Shared Services Update
In March, DuPage County hosted a shared services summit to begin conversations about services that could be consolidated or shared to lower the cost of government. Based on feedback from the summit, we decided to focus on three technology-related initiatives. Please find an update on these initiatives below.
- Joint procurement of e-mail & calendar applications:
DuPage County has partnered with the Village of Lisle, City of Naperville, and City of Wheaton to lead a joint procurement of cloud-based e-mail & calendar applications. Phase I of the project was to survey local government agencies to determine their levels of interest and technical requirements. This phase has been completed, and out of 28 responses to the survey, there are 10 agencies considering moving e-mail to the cloud. We have also met with both Microsoft and Google to discuss their offerings. Phase II of the project is to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) and solicit pricing, which has begun. However, there are potential issues with law enforcement agencies using cloud-based systems, and both Google and Microsoft are working through the issues. Once these issues are settled, we will issue the RFP and select a provider. Our goal is to have an RFP on the street by mid-October.
- Exploration of opportunities to share GIS services:
The group is in the process of developing goals for sharing data between the County and other units of government. The group is also discussing various ideas around shared GIS services and is developing a survey to determine the level of interest for each idea. The group has also done extensive research into various shared GIS services arrangements.
- Exploring opportunities to share an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system:
The County is on-track to issue a RFP for an ERP (financials and HR/Payroll) system in October 2011. We will include language requesting shared ERP services options for other entities in the RFP.
If you are interested in getting involved in these, or other shared services initiatives, please contact IT via the Shared Services Interest Form.
Date Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011