HomeMy WebLinkAbout0510.092~
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November 12~ 1992
The Honorable city Council
Palo Alto, California
Attention: Finance Committee
pti11ty Billing Syst ..
Members of the council:
Jleport in Briaf
2
This report requests Council approval of a Budqet Amendment Ordinance
for the funding of the utilities Billing System renovation and
augmentation and first year ~aintenance to support this upgrade.
Funding for this appropriation is recOmI:'lended to come from the six
utility Enterprise Fund Reser-veS based on each utility's respect_ive
billin9 revenue.
Background
An effective Utilities Billing System (UBS) is key to providing quality
utilities customer service since it serves the residents and b-o,Jsinesses
in the most dire-ct way. A billing system receives meter readings and
service charges, generates customer utility bills, and is necessary for
accurate utility revenue accounting. In addition, it serves as an
invaluable management decision support tool to foreca~t, plan, analyze
and serve the current and future utilities needs.
During the late 1980 1 s, staff became aware of advanced technologies
being used in utility billing systems at ott.er Utilities.. These new
systems were capable of seamlessly integrating other stand-'alone ye.t
mission-critical utility information systems such as Work Order Syste~~
COlDJl:odlty Purchases and Sales Information System, Geographical
Info~tion System, Meter Inventory System and Transformer Load
Management System. The advanced technology is referred to as an ~open
!.ystem", since it is open to integrating with r.umerous applications
running on various computer equipment. It uses industry standards and
is vendor independent. On the other hand, a "proprietary system" uses
uniqu~ software protocols and car. be integrated only with applications
of the same protocols ~ithout resorting to SUbstantial and expensive
soft~are programming.
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The present UBS is a pr-c-prietary system and h<!s not undergone a major
technoloqical overhaul in approximately 20 years~ Recognizing this
shortcominq. the Utilities Department staff initiat~d a UBS Project in
1990 to find ways to improve the effi~iency of the existing sys.tem.
Aft2r completlnq an end users needs survey. the 1990 VBS Project report
'Was produced which evaluated the strengths and 'Weaknesses of the current
UBS from. an end user's. perspective and recommended that a technical
needs analysis be undertaken next.
on March 11, 1991, Council approved a statf request tc hire a
contractual senior programmerJanal~st for six months to alIa .. the
Information Resources Department (IRD) supervisor of Development to lead
the technical needs analysis project. At this point, the uas project
committee was formed, compriSing members from the IRD, Utilities, Public
Works, Fin~nce and City Auditor Departments.
upon cocpletion of the technical analysis, on July 3, 1991, the etaff
issued its report to the Council and indicated that staff planned to
move {orYard and ~enovate the current UBS using a five phase program
over a three year period. The !i~e phases are:
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase "
Phase. 5
Issue an RFP for renovation and augnentation to the current
UBS (completed october 1991).
Return to Council for fundin9 approval
recommendation (the subject of this report,.
of purchase
Issue an RFP to purchase computer hardware. Purchase needed
software~ assemble the system, acquire training and bring
system on-line.
Build nev da'ta bases and transfer user accounts and data to
the new UBS, create all new on-line displays and reports,
convert core UBS programs and integrate the new in-house
developed UBS features with the core UBS programs.
Perform parallel testing of the ne ... · and current UBS for at
least six billing months, and discontinue use of current UBS
after the ne'a' UBS is successfully tested.
This report represents phase 2~ It provides the RFP response
evaluations and the staff's t~s purchase recommendation and request for
funding.
RlP Response ~&luatlon. and Fin~iDqs
On October 1, 1991, the Request for Proposal (RFP) was sent to twenty
four vendors, including vendors highly recommended by DEC, H-P, and IBM.
On December 3, 1991, eight vendors responded • .. .'ith their off-the-shelf
packaged UBS, .... hich 'Would also require major modifications to meet
City's requirements~ After the initial screening by comparing
application, function and technology criteria established by the staff,
tour vendors R ~ R Sy-tec, Creative computer Solutions, Data
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General/Software Solution Inc. ~nd EDS/lnfocel were selected to
demonstrate their UBS. These de~onstrations were held off-site~ The
prices for the packaged uas proposals av£raged $400,000 ~xclusive of any
customizing work.
