IT Governance Business Case
Modernizing the Fleet Information Management System
Fleet Management
Background
The City of Durham's Fleet Management Department is responsible for the cradle-to-grave management and services for the fleet that supports the departments across the enterprise. The services include acquisition and disposal, asset management, consulting, equipment specification development, fleet informatics, fuel management, parts and inventory compliance, policy development, preventative maintenance and equipment repair, and warranty management.
The Fleet Management Information System is mission critical and the heart of Fleet Management operations. This system tracks everything managed by the Fleet Management Department relative to its management and services of the City's fleet. Fleet Management manages and services assets worth up to $120,000,000, which consists of more than 1900 assets, including 56 electric vehicles (EVs), 108 hybrid vehicles, and 7 plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Current Pain Points
• The current FMIS system is a client-server platform, so all updates and upgrades must be completed on each computer and server.
• The current system is only accessible via the computer the software is installed on. The software isn't currently capable of being accessed via mobile device technology. Mechanics currently share computers for access and cannot move computers with them to vehicles and have no access to the system in the event of a road call.
• Vehicle technology is evolving, and there is an impending need to have GPS, telematics, and EV software which is not currently a capability of the current software.
• City of Durham stakeholders outside of Fleet Management do not have easy access to reports and data concerning their specific fleet assets.
• Current reporting and analytics aren't customizable without having to pay.
• There are currently only 36 licenses. Any additional access requires purchase of additional licensing.
•FASTER will cease supporting the currently used software in Q3 2025.
Current Business Problem
Fleet Management began using FASTER WIN software in 2004 as their FMIS. This system has served the Fleet Management Department very well, however, with evolving landscape of fleet management industry standards and the evolving fleet belonging to the City of Durham, Fleet Management is need of a more robust solution that takes into consideration evolving technology, industry best practices, and provided functionality that is flexible and adaptable to the workforce both leveraging the fleet as well as managing and servicing the City of Durham fleet.
The current FASTER WIN software has several limitations that no longer facilitate the needs of Fleet Management.
Future State Benefits
• Web based platform would streamline and make more efficient system administration, upgrades, updates, and security patches
• Improved software security
• Cloud system is mobile device ready (mobile & tablet)
• Integration capability with GPS, EV, and telematics improving data quality and reliability
• City of Durham departments will have access to the FMIS to receive immediate, current reports and data concerning their fleet assets
• Customizable reports and dashboards
• Unlimited users
• Vendor supported software
• FASTER Web can integrate with NextGen ERP system
Desired Business Value
City of Durham's Strategic Plan Goal: Sustainable & Natural Built Environment
Fleet Management Objective: Maintain an acceptable level of vehicle/equipment availability through a comprehensive Preventative Maintenance program and the use of data analytics (descriptive and predictive)
Initiative 1: Initiate relationship building and information sharing channels with other departments
Initiative 2: Research latest technology and determine best upgrade to present to leadership
Analysis and Recommended Solution
Analysis of Proposed Solution: FASTER Web
• We are currently using the FASTER Win software as our enterprise Fleet Management Information System, so the vendor relationship would not change
• FASTER Web provides comprehensive fleet asset management from initial acquisition planning through disposal
• FASTER Web has comprehensive reporting, business intelligence, artificial intelligence and fleet analytics for fast onscreen viewing of data
• Allows for exporting of any search result in a variety of formats (Excel, Word, CSV, and of any report to XML, CSV, PDF, Excel or Word)
• Reports are customizable via SQL Reporting Services or Crystal Reports
• Asset management for parts inventory and processing
• Customer Service Portal in which City Departments will have login capability
• Capable of integration with GPS, EV systems, and Telematics systems and NextGen ERP
• Upgrading to this web-based version of FASTER will alleviate all pain points associated with this request
• FASTER is the de-facto standard for cities to manage their fleet and are the largest provider to fleet government municipalities
• Other NC-Based Customers of FASTER Web: City of Charlotte, City of Raleigh, City of High Point, Mecklenburg County, Buncombe County, NC State, UNC Charlotte, Durham Area Transit Authority
Analysis of Alternative Solutions
Oracle Fusion Cloud Fleet Management
• InfoTech Research Group revealed that most organizations would go through a 3rd party vendor instead of utilizing Oracle Fusion Cloud Fleet Management
• Oracle Fusion Cloud Fleet Management is shipment and asset centric system, more aligned with logistics and transportation management, not meeting the fleet management needs of the City of Durham which is more life-cycle management, maintenance and service focused.
