Agenda - Council - 09/13/1983 - Special

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Introduction The firm of Ounnar Isberg and Associates has recently developed a comprehensive package of management and administrative assistance services for local communities. One of the services we are offering is assistance to communities with the process of automation and computerization of records and procedures. We recognize that the process of automation is a complex and dilfficult task. We have also recognized that few current consultants have the background and experience in city management and administrative procedures, public services and local government planning and zoning to adequately review available software and hardware requirements to meet these needs. We recognize that there are more than 200 major manufacturers of micro and mini computers commonly used on the market today. Each of these systems have their own capabilities and limitations in hardware and in the availability of suitable software. Gunnar Isberg and Associates have developed a process which will insure that your needs are documented and examined and provide you with the information you need to select the best computer system to meet your application needs and your financial limitations. We keep current on the constantly changing technology that is available in computer system hardware and software. We concentrate on thoroughly documenting your needs and identifying the key questions you need to ask vendors to identify a computer system that best meets your needs and the software that will provide the output you desire. We also develop specifications for bid documents to assure consistent proposals and we assist you in evaluating submitted bids. The availability of dependable and reliable hardware, in the opinion of this consultant, does not appear to be the technological problem that confronts communities today. Hardware capable of processing data and information appears to ~e available, in our experience, from a number of major vendors. In our experience, the primary problem appears to he the identification and evaluation and discovery of suitable software to meet the varied needs of local communities. The firm of Gunnar Isberg and Associates will first concentrate on surfacing new and available software that will meet your needs and secondly identify suitable and effective hardware. The remainder of this proposal will identify the work program, project objectives, study schedule, proposed budget, and finally, the qualifications and experience of the firm and the principle staff involved in this project. I encourage the staff reviewing these proposals to contact us if you require any additional information. Work Pro~ram and Pro~ect .Objectives The approach used by Gunnar Isberg & Associates to provide automation assistance to communities is described in Table 1. Table I also includes the corresponding objectives for each task of our approach. Our approach typically begins with a feasibility study and needs assessment. However, since the City of Ramsey has completed this task, we do not intend to duplicate the city's effort. Our budget does not include any charges for this - 1 -