Based on the staft's evaluation there are two Significant findings:
1. Maior modif;,cations are required with a package_~UBs
unlike many computer applications {e.g. payroll/human resources etc.),
utility Billing Systel!ls are quite different from one another~ There is
no industry standard tor a UBS that can be generically applied to one
utility without some degree of customization. The City's UBS has six
ut.ilities (Water/Gas/Electric/Se'tler/Refuse/Storm Drain), which is an
uncommon combination. Most packaged UBS are not designed to bill all
six utilities~ In addition, Palo Alto has an array of special programs
-demand electric, loans, user tax, late charge, multiple rates, drought
water management proqram, etc~, the.t the current UBS supports. The City
system has evolved over 20 years of computer programming to incorporate
all the above features and functions, some of which are unique to Palo
Alto.
consequently, none of the vendors.' D""BS ,,",QuId. he able to accomplish 'What
the current UBS does without more than 50 percent computer programming
.modifications. Some of the vendors may require even more than 70
percent customizing work. This fact increeses the city's vulnerability
with regiClrd to reliance on a firm which is er.tering some new areas.
Finally # major modification to a packaged UBS is very costly and
requires a l~ng testing and training period.
2. M?dern technologies ~be selected separately
Althouqh there were areas where the vendor excelled in comparison with
the City's system, it became apparent after the vendor demonstrations
that the City would not gain any overall advantage by contracting with
any of the four vendors. Where they excelled~ it vas largely due to the
modern technology utilized in their UBS rather than application
competency or innovation. For example, R & R S:l'-tec Inc. uses the third
party "Oracle N relational data base technology, which allows users to
perform real-time on-line updating. Another optimum feature was
utilization by Data General/Software Solution Inc. of a third party end
user query and. report -writer software tool called "IQ" on the Unix
platform (operating system). This tool satisfies the end user's need to
access simple information in real-time mode and also produce timely ad
hoc reports with no programmer involvement.
The aforemantioned benefits that the vendors have gair::ed by
incorporating modern technology into their UBS can also be incorporated
into the City's existing UBS, by select.ively procuring these features
and migrating tC' an "open system" environment. Integration of this
mode~n technology ~ill yield significant improvements in efficiency and
performance tor the Utility CUstomer Service Center and department end
users (Utilities, Finance, Public Works, Planning, IRD etc.), which
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translates to holdinq do .. n costs and improve=d service levels to the
customerGi.
The staff IS conclusion after :evaluating each system and taking into
account their respective strengths, ... eaknesse<s, and experience was to
reject all proposals. It became apparent that more staft res~urces
would be needed and higher vendor expens~ yould result by eiectlng to
customize a packaqed vendor software. Additionally~ the risks of cost
overrun# vendor financial instability and getting an unfinished LtBS are
greater with an unfamiliar packaged vas than with an in-house developed
UBS.
Ac::cordinqly, it is staff's recommendation that a UBS renovation and
auqm:entation project be undertaken to selectively incorporate modern
technology and to continue the application developm~nt in-house by
Information Resources Department staff.
piscu •• ioD
'I'he existing UBS uses a proprietary platform and consists of 200 plus
computer programs developea in-house during the past 20 years~ The
interaction between the computer programs is complex and often
unpredictable. This Tres is not fully integrated. Certain sub-systems,
such as the Electric Demand Billing and utility Loan proqrans, etc., are
not fully integrated with the main L"BS. Consequently, maO;J.al
intervention lnust occur on a routine basis to bill certair. accounts.
Miscellaneous service billing is similarly dependent on manual
intervention. on-line real-time posting of customer payments and
adjustJaents is not a: feature of the current UBS. Cash posting is
usually reflected on a three day delay, after an over the counter
payment is made in person. The current UBS is becominq incre~singly
difficult to modify to meet the challeng6 of providing timely reports
and inquiries for manaqement-decision and outside regulatory agencies'
reporting needs, due to the dated technology.
Another significant shortcoming relates to customers expecting the
Utilities staff to respond to reasonable questions on their billing.