No additional viable alternative solutions were identified during market analysis
Recommended Solution: Upgrade the FMIS to FASTER Web
Description
FASTER Web is a life-cycle fleet asset management system with robust reporting, intelligence, and fleet analytics capabilities, inventory processing, and customer portal.
Pros
• Web-based platform streamlining system administration, upgrades, updates, and patches
• Improved security
• Mobile device accessibility
• EV, GPS, and telematics integration capability
• Customer portal improving collaboration and communication interdepartmentally
• Customizable reports and dashboard enhancing analytics and decision making
• Unlimited users
• Up-to-date, industry standard, vendor supported software
Cons
• High opportunity cost from training employees on upgraded system & implementation activities
Change Management & Training
• 4-6 months implementation including creating instance of FASTER Web and migration from current state use (131 days)
• Training takes 3-4 business days
• No outage time during implementation as Fleet Management will continue using on-prem version until migration, training, and Go-Live is completed
• The vendor will be conducting most of the effort on this project with the upgrade and migration
Security Review
City of Durham vCISO assessed FASTER Web and determined that cloud hosting of the Fleet Management Information System is low risk. Recommends assessing annual security audit reports from FASTER
vCISO Security Assessment
Architecture Review
The recommended solution meets the architectural standards for the City of Durham.
Recommended Solution - Project Financial Estimate
FASTER
COST ESTIMATES FUNDING Description Implementation Costs (Hours) Post Implementation Run Costs (Hours)/ KTLO Departmental Funding Amount: $ 37,372.06 Labor $ (Hours) Internal TS Department: 192 hours 22 Hours Funding Requested (Y/N): Y Business Analysis 15 Hours 0 hours Internal Labor New FTE – Year 1 Costs $0.00 Enterprise Architecture Review 5 hours 0 hours Project One Time Costs (External) $239,682.76 IT Support & Cyber Security Analysis 2 hours 2 hours Total Project Funding Required for Year 1 w/ applied discounts $239,682.76 TS Implementation Support 100 hours 0 hours Less reallocated Support & Maintenance ($37,372.06) PMO Implementation 40 hours 0 hours Data Center Services 20 hours 0hours Total Project Funding Requested for Year 1 w/ applied Discounts $202,310.70 Fleet Management Department 592 hours 100 hours Recurring Costs $42,377.68 Professional Services: Data Conversion $18,900.00 $0.00 Less reallocated Support & Maintenance costs ($37,372.06) Professional Services: Report Writing $13,650.00 $0.00 $5,005.62 Professional Services: Training $17,907.75 $0.00 Total Professional Services: $50,457.75 0.00 Non-Labor $ Solution Licensing: $146,847.33 $0.00 Maintenance & Support $42,377.68 $42,377.68 Total: $189,225.01 $42,377.68 * Recurring costs for Support & Maintenance experience annual increase of no more than 6%
Web FMIS Upgrade
Risk Identification
Description of Risk Risk Impact (High/Medium/Low) Mitigated (Y/N) Contingency(Y/N) Vendor performance Low N N Cyber Security Low N N Project Team Turnover Low N N Poor Execution Low N N
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
• N/A
Contingency Risk (Costs)
• N/A
Our ask
We are asking the IT Governance Steering Committee to approve the business case to modernize the Fleet Management Information System by upgrading the system to the cloud version FASTER Web.