By Julie Mehta
Saratoga will have a new integrated software system, laptop computers, and a half-time technology coordinator to train and assist staff by 2001, according to the final draft of the technology master plan issued last week.
The plan was approved by the City Council in late March, said Finance Director Thomas Fil, after WISE Consulting Services evaluated the city's technology systems and made recommendations. Over the past two months, the city staff has invited five vendors to conduct software system demonstrations at City Hall and has rated them. Fil says the city will likely choose a provider in June or July.
"Integration between various applications and the finance department is key. Currently, there is no connection," Fil said. "So when the recreation department takes signups, the same information has to be re-keyed by Finance for billing."
Fil said the same thing happens with the planning and human resources departments, adding that updating the computer system will also mean faster data retrieval and therefore better customer service.
"Right now, if a caller has a question about a parcel, we might have to look at the microfiche," Fil said. Departments also have to wait until the end of the month to get updates on their budgets, he said.
The city requires both financial and management software for processing transactions and keeping the city's books and desktop software for word processing and making spreadsheets. Fil said the city will likely purchase Microsoft office packages including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications.
The technology plan also calls for the city to upgrade its 286 and 386 PCs or replace them with Pentium PCs, to supply laptop computers and cellular telephones to employees who work offsite, develop a written disaster recovery plan for critical operations and establish hardware backup, create a security policy to prohibit unauthorized access to sensitive files, provide city staff with access to the Internet and train employees to use the new systems.
The plan suggests an average annual technology budget of $195,000 for the next five years, representing approximately 1.8 percent of the city's total budget. The proposed 1996-97 budget allocates $215,000 for equipment acquisition. Procurement costs will go down through the years, but maintenance costs will increase. But Fil said that even taking into account the new plan, Saratoga spends much less on technology than neighboring cities such as Cupertino.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 29, 1996.
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