The current TJBS lacks memory space to store. sufficient billing
infonation to fully respond to customer inquiries. For example, the
conservation ir.formation displayed at the bottom of the billing
ctatement ooes not exist on a UBS screen for staff to view~ The current
tTBS also has only 10 "slots" or fields for billing, payment and
adjustment history. If billing adjust.ments have been n'lade~ tne
adjustme.....,ts will occupy the history slots. This may result in
displaying only twc months of billing and payments history when the
customer expects to see t~elve months.
Althouqh the current system lacks the. capability of meeting future
demands, the existing core UBS progra~s (less than 30 computer programs)
are well-proven and can be ret3ined and augmented with ne'IJ
technologi~ally superior hard~are and software acquisitions and in-house
proqramming development~ The CityTs UBS currently runs on a Hewlett
Packard leOO computer \.l.sii1g a proprietary MFE plat.form. In order to
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reduce the number of future conv~rsion~ arld migrations from one computer
syseem to another, an industry standard Unix platform is recommended.
A Unix platform is an "open system", meaning that it is possible to
connect different manufacturers I computer and managernent information
$ystem.s to it~ This approach requires less tnodificatior. than the
vendor's UBS proposals and provides the full benefits of the industry
standard Unix platfo~ which vill lower future hardware, software and
maint"!nance. costs, 'While minimizing future UES major overhauls. To
achieve this goal, the conversio.M and mi9'ration to a Unix platform
should be accomplished alonq with the e~~anc~ents needed to improve the
functionality of the ~urrent UBS. In this manner, the new UBS will be
.able to take advantaqe of future technological and softW'are innovations,
since it is an "open systemN and not proprietary_
Three renovation and augmentation options were reviewed by staff.
Optlon #1 Hove directly to the unix platform with acquiSition of new
Unix hardware, software; ~rform co,e UBS programs
conversion. Develcp n-ew UBS features on Unix platfor1l\.
Esti~4ted total cost $700,000.
Option #2 Upgrade existing HP 3000 computer system to run both MPE and
Unix platforms and add Unix workstations to develop new UBS
features; convert core prog:r'ams in phases to run on Unix
platform. Estimated total cost $758,000 (This cost does not
include. the eventual costs of MPE cc,.nversion to a fully open
Unix based platform~ Such costs are estimated at an
additional $50,000).
Option #3 Purchase R & R Sy-tecls UES package (rated by UBS project
committee as the best outside vendors' UBS package) with new
unix hardware and software; contract R &-R Sy-tec to
customize their UBS package to fit City's needs; Estimated
total cost $877,~20
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Here are the cG.Clparisons of the th.ree options on fixed cost, annual
maintenance cost, pros and cons:
Table 14 Comparison of Capital Impz.'ovement prognlm Fixed Cost
rt ... !1 ~It Option #1 Option #2 option #3
1. Bu4vare $~80,OOO $215,000 $180,000
2. SoftW&..rB $130,000 $149,000 $130,000
3. Training $ 30,000 $ 35,000 $ 65,000
4. Consulting S • .rvic.ell $ 80,000 $ 80,000 $ 0
5. COnver.ion Aaaiatance $ 40,COO $ -10,000 $ 0
f. contractual senior $240,000 $240, DOD $ 0
proqr&mmer/Analyst
7. Ven4or 1 • tTBB lI.acltaqe $ 0 $ 0 $ _69.000
•• vendor l • CUstollil.atioD $ 0 $ 0 $433,120
'tOtal $700,000 $758,000 $8/'1,120
Table 2. Comparison of Annual Operating Budget Maintenance Cost
IDDyal ~inten~c. C211i: OptiOD #1 Option ,. Option #3
1. Hardware $ 12,000 $ 18,000 $ .12,000
z. software $ 20,000 $ 24,000 $ 20,000
3. Vendior's cus toali I: a4 uas $ 0 $ 0 $ 75,318
package
rotal $ 32,000 $ 42 f OOO $107,318
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Ta~le 3. Option I~ Pros ana Cons
option 11
Kov. directly
to t.lle 'O'niz
p16ttora with
aoqdsi ti 011 of
II • .., Unix
har4Yare alld
.ortvare;
Partor. core
llll8 proqraaa
cOllversion;
Develop II." UB8
teatur.. on
UDiz plattor-.
