improved accuracy and integration of property -related of data
Strategic Alignment
Automate Workflows>Increase Efficiency
❑ Enhance Online Services> Improve Customer Service
❑ Strengthen Reporting and AnalyticsAncrease Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Planning; Director, Engineering
Project Cost
250,000
Operating Cost
50,000
Timing
2018-2019
Prior & Prior Associates page 96
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Work Management System Phase 2
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
The municipality has invested in new work management technology with the initial
phase focussed exclusively on the Operations Department. Full value of the solution
can be gained by rolling it out to Parks and Recreation for facilities management.
Both departments should use the new system to plan and track daily activities in
service delivery work such as park maintenance and ice cleaning.
Approach
This phase of the project should proceed with more planning, stakeholder
engagement, project management and quality management. Follow a sound
software implementation lifecycle and take the time to document processes and do
prototypes and pilots where change is profound or user acceptance is at risk.
Stakeholders
Operations, Engineering, Finance, Parks and Recreation
Benefits and Outcomes
* more cost, time and materials information to
- improve work scheduling and resource planning
- improved accountability and effectiveness for service management
* improved effectiveness through inter -departmental integrations
* improved efficiency in work management processes
Strategic Alignment
* Automate Workflows>lncrease Efficiency
* Strengthen I&T Integration> Increase Effectiveness
* Strengthen Reporting and AnalyticsAncrease Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Parks and Recreation
Project Cost
150,000
Operating Cost
50,000
Timing
2019-2020
Prior & Prior Associates page 97
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Purchasing Workflow Solution
Project Type
New Technology
Description
The municipality currently uses manual processes for creating purchase orders,
receiving goods, and matching invoices to them. Processes involve moving paper or
images of invoices and no three way match. The municipality needs to automate its
purchasing process with electronic workflows.
Approach
Determine desired business model and conduct a fit/gap analysis of the capability in
the most recent MS Dynamics GP accounting system. If that is not suitable acquire
an off the shelf solution that integrates with it. Look for mobile enablement as a key
requirement and integration with Laserfiche for archiving image records as desirable.
Stakeholders
Finance, All Departments, External vendors
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ increased efficiencies - process time and effort
❑ improved accountability
❑ improved record management
Strategic Alignment
❑ Automate Workflows > Increase Efficiency
❑ Automate Workflows > Increase Customer Satisfaction (vendors)
❑ Strengthen Reporting and Analytics > Increase Accountability
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
75,000
Operating Cost
10,000
Timing
2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 98
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Staff Scheduling Solution
Project Type
New Technology
Description
Parks and Recreation, Operations and Fire and Emergency Services need technology
that streamlines the processes of applying for and scheduling workers into part time
roles and time slots. There is also need for a volunteer management solution.
Approach
Acquire an off the shelf or cloud based solution that integrates with the payroll
system. Look for remote access and mobile enablement as key requirements.
Stakeholders
HR, Parks and Recreation, Fire and Emergency Services, Operations
Benefits and Outcomes
increased worker satisfaction with the application and shift request process
❑ increased efficiencies in scheduling workers and preparing timesheets
❑ more effective application and accountability for business rules
Strategic Alignment
Connect Field Staff > Increase Efficiency
❑ Strengthen Reporting and Analytics > Increase Accountability
Project Sponsor
Manager, HR
Project Cost
50,000
Operating Cost
10,000
Timing
2019
Prior & Prior Associates page 99
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Accounting Workflow Solutions
Project Type
New Technology
Description
The municipality currently uses manual processes for managing the flow of payables
and receivables. Processes involve moving paper or images of invoices. The
municipality needs to automate its accounts payable and accounts receivable
processes with electronic workflows.
Approach
Determine desired business model and conduct a fit/gap analysis of the capability in
the most recent MS Dynamics GP accounting system. If that is not suitable acquire
an off the shelf solution that integrates with it. Look for mobile enablement as a key
requirement and integration with Laserfiche for archiving image records as desirable.
Stakeholders
All Departments, External vendors
Benefits and Outcomes
* increased efficiencies - process time and effort
* improved accountability
* improved record management
Strategic Alignment
* Automate Workflows > Increase Efficiency
* Automate Workflows > Increase Customer Satisfaction (vendors)
* Strengthen Reporting and Analytics > Increase Accountability
Project Sponsor
Director, Finance
Project Cost
150,000
Operating Cost
20,000
Timing
2020
Prior & Prior Associates page 100
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Learning Management Solution
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
The municipality does not have a robust technology for online delivery and
management of training. Fire Services, Operations, and HR have onboarding and
ongoing training needs, and IT needs to support better technology implementations
with more and better training. Online, self -paced courses are an effective and
efficient choice for many policy, procedure, safety and technology training for broad,
dispersed audiences. Solutions deliver online training and track both online and
other training experiences.
