IT Governance Business Case
Digital Message Boards
Public Affairs
Background on the Digital Message Board – Previous Request
• On March 30, 2017, IT Governance was presented with the Internal City of Durham Television Digital TV Messaging System Business Case
• The project plan was to provide employees in departments with limited access to emails more ways to get information with the digital message boards
• The grand total of recommended screens was 56 with no exact locations specified
• Today, we will present a revamped version of this case under the name “Digital Message Board from Public Affairs”
• Based on the feedback that we got from the initial message board business case that was not approved, we are making an innovative return with a solution more aligned with modern technology
Then vs. Now
2017
• Number of Digital Displays - 56
• Number of Licenses - 56
• Cost of Hardware - $2780/Unit
• Cost of Software - $54,120/Year
• Total Cost Year 1 - $239,644
2020
• Number of Digital Displays - 15
• Number of Licenses - 25
• Cost of Hardware - $1922/Unit
• Cost of Software - $6,700/Year
• Total Cost Year 1 - $52,880
Current State
• Each time Public Affairs sends out an issue of the City Week Newsletter, that information will potentially not reach up to two-thirds of our employee base within a timely manner based on Public Affairs statistics
• Ten departments (Audit, Emergency Communications, Fleet, General Services, HR, Parks & Recreation, Police, PWOC, Solid Waste, and Technology Solutions) already have digital message boards
• Public Affairs interviewed these departments and feels confident that this technology would be an effective tool to reach the portion of our audience that we are not currently reaching with email communication alone
Current Pain Points
According to recent metrics in Mailchimp (which Public Affairs uses to send our employee enewsletter, City Week):
• 25% of our employees are “often” engaged with the City Week newsletter
• 11% of our employees are “sometimes” engaged with the City Week newsletter
• 64% of our employees are “rarely” engaged with the City Week newsletter
Around 500 of our employees do not have City-issued devices, despite being issued City email addresses.
This data confirms that while we are largely successful at reaching our desk employees, there is a significant digital divide that needs to be addressed when it comes to internal communication.
Value of Digital Message Boards
With City Week currently serving as the primary source for internal communication, Public Affairs reaches less than half of our employees with important news and information from the City on a consistent basis due to the digital divide.
The new digital message boards would allow Public Affairs to automatically push important news and information to all departments without having to solely rely on emails and/or content liaisons. The digital message board will be placed in strategic location throughout the City to reach employees who are not as engaged with emails.
Real example
ScreenCloud
Desired Business Value
City of Durham's Strategic Plan Goal: Innovative and High-Performing Organization
• We want to allow for any important information to be quickly and easily shared with other departments across the City, enabling more employees to be informed and engaged with the City.
• A digital message board solution would allow Public Affairs to automatically push important news and information to all departments without having to rely solely on department liaisons. However, departments can have autonomy in developing and posting content for their own department(s) if desired.
Future State
• We would like to install these message boards in key locations across the City’s Departments
• All will be connected to one platform that will be primarily managed by Public Affairs
• Measuring how successful Phase 1 is will determine if or how much we should expand during Phase 2
• Our goal is to eventually reach all the departments in the City through expanding our range in phases
Future State Benefits
Benefits of an effective Digital Message Board solution would be:
• Increased ability to provide internal communication to those employees who do not have readily available email access
• Consistency in communication / increased reliability of information
• The ability to communicate an emergency through the digital board system
• Full API capability (i.e. integration with Everbridge (PAPA) and Informacast)
Digital Boards Roadmap
Phase 1
• Public Affairs will identify key locations by working with departments and gathering feedback on the most ideal areas that will bring the most value
Phase 2
• If proven successful, Public Affairs will submit an IT Solution
Request to scale the digital message boards to more locations throughout the City
• We will use the data gathered from Phase 1 to determine where and how much to expand in the next phase
Recommended Solution and Analysis
Recommended
Solution: ScreenCloud with required IT Infrastructure
Description
• Digital signage software that allows for customized messages and content to be displayed via digital screen (i.e. TVs, monitors, etc.)
Pros
• Allows for information to be quickly sent and displayed on various screens and to be managed by each department's admin accounts alongside Public Affairs
Cons
• The effectiveness cannot be measured until after deployment
Digital Message Board: Project Financial Estimate
COST ESTIMATES
FUNDING
*Total Project Funding Requested (External), includes External Year 1 Run Costs and Non-Labor
Description Year 1 Costs (Hours) Annual Run Costs (Hours)/ KTLO Departmental Funding Amount: $0 Labor $ (Hours) Internal TS: 157 hours 7 hours Funding Requested (Y/N): Y Business Analysis 10 hours 0 hours TS Services 7 hours 7 hours Project One Time Costs $52,880 TS PMO 140 hours 0 hours Project Run Cost (External) $7,500 Internal Department: Public Affairs and all other departments 171 hours 96 hours *Total Project Funding Requested for Year 1 $52,880 External: $10,500 $0 *Recurring Costs $7,500 Professional Services (TV Mounting) $7,500 $0 Professional Services (Cabling) $3,000 $0 Non-Labor $ Hardware (TVs, APs, Cabling, TV Mounts, and electrical): $29,180 $800 Software: ScreenCloud $6,700 $6,700
Risk Identification
Description of Risk Risk Impact Mitigated (Y/N) Contingency(Y/N) Poor execution High Yes Yes Project team turnover High No No Vendor performance Low Yes Yes Lack of departmental Human Resources with the skillset to create content High No No Identifying appropriate location and audience High Yes Yes Facility IT infrastructure High Yes Yes Cyber Security Low No No
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
• Alpha and beta testing for mitigation.
Contingency Risk (Costs)
• Included in the hardware cost
Our Ask
We are asking to approve the Digital Message Boards Business Case for submission to the City Manager for approval and funding through the BMS department.