CMR:S10:92
o Lo.er hardware,
software and
maintenance costs
than proprietary
plat.fona
o Better hardwara#
software selection
with "open s}~stem"
o Vendor independent
on hardware,
software arid UBS
o A direct and
-clean~ conversion
instead of multiple
conversions
o Better
·interoperabilit~"
vith City's other
info~ation systems
o Less disruption to
the system users
and service to
customers
o Empower system
users to qenerate
their own reports
Yond queries
o Broadens the skills
~nd experience of
in-house staff
o Projected next
major techr.clogical
overhaul a~teI 10
years
o Reduce load on
existing HP 3000
computer
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o More staff needed
for conversion,
migration and
development
o More consulting
services r~quired
during start-up
o Additional cost
relatea to
conversion
assistance
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Table 4. option 12 Pros and Cons
Optioa 12
l'pqr&<!.
uhtini liP
3000 computer
ayat .. to run
botll lin ead
trDiz plat.tor.s;
a4d Oaiz
workstation &114
aottlnLrlJ to
develop new' UBB
featur •• ;
Convert core
OBS proqr.... ia
pU •• 1i to run
08 C'AilI:
platfo.51
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Pros
o Lower risk; u~rade
not change-over
o Allow for "crash
and burn"
development while
prote.cting
pr-oduc t i on
o Introduce neW'
technoloqy to
statt and users in
a lOY risk mode
8
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Cons
o Higher hardware,
software and
maintenance cost
o More consulting
service needed
during start-up
o Additional cost
relate;d to
conversion
assistance
o Future seconda17
conversion required
to make it a
complete "open
system"
o pr-ojected next
major technological
overhaul after 5
years
o Hardware/software
selectionD are
limited to few
vendors
o Other utilities'
existing comp~ter
programs may not be
easily adopted for
City use
o Part of the
interface software
bet ..... een MPE and
Unix is new and
does not have a
proven track ~ecord
o Less flexibility in
appli~ation design
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Table 5. option 13 Pros and Cons
Option #3
Purch4se R " R
sy-tee·.
eu.toai~1I4 UBB
packag. vi til
purchasoe of :ae.
'Oni.Ji: bard ware
&Del 80fttrare
CMR,SlO:92
Pros
o Less eevelopment
work for in-house
people
o Same benefits on
hardware, software
and maintenance
cost as option #1
due to the s.ame
computer system
configuration
Projected next
majo~ technological
oVQrhaul after 10
years; same as
option 11
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Cons
o Additional CBS
pa~kage purchase
·::ost
o Additional UBS
package annual
maintenance cost
o High risk due to
the dependency on R
, R Sy-tec
oR' R Sy-tec has
experience in
developjng
application
soft~are for only
one utility
o High risk due to
ovel' 70\
customization
o Addition~l training
needed for
development and
customer services
staff on new UBS
package
o Lenger testing
roequired;
especially on
c~stomization part
o Less experience
accumulation to the
in-house
development staff
o Less flexibility in
changing and
maintaining the UBS
packaqe
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,",fter revieving the costs and benefits of each option, staff recom:m.ended
option #l.
under this option, one: temporary contractual senior programmer/ii!!i'1alyst
is needed for the duration of the conversion and ~igration, which will
last appro~imately 36 ~onths. The contractual programmer will hel~ set
up the new data bases and develop new on-line programs. Staff wiil do
the core programs conversion. In addition, there will be the need to
contract for some specialized consultin9 ss:rvices, mainly to achieve
risk avoidance and technology transfer during the conversion process.
This is because staff does not have sufficient expe~tis~ and expeTience
in all areas of the modern techr.cloqies beir.g requested as part of the
conversion and migration.
cost SUplmary
Provided below is an estimated cost breakdown of the UBS renovation and
augmentation p~oject, follo~ed by a description of the project in terms
of its five elements.