Approach
A business analyst should detail the municipality's short and medium-term training
requirements and acquire a cloud -based learning management platform. Once
selected and architected for both corporate and departmental needs, this platform
can be implemented in phases, starting with Fire, Operations and IT.
Stakeholders
Fire Services, IT, Parks and Recreation, Operations, All new solution owners and users
Benefits and Outcomes
* more accessible training of all types - more knowledge
* support for competency development, succession planning
* accurate and timely tracking of mandatory health and safety training
* easy compliance with documentation requirements
Strategic Alignment
* Strengthen Reporting and Analytics > Increase Effectiveness
* Strengthen I&T Integration > Increase Efficiency
Project Sponsor
Manager, HR
Project Cost
25,000
Operating Cost
5,000
Timing
2019
Prior & Prior Associates page 101
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Technology Training Tools
Project Type
Capability and Capacity
Description
As the municipality makes significant investment in new technology over the next 5
years, it needs to ensure that users fully understand the capabilities and procedures
of the new systems.
Approach
Technology training should be supported by a learning culture, adopting IT training
best practices such as planning and assessment, and the train -the -trainer model. The
current training room needs to be modernized. Select and support a web conference
service for web- based interactive training and purchase access to self-directed
modules for each new solution for knowledge reinforcement. Plan to spend capital
money on multifaceted training for all new solutions.
Stakeholders
All new solution owners and users
Benefits and Outcomes
* increased efficiencies and effectiveness from technology investments
* increased acceptance of new processes and supporting technologies
Strategic Alignment
Align and Mature IT Service > Increase Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Manager, HR
Project Cost
10,000
Operating Cost
2,500
Timing
2019
Prior & Prior Associates page 102
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Adopt IT Governance
Project Type
Policy and Procedure
Description
This strategic plan recommends strategic investment in a significant list of projects.
The organization needs a governing body that will execute the strategy by planning
and monitoring the portfolio of projects, ensuring that policy enablers are in place,
approving and supporting standards, and ensuring a corporate -wide view of
technology is cultivated. The strategy and implementation priorities need to be
reviewed annually to accommodate new needs, halt or re -cast failing projects, and
take advantage of new opportunities.
Approach
Strike a formal IT Steering Committee of senior managers and department heads
(supported by the IT Manager). Assign a workgroup to develop Terms of Reference
and meeting schedule in Q2 and meet quarterly thereafter.
Stakeholders
Senior Managers, Department Heads
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ flexible technology plan
❑ policy enablers for project success
❑ authoritative IT policies and standards
❑ inter -divisional engagement, understanding and ownership of IT as a corporate
resource
Strategic Alignment
❑ Strengthen IT Governance > Improve Communication and
CollaborationAncrease Accountability
❑ Align and Mature the IT Service > Increase Effectiveness
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
0
Operating Cost
0
Timing
2017
Prior & Prior Associates page 103
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Formalize IT Service Offerings
Project Type
Capability and Capacity
Description
As the municipality and technology use have grown, so too have the challenges of
meeting client expectations. IT cannot be everything to everyone, but when staff
assert this reality, the result is often dissatisfaction and decline in trust. The IT
section needs to build this trust and increase client satisfaction, while at the same
time providing great services focussed on delivering customer value
Approach
The IT team should engage its clients in identifying their service and support needs
and propose simple but formal service offerings and levels. These should be
documented, approved by the IT Steering Committee and posted on the IT intranet.
As you mature, start developing formal Service Level Agreements (SLAB) and service
uptake and performance measures.
Stakeholders
All technology users
Benefits and Outcomes
clear understanding of client needs and expectations
❑ clear articulation of IT services
❑ increased client satisfaction
Strategic Alignment
❑ Align and mature IT Service> Improve Customer Service
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
0
Operating Cost
0
Timing
2018-2020
Prior & Prior Associates page 104
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
IT Help Desk Replacement
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
The municipality currently uses custom made application to log and track IT service
requests and trouble tickets. Garnering end user compliance in the new process has
been challenging, and reports are limited. To measure and improve IT service
management, the municipality needs to invest in a more robust solution providing
web based issue logging and tracking for end users, knowledge base development,
and performance reporting. These capabilities may be met through one of the
Customer Relationship Management modules to be acquired for other services.
Approach
Make this a task for the enhanced IT team to select and configure together.
Stakeholders
GM, Corporate Services, IT Staff, IT support users
Benefits and Outcomes
Prior & Prior Associates page 105
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
IT Policies and Procedure Development
Project Type
Policy and Procedure
Description
Policies and standards establish the parameters within which the Municipality uses
technology, creating clear expectations for those that use and manage technology.
