Memorandum

CITY OF DALLAS
DATE

December 9, 2011 Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Support Services Contract with Advantaged Solutions for SAP Wednesday, December 1 4, 201 1 there will be an agenda item for your consideration to authorize Supplemental Agreement No. 5 to the Federal General Services Administration (GSA) contract with Advantaged Solutions (HCL-Axon, Inc. as agent) to extend the support services for the SAP billing and collections system for an additional twenty months.
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The Citys history with SAP began in 2006 when the City selected and implemented SAP with the purpose of replacing a 20+ year old Water Utility billing and collection system operating on the Citys mainframe computer. The SAP system today manages fees and charges annually of approximately $675M for eleven City departments. In addition, over 500 City users work in the SAP system everyday, performing billing, collections, and account maintenance activities for City customers. SAP is also used by 31 1/Water Customer Service agents to create and dispatch over 800 customer requests daily. The technical components of SAP encompass a wide spectrum of tasks, ranging from data base administration, system security, system monitoring, user authorization, system backup, system maintenance, application support, and SAP audit support. In 2008 CIS and DWU entered into a two year service contract with a company named HCL-Axon, Inc. to provide technical support of the SAP system. The strategy was to facilitate knowledge transfer to the Citys internal IT support staff during the term of the contract to allow CIS to become self-sufficient in the support of the SAP billing system. The contract was extended in 201 0 to allow for continued support and cross training. However, it has become increasingly apparent that recruiting and retaining the right IT resources and skill sets for SAP support has proven very difficult for the City. The main drivers in CIS not being able to create an internal SAP support organization are increased competition for people with SAP skills and lack of salary competitiveness. As a result, CIS and DWU are exploring alternative strategies to support the SAP system that may be more sustainable and cost efficient. Therefore, CIS is recommending that the current contract be extended for a period of no more than 20 months, to allow for uninterrupted SAP system support while a new plan of action is implemented. Under this new plan, CIS will advertise a request for proposal by the first quarter of calendar year 201 2 for a support services partner for the Citys SAP system. This outsourced arrangement will include day to day technical support, system maintenance and application support for enhancements and new projects. This arrangement should enhance accountability and provide for increased efficiencies for IT and the business units. We anticipate a target date of June to bring an agenda item before Council for a new managed service provider to support the SAP system. Authorizing this Supplemental Agreement will retain HCL-Axon, Inc. resources and allow sufficient time for the above actions to be completed. This approval will ensure business continuity, consistent service delivery for SAP, the completion of some critical projects, and transitional time for the implementation of a managed services support contract.

Dallas, Together We Do It Betters

December 9, 2011 SAP Support Services Contract Page 2 of 2

Should you have questions or need additional information please contact me or William Finch at 214-670-1890.

Jordan, RE., Jill Assistant City Manager

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Mary K. Suhm, City Manager A. C. Gonzalez, First Assistant City Manager Ryan S. Evans, Assistant City Manager Forest Turner, Assistant City Manager Jeanne Chipperfield, Chief Financial Officer Joey Zapata, Interim Assistant City Manager Rosa Rios, Acting City Secretary Thom as P. Perkins, Jr., City Attorney Craig D. Kinton, City Auditor Judge C. Victor Lander William Finch, Interim Chief Information Officer Jo (Jody) M. Puckett, P.E., Director, Water Utilities Edward Scott, Director, City Controllers Office Helena Stevens-Thompson, Assistant to the City Manager Frank Librio, Public Information Office

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Dallas, Together We Do It Better