Table 6. Option #1 Cost by Fiscal Year
l:i.IC'll Iea.:r 1"2-03 1993-94 1!t9 ..... 95 'l'otal
1. Hardware $ 80,000 $ 50,000 $ 50,000 $laO,OOO
2. Softwar-e and Training $ 90,000 S 65,000 $ 5,000 $160,000
3. consulting services $ 50,000 $ 30,000 $ Q $ 80,000
4. Conversion assistance $ 40, DOD $ C $ 0 $ 40,000
S. Contractual senior $ 60,000 $ &0,000 Swo,OOO $240,000
programmer/analyst
Total $320,000 $2~5,000 i $155 ,000 $700 ,000
The higher fixed cost (CIP cost) for the first year is neeced to acquire
the initial developmen~ system and to finance the first year conversion
assistanc~ cost. Furthermore, $16,000 is needed in Utilities operating
budget to pay for the maintenance cost for six months in FY 1992-93~ An
ongoing $32,000 annual operating budget maintenance cost will be needed
in successive years.
1. Hardware
Through the RFP process, the staff reco~ends the acquisition of a new
Unix computer, peripheral equipment and a 30 page per minute. laser
printer for the sum of approxiwately $180,000.
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The new computer system purchase 'Will satisfy the additional
performance, storage and printing needs of the new DBS. The existing
computer system cannot acco~~odate a unix platform without upgrades, and
the plans a~e to use this computer for other Cjty applications. A new
computer system will utilize the ind~stry standard Unix platform. In
the f~ture, pr~rams developed on the Unix platform can be ported to
most other computer vendors' unix platfor~s without major modification.
Therefore, the City's investment in UBS programming will be preserved.
It will also cut down on new hardware, software acquisi ticn and
maintenance cost in the future due to t,he hiqhly competitive nature in
the Unix platforc market. A unix platform provides the most potential
for interoperability with the City's other computer systems. Staff also
requests a high capacity laser printer to print reports from the VBS and
to anticipate the need of printing multiple-page bill state~ents. There
is a shortage of space ~n the current one page utilities bill st~tement,
and the need to display additional billing detai ls infortnation 'Will
require a two page bill statement.
2. Software
staff recommends acquisition of the follo~ing software programs tor the
sum of approximately $160,000:
o An Oracle relational data base manaqement aystem (RDBMS) and training
from oracle Corporation.
o ~!Q Query/Report Writer from IQ software Corporation.
o A laser printing form creation software tool.
There is an existing need for the UBS to speed up transaction
processing, to satisfy department end-users and man3gement requests for
information, as ~ell as to meet increasing reporting requirements of
outside regulatory agencies. Such requirements are increasingly more
difficult to satisfy by the dated techno log}." utilized in the existing
u~s. Utilizing a relational data base management system, such as Oracle,
and an end users' query/report ..... riter, such as IQ, ..... ill help reduce
backlog requ~sts. Oracle and IQ empo~er end users to do their own ad
hoc type query/reports. It also m3.Xes sense to standardize', on one
relational data base managenent system product~ since the City's
Geographic rnformation System (GIS) is already usinq an Oracle
relational data base management system. The form creation software
program will be used to create pre-printed ~tilities bill statements and
other types of pre-printed forms (-e. g. notices, letters with tables
etc.). With this software program, staff can dynamically change
forms/statements layout as needed.
J. con5ult,ing services
Staff recommends the retaining of unix and Oracle consulting services
for the sum of approximately $80,000, to cover a period of approximately
three months at a rate of $1,200 per day. Special consulting services
are necessary in order to ensure the smooth conversion and migration to
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the Unix plat.form and to design and implement the most opti::lWIl data
bases. City staff will gain Oracle anc Unix kno~ledge from working with
experts in these fields. It is the staff's intent to use this gained
experience to help maintain the city's e~isting CIS, which uses Ordcle
relational cata base manaqement 9yste~, and the City's optical imaging
system, vhich uses an Unix platform, as well, for ongoing uas ctlanges
and development.
4. &QnversioD Assistance
Statf recommends the purchase of software conversion tools and services
to convert core UBS programs to the new Unix platform for the sum of
approximately $40,000~ To save time and computer resources during thp.
conversion of data and the conversion of the core UBS programs to the
Unix platform., these conyersion tools and: services are needed to
facilitate the proce~s.
5. contractual Senior prQgra~mer/Analyst
Due to the heavy wo~kload of the IRD development 6taff and the need to
acquire outside e!fPertise, additional contract staffing is required.
