IT Governance Business Case
Compliance - Inspections, Planning, and Permitting System (LDO) Replacement
City/County Inspections
City/County Planning
Public Works
Background
Land Development Office (LDO), the current system for issuing and tracking permits and development related applications and approvals, has been in use for over 13 years. It has served as the main system used by Building Inspections, Planning, Public Works, and other departments to manage the historic growth that has taken place in Durham and Durham County for almost two decades. Recently support has degraded significantly.
Current Business Problem
• The current system is based on 20-year-old technology, making upgrades and changes increasingly difficult.
• Avenu Insights, the company who currently owns the software, has recently reduced the staff responsible for the product. It appears that they may be moving in a different direction.
• The current business needs are not being met without expensive change requests.
• The LDO security compliance is not meeting the industry standard
Current Pain Points
• The cost and time lag in having custom changes made continues to increase.
• There is a need for a system that is more agile and customizable by City staff.
• LDO does not easily integrate with other systems, especially GIS, from which a large amount of the data is needed.
• The current vendor has become ineffective at maintaining and customizing the software.
• The lack of modern functionality is impacting the business units' performance.
• Does not meet industry standard security requirements.
Desired Business Value
City of Durham’s Strategic Plan Goal: Innovative & High Performing Organization
Initiative: Develop and implement a continuous improvement model that includes evaluation and process improvement to analyze and improve City services
• Put in place a new permitting and application system, which increases efficiencies and effectiveness across the enterprise.
• Improve overall compliance value at the City by managing permits and applications more effectively, accurately, and securely.
• Increase efficiency and responsiveness to requests and provide better customer satisfaction.
Future State Benefits
• Customer portal with an end-to-end solution that features a specialized website for accepting, managing, and responding to all permit types and development application requests
• An all-in-one platform with robust features like custom workflows and reminders
• Seamless integration capabilities to integrate with GIS, Munis, Paymentus, and other existing applications that have similar capabilities
• Robust reporting & analytic capabilities
• Ability to collaborate cross-departmentally to streamline the approval process
Recommended Solution and Analysis
Recommended Solution: Issue an RFP to select a solution
Description
Issue an RFP to select an inspection, planning, and permitting system future benefit and value aforementioned.
Pros
• Provides the future benefits as stated on slide six.
Cons
• N/A
Recommended Solution Issue an RFP: 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: *LDO Revenue Fee Source of Funding* Labor $ (Hours) Internal TS: 1700 hours 260 hours Funding Requested (Y/N): Y Business Analysis 800 hours 0 hours TS Services 400 hours 260 hours Project One Time Costs $870,000 TS PMO 500 hours 0 hours Project Run Cost (External) $450,000 Internal Department: City/County Inspections, Planning, & Public Works 4000 hours 500 hours *Total Project Funding Requested for Year 1 $1,320,000 External: $0 $0 *Recurring Costs $450,000 Professional Services (mitigation services) $70,000 $0 Non-Labor $ Hardware: $0 $0 Software: $800,000 $450,000 Other: $0 $0
Risk Identification
Description of Risk Risk Impact Mitigated (Y/N) Contingency(Y/N) Poor execution Medium No Yes Project team turnover Medium Yes No Vendor performance Low Yes No Cyber Security Medium Yes No
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
• For Poor Execution – $70,000 for additional services
Contingency Risk (Costs)
• No cost
Our Ask
We are asking to approve the compliance business case for the Inspections, Planning, and Permitting System
(LDO) Replacement for submission to the City Manager for approval and funding through the BMS department.