Clarington needs to have a strong and comprehensive set of policies, standards and
procedures developed with engagement of the business units.
Approach
These should be developed as IT Governance projects led by the IT Manager and
documented, published and maintained in accordance with a quality documentation
standard. These exercises are excellent opportunities to build and share governance
knowledge through participation in policy development workgroups.
Stakeholders
All IT Clients
Benefits and Outcomes
Prior & Prior Associates page 106
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Email System Update
Project Type
Technology Enhancement
Description
Clarington's current email system, Microsoft Exchange 2010 on Server 2008, has been
in place for over 6 years. It is no longer meeting expectations, and takes a lot of staff
time and effort to maintain. Increasing sophistication of security threats make failure
to keep up with maintenance patches, server currency, SPAM, and virus prevention
creates significant risks to business continuity. The municipality needs to investigate
the costs and benefits of a cloud solution alternative and replace this solution when
most of the value from its current investments has been realized.
Approach
Most municipalities the size of Clarington are moving to a cloud -based solution for
email to reduce effort and complexity of managing email servers, doing backups,
archives, and restoring content for users. Determine requirements and constraints
and determine if a cloud solution provides the best value.
Stakeholders
All Departments
Benefits and Outcomes
improved efficiency in use of IT back-office resources
improved security and availability
❑ improved remote access
Strategic Alignment
❑ Strengthen IT Infrastructure> Connect Field Staff>lncrease Efficiency
❑ Strengthen IT InfrastructureAmprove Effectiveness
❑ Improved Efficiency (use of IT Resources)
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
60,000
Operating Cost
35,000
Timing
2017-2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 107
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name Business Continuity Plan
Prior & Prior Associates page 108
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
IT Resource Alignment
Project Type
Capability and Capacity
Description
Speed up the process of shifting resources from generalist to specialist, to provide
efficiencies in customer service and support to allow more time for team leaders to
develop capabilities needed for a leadership role in project management, technology
acquisition and implementation.
Approach
Restructure the IT Department to specialize in teams to address all the different
functions and requirements around technology implementation and support.
Create supervisory positions for sustainability and employee retention and
development. Fill the vacant position as soon as possible and train existing staff for
changed roles. Use capital funding for training and tools.
Stakeholders
IT Steering Committee, IT Manager
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ Improved efficiencies in Customer Service and Support
❑ Enhanced capability in Project Management
❑ Enhanced capability in Technology Acquisition support
Strategic Alignment
improved Efficiency (use of IT Resources)
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
20,000
Operating Cost
120,000
Timing
2017-2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 109
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Portfolio Management Capability
Project Type
Capability and Capacity
Description
Clarington does not have systems, processes or data to show a high level view of its
technology investments and report on the impact of their links to corporate goals.
Clarington needs a process for documenting, prioritizing, integrating and managing
projects and their alignment and impact on corporate goals.
Approach
Establish IT leadership and departmental capability, best practices and tools for
documenting project proposals, especially emphasising meaningful benefit
statements and alignment to strategic goals. Mature the capability in year 3 by
adding measurable cost reductions and revenue increases and calculating Return on
Investment.
Stakeholders
IT Steering Committee, Department Heads
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ improved process for documenting and submitting project proposals
❑ improved project alignment to corporate goals
improved accountability for IT investment
improved analytical capability for decision support
Strategic Alignment
Align and Mature IT Service > Increase Effectiveness
Strengthen IT Governance > Increase Accountability
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
10,000
Operating Cost
2,000
Timing
2017-2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 110
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Project Name
Project Management Capability
Project Type
Capability and Capacity
Description
Clarington has limited capability in defining, prioritizing and executing business
improvement and technology implementation projects. It needs policies,
procedures, templates, technology and methodologies to define and execute
projects.
Approach
Establish best practices and tools then take small, incremental steps toward
developing capability and capacity throughout the organization through training and
mentorship from consulting project managers on this portfolio of projects.
Stakeholders
Project sponsors. IT Steering Committee
Benefits and Outcomes
❑ improved project alignment, prioritization and accountability
❑ improved project success
widespread knowledge of basic project management practice
Strategic Alignment
Align and Mature IT Service > Increase Effectiveness
Strengthen IT Governance > Increase Accountability
Project Sponsor
Director, Corporate Services
Project Cost
10,000
Operating Cost
2,000
Timing
2017-2018
Prior & Prior Associates page 111
Municipality of Clarington Information Technology Strategic Plan
Appendix 6: Staff Survey Report
Prior & Prior Associates page 112