Staff recommends that a senior programmer/analyst be hired on a
contractual basis for approximately 36 months, to perform the additional
tasks of setting up data bases and developing new on-line programs at a
cost of about $240,000.
The Information Resources Department's application development section
consists of one supervisor, two senior programmer/a_nal)'sts and one
proqramIller/analyst. For the next three yea_l's, the plan is to have the
supervisor serve as project manager fer the izr.plemei1tation of the ne""
UBS and to oversee other development activities such as payroll/human
resources, fire systems upgrades and other ongoing maintenance
activities. CUrrently, one senior programmer/analyst is neede~ to
implement and maintain the impendinq new and existing payroll/human
resources system. The other senior programmer/analyst will maintain the
existing L"BS, implement the UBS core proqrat'.s migration and implement
Council mandated programs and r-ate changes. The programmer/analyst .... ill
maintain the City's other co1tputer applications I e.g., building permits,
planni!l91 tire., public 'Works., and optical imaging etc. In order to
develop the ne':ol vas data bas02s &nd on-line systems, one temporary
contractual senior programmer/analy~t is requested.
ltatf!payer Ben_~ti,._ts
From a utilities ratepayer perspective, a nc·", VBS 'Will result in
improved customer service levels. The proposed ne'W system \riill have the
ability to store 24 months of billing in~ormation, as compared to o~ly
12 months in the current system, A customer ~ill be able to obtain a
duplicate billing statement for a prior month I which presently is not
available. Also, the ·conservation information~ displayed on a billing
statement will become available on a computer screen, to facilitate
discussion between a customer and the customer service representative.
A new ·cr-edit and collection" sub-system is proposed to improve the
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tracking and collecting of late bill payments. The proposed integration
with other utility information systems ~ill enhance billing accurac~ and
provide timely information and reports to customer inq",Jiries~ Some
examples are: integra~inq the Meter Inventory System to automate the
inter-departmental proce:ss of meter set, removal and exchange will
improve billing accuracy and reduce back billing customers; and
inteq~atin9 the Transformer Load Management Syste~ will reduce
transfonoer failures and power outages. Under the proposed system,
special billing requests could be accommodated such as summary billing
for companies with multiple locations. The option of paying by credit
card or direct bank withdrawal would be more feasible. Fewer billing
errors would result, since various manual t::.s:ks 'Would be automated. On
line. verification and editing of billing adjustments 'Wou!.d reduce
billinq error$~ The possible expansion to a two page billing statement
would p~ovide room to display loan balance information, where
appl!cable; billing a~justment detail; speCial charges and other
pertinent information for the benefit of the customer~ The 3bility to
implement new directives from council regardIng water rationing programs
or billing new charges will be greatly enhanced by the proposed UBS.
ElO»diDq
Since the scope and cost of this project was net finalized until aft~
the budget process, the current budget and elP do not include the UBS
project (explanation provided en }.>age X, 1992-94 t ..... o year budget
CMR:235:92). Now that the scope and approximate cost of the project is
known, staft proposes a budget amendment orcl,inam::e to the elP for 1992-
93 to fund the UBS project for the first year~ The total $700,000 cost
of this three year project is recommended to be funded in the 1992-95
capital improvement program, with the cost spread between all six
Utility Enterprise Fu.i.,ds, based on each IJtility's respective billing
revenue~ staff will include a funding request for FY 1993-95 during the
interim budget process. The project's expenditure of $320,000 in FY
1992-93 represents less than three-tenths of one percent (0~3\) of the
total u~ilities sales r~venue (estimated at $121 1 000,000). The proposed
elP 4escription is attached as exhibit A.
CMR: 510: 92 13
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Table 7a Cost allocation by utility
Water
Gas
Blectric:
S .... r
•• .filS.
