HomeMy WebLinkAbout5Q Laserfiche Upgrade Report
Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: MARCH 19, 2018
AGENDA #: 5Q
PREPARED BY: LORI OLSON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
PRESENTED BY: LORI OLSON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
AGENDA ITEM: CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
PURCHASE OF LASERFICHE SOFTWARE TO UPDATE THE CITY
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
DISCUSSION: Introduction
The purpose of this item is to seek approval to update the city’s records
and document management system, Laserfiche. The system assists the
city in meeting state document retention requirements and provides an
online portal, the Document Center, for public access to commonly
requested documents.
The upgrade would simplify document searches, increase security of the
document archive, improve efficiency through digital workflows, and help
ensure compliance with data retention requirements into the future.
History
For fifteen years, the city has utilized Laserfiche software and database
management to store digital documents and serve as the official document
archive. Today, with thousands of files in the system, the lack of document
keywords, tags, and other metadata means that file searches can be very
time-consuming since users (both city staff and council as well as our
citizens) are often limited to searching manually through the folders or the
text content of the files themselves. Often, such searches falsely yield no
documents or produce so many related and unrelated documents that the
user is overwhelmed. The lack of metadata in the current archive makes it
difficult to expand or limit searches efficiently.
Current Circumstances
The city utilizes an outdated software package and license agreement with
Laserfiche that no longer meets minimum standards. The current system
requires significant cost to add modules or additional users and is no
longer supported by the company platform, which means the city cannot
take advantage of system updates and improvements. The city has
received complaints that navigating the city’s Document Center is difficult
and time-consuming.
One of the most significant aspects of the upgrade allows the city to take
advantage of the Workflow module within Laserfiche, which will yield
numerous efficiencies, including:
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o Ensuring that metadata is entered correctly and completely on all
files entered into the archive
o Organizing files in the correct locations and with the proper naming
convention
o Automating document retention schedules, where applicable, to
comply with state and federal regulations
o Allowing the creation and processing of digital forms and
applications for internal and external processes (e.g. employee
benefit forms, resident or business applications for city services)
An example of Workflow is the city council agenda packet preparation.
Currently, staff develops agenda documents and saves the documents to
the city’s intranet site for review, routing and collaboration. Once complete,
agenda packet documents are uploaded to the Drop Box for city council
review. Final documents are then manually uploaded to the city’s
Document Center on the city website. Under the new Workflow, all these
steps will be contained solely with Laserfiche, greatly improving efficiency.
An additional benefit is the automatic archive function for documents that
have met their Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA)
retention timelines. This auto-archive will ensure files are regularly purged
of outdated information and save valuable storage.
Finally, the upgrade will create a new filing system using metadata which
will organize city documents automatically making user searches much
easier. The current document archive is based on a standard file system
with limited metadata use to allow for keyword searches. There currently
are no systems in place to ensure prompt and accurate metadata entry as
files are uploaded.
ISSUES: The city seeks to engage with OPG3, the local vendor for Laserfiche to
purchase the upgrade and provide training and consolation services for the
implementation of the program. OPG3 is the current city vendor for
Laserfiche, and they are a subcontractor under the Now Micro Contract for
the State on MN vendor purchasing lists. OPG3 assisted the city in the
establishment of the original archive and has assisted in the few minor
upgrades the city has made of the years. OPG3 is familiar with our needs
as they work with many cities in the Metro area and is part of the state
cooperative contract for document management vendors.
Part of this agreement includes 40 hours of consulting services by OPG3
technicians. These Laserfiche experts will guide the cleanup of our existing
archives, add metadata wherever possible to improve document searches,
and train staff on the new system. OPG3 will work with departments to
organize their specific archives and to generate workflows that will ensure
accurate metadata is included in all future document uploads. They will
also assist in automating tasks to generate metadata for existing archive
documents and creating workflows for document approval processes.
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Here are some examples of the frequency of Laserfiche use by the staff.
Biweekly staff members from most city departments prepare agenda
reports for the city council and planning commission as well as monthly
EDA Meetings. This software will help staff research city archives more
quickly and comprehensively to respond to daily business questions from
the city council and the general public. Perhaps most important, the
software will help our citizens access the vast trove of information which
the city maintains. The software will be maintained by existing staff with the
periodic assistance of OPG3.
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
The Laserfiche update was initially proposed as part of the FY2018 budget
process. The city council was supportive of the upgrade and directed staff
to remove the cost of the upgrade from the general tax levy and use one-
time general fund reserve carry-over funds to pay for the upgrade, which is
the proposal here.
Attached for city council information is the Agreement for Professional and
Contract Services including Exhibit A which is the detailed cost quote. The
cost of the software including 40 hours of technical support is $36,556.05.
Additional hours may be purchased only if necessary.
Like most software, there are annual licensing costs. The annual cost for
the current package is $6,022.00, which will increase to $9,878.00 in 2019
as a result of the upgrade. The increase will be reflected in the IT
Department 2019 annual budget.
ALTERNATIVES: 1. Motion and second to approve a resolution to purchase the upgrade
of Laserfiche software and authorize the mayor and city manager to
execute the agreement for professional and contract services with
OPG3.
2. Motion and second to remove this item from the Consent Agenda
for additional discussion.
RECOMMENDED
MOTION:
Motion and second for approval of alternative #1
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372
RESOLUTION 18-___
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PURCHASE OF LASERFICHE SOFTWARE TO
UPDATE THE CITY DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND AUTHORIZING THE
MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL
AND CONTRACT SERVICES
Motion By: Second By:
WHEREAS, The City of Prior Lake is mandated by the Minnesota Government Data Practices
Act to provide access to city documents to the general public; and
WHEREAS,
The City currently uses an outdated software package and licensing agreement for
document management that no longer meets minimum standards; and
WHEREAS,
The updated LaserFiche software provides significant enhancements, process
workflows, and metadata functionality; and
WHEREAS,
The upgrade would simplify document searches, improve efficiency through digital
workflows, and help ensure compliance with data retention requirements into the
future.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PRIOR LAKE,
MINNESOTA as follows:
1. The recitals set forth above are incorporated herein.
2. The Mayor and City Manager are authorized to execute the City’s Professional and Contract
Services Standardized Agreement for Professional Services with OPG3 in the amount of
$36,556.05.
3. Expenditures for these services will be drawn from General Fund Reserves and coded to
Software (account 101.41920-55570) and Professional Services (account 101.41320-
53100.80).
4. The 2018 General Fund budget will be amended to reflect the amount of the software and
professional services agreement for the Laserfiche upgrade.
Passed and adopted by the Prior Lake City Council this 19th day of March 2018
VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Braid Burkart
Aye ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
______________________________
Frank Boyles, City Manager