Btora Drain
~
2S!1l!i! lUi! ion
Zotiaated FY
1"2-U Billi"'l'
Revenue
$ 13,400,000 , 18,.5000,000
$ 65,900,000
$ 8,300,,300
$ 13,400,000
$ 1,700,000
$1.21.,200, 00 Q
".ro.nt.age aBS Cost
of tot.al I'¥' A~locatioll tor
U92-9] FY HU-03
Billing
Reve.Due
iLl $ 315,000
1.5.3 $ ",000
5 ..... $174,000
S.S $ 22,CtlO
U.O $ 35,000
1..4 $ .. ,000
100.0 $320,000
Option 11, renovation and augmentation of the current UBS, represents
the best value for the amount o~ investment over the long-run. Staff
believes the best solution is to ad~ open system technology and features
'Which will best Jneet customer and staff expectations today and will
support the City's future direction tomorrow. The approach taken here
is thought to be reasonable, given the vendors' RFP submittal ... 'hich
would exceed $800,000 with the customization yorks~
A telephone survey done by staff during the Qrafting of this report, to
sample fellow American Public Power Association (APPA) members'
experience with their VBS, has revealed that most of the public
utilities are ~ither currently embarking on a project to improve their
UBS or plan to do so in the ne~t 12 months. The Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power, which has t~o utilities and 1.4 million customers,
is planning-to spend approximately $30 to $50 million in the next five
years to i~ple~ent a ne~ syste~i the City of colorado Springs, which
has four utilities and IBD,OOO customers, has ~lready spent $12 million
since ~986 (not yet completed) to develop a new sj'stemj the City of
Anat.eim, which has six utilities and 120,000 customers, plans to spend
$2 to $3 million in consulting and contractual services this year~ to
analy~e and find ways to improve their current system; and the city of
Lodi, which has four utilities and 19.000 customers, will spend
approximately $300,000 in consulting and contractual programming
services this year to improve their current UBS. Staff also noted that
Pacific Gag and Electric Co. stores information on about 7.5 million
utility customers on Oracle software (the proposed relational uata base
software for the City), which helps the utility manage billing, po~er
distribution. new construction and marketing programs,
CHR:510:92
.. ~
To summarize, upon completion of this project in the ~ext 36 months, the
new UBS viII improve the overall efficiency of the cur~ent Utilities
customer service and end-user information management. Integ~atian of
utility inrormation systams will erihar.ce billi~q accuracy, reduce manual
intervention by Utilities staff and provide timely information and
:espons$ to customer and outside r~gulatory agency inquiries. FinallYr
vhen the next major UBS overhaul is required (plan~ed after ten years) •
the open system approach ...... il1 prove to be. beneficial by provid.ing a
stable and progressive computer envircnment~
an;op'!l4atiop
staff recommends that Council:
L Create a Utilities Billing System Renovation
in the 1992-97 capital Improvement Program,
$700s000 over three years.
and Auqmentation project
'With funding totalling
2. Approve the attacbed Budget Amendment Ordina~ce to appropriate
$320,000 to the 1992-93 elP to begin the UBS Renovation and Augmentation
project and $~6,OOO for maintenance in the Data Services program of the
utilities Department's operating budget.
Respectfully s~ltted,
f~t~--
Roland Luo
Supervisor, Data processing
11~~~ (if
Director, Information Resources
~.-(£jZ''?
Richard Young
Director, Utilities
~~ i~~r!e~t~y Manager
Attachments; Budget Amendment Ordinance
capital Improvement project Definition
CHR:510:92 15
ORDINANCE NO.
ORDINANCE OF THE COtmCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
~~ENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1992-93 TO PROVIDE
AN ADDITIOtl.\L APPROPRIATION FOR FUNDING AND CREATION OF CAP ITAL
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT No.9357 "UTILITIES BILLING SYSTE."l:"
WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of Article
III of the Charter of the city of Palo Alto, t~e Council on June
22, 1992 did adept a budget for fiscal year 1992-93; and
WHEREAS, the current utilities Billing system ,VBS} is 20
years old and has significant technical and informational limita
tionSi and
WHEREAS, a UBS is critical to customer billing and inquiries,
providing information for sales reve.nue forecasting, rate analYF;is,
equipment replacement, and analytical studies; ana
WHEREAS, on March 11, 1991, council approved a request to
conduct a technical needs analysis anri the subsequent analysis
indicated a need to renovate the current UBSj and
WHEREAS, various alternatives for renovation ane augmentation
of the UBS have been examined. the City is; ready to purchase.
computer hardware, software and. training to bring a new VBS on
line;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does
ORDAIN as follo~s:
SECTION 1. Capital Improvement Project No. 9357, ~utilities
Billing system~" is hereby created. The sum of Three Hundred
Twenty Thousand Dollar~ ($320,000) is hereby appropriated to
Capital Improvement project No. 9357 "Utilities Billirlg Systam".
SECTION 2. The SU!ii of $16,000 is herel.,y appropriated to
Contract Se~vices in the Data Services program of the utilities
Department to pay for software mair.tenance for the rest of this
fiscal year. The follo ..... ing system Improvement Reserves (SIR) 'Will
be reduced to cumulate to the amount appropriated:
Electric SIR
Water SIR
Gas SIR
Waste\ol'a~er SIR
Refuse SIR
Storr,l Drain SIR
Total
$182,700
37,BOO
51,450
2J,lCD
36,750
4.200
$336,000
SEC';r'IQ!L..2.:.. This transaction will reduce the following system
Improvement Reserves as 01 June 30, 1992:
~----.-~
,
•
o
Electric SIR from $9,652,OOa to $9,469,300
Water SIR from $199,127 to $161,327
Gag SlR from $4,335,479 to $4,284,029
Wastewater SIR from $1,459;207 to $1,436,107
Refuse SIR from $4,046,291 to $4,009 .. 541
storm Drain SIR from $3 1 552,832 to $3,548,632
SECTION 4. The COi.lncil of the City of Palo Alto hereby finds
that the enactment of this ordinance is not a project under the
California Environmental Quality Act and, therefore~ no environmen
tal impact assess~ent is necessary.
SECTION 5.
Municipal Code,
adoption.
As provided 5.n Section 2.04.:j75 of the Palo Alto
this ordinance shall become effective upon
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST: APPROVED:
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
sr.-Asst. city Attoi"ney
APPROVED:
city Manager
oirector of Finance
Director of Utilit~i~e~so----
92-:;.5
-~-"--'~'--'
•
,"
MULTl-ENTERPRISE FL~DS
P'TrLITIE~L~.llLIl!G SYSTEM PROJE~'!' __ urew)
noject Descr~qJ;U The uti litie.s Department relies heavi lyon a
computerized billing system for the timely and accurate billing of
customer ~ccounts~ A utilities Billing System {VBS) is also an
importa!lt management information system for responding to customer
inquiries as well as sales revenue forecastir.g I rate analysis,
transformer replacc1:lent, meter inventory, and numerous ana.lytical
studies. This project provides for the renovation 3.nd augmentation ot
the current UBS to include the purchase at nelol', more po ..... erful haro\ofare,
the. introduction of a UNrx ope.rating' sy~tem, and the conversion to
"ORACLE ft softwara T~lational data base technology.
proiect JUBt:t.;C'ieation: The curre:nt UBS consists of ap}!roximately 200
software programs which have evolved over a period of time. This system
was created 20 years ago during an era of technology .... hich by today's
st~ndards is obsolete. There ~re many shortcomings of the current DBS
which result in inefficiencies and dissatisfaction by our customers and
st,~ff. This project is cost justified because it .. ill increase customer
satisfaction, staff efficiency, and because the current UES has reached
its' limitations.
Impact an~ Support An~Si9:
Environml!!!<ntal-categoricalljt exempt.
Operating-Information Resources Department will require
outside consulting which is included in the
financial analysis below
Telecommunications-
Comprehensive Plan; Consistent "ith plan
Financial Analysis:
Source of Funding: Enterprise Fund reserves
1992-93 $320,000
1993-94 $225,000
1994-95 $155,000
1995-90 0
1996-97 0
~dinq by Source =-
Waste-storm
Electric Water Ga. vater Refuse Drain Total
1992-93 $174,000 $36,000 $49,OO{) $22,000 $35,000 $4,000 $320,000
1993-94 122,000 25,000 35,000 15,000 25,000 3,000 225,000
199~-95 84,000 17,000 24,000 11,0(10 17,ono 2,000 155,000
'1'0 ta ls $380,000 $72,000 $108,000 $48,000 $77,000 $9,000 $700,000
"