e-Permits in action: The site, owned and operated by the City of Sunnyvale, allows residents to obtain building permits or sign up for city activities without having to leave their homes or offices. The city has just signed a lucrative re-licensing deal with the prestigious Berryman and Henigar, Inc.
Sunnyvale decides to share the wealth
By Daniel Hindin
The city of Sunnyvale recently took a major step toward linking government and technology.
On Sept. 27, Berryman and Henigar Inc., a San Diego municipal professional services firm, announced signing an exclusive agreement with Sunnyvale. The agreement allows Berryman and Henigar to relicense Sunnyvale's suite of eGovernment software applications to other municipalities for a seven-year period.
The agreement, approved the day before at the city council meeting, grants Berryman and Henigar exclusive license to three Sunnyvale city-developed programs: 'ePermits,' 'SunGIS,' and 'Parks and Recreation.' These programs, used in Sunnyvale since October 1997, allow residents to obtain building permits, reserve city parks and sign up for city activities and classes without leaving their homes or offices. City Information Technology staff first developed the software in conjunction with Microsoft.
Sunnyvale Director of Information Management Services Shawn Hernandez said the city first scanned the market. "There wasn't anyone who could provide us with the software we needed so we decided to do it in house," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that software developed by a municipal government has been made available by a public/private partnership."
The software's solid reputation lead Berryman and Henigar to approach Sunnyvale with its business proposition.
"We wanted someone who could set this up right away," Hernandez says. "Because of their reputation we felt comfortable that Berryman and Henigar would be able to make this relationship successful."
The proposal states the seven-year contract actually begins when the sales of the software total $500,000.
"It's a win-win situation for us," Hernandez says. "We entered into this partnership because we needed to free up our resources to deal with other internal issues. In this deal we get royalties, maintenance and support for seven years."
He adds there are also specific clauses in the agreement that allow Sunnyvale to get out of the partnership if they determine that they're not benefiting from the partnership.
"This is yet another example of the innovation and leading edge governmental services that Sunnyvale provides," says Sunnyvale City Manager Robert LaSala. "This partnership limits losses for the city and gives us a chance to cover our costs and maybe even make some gains."
According to Hernandez, Sunnyvale is scheduled to receive 15 percent of gross revenues in the first two years, 10 percent the next two years and 7.5 percent in the final three years. Sunnyvale will also have the opportunity to provide Berryman and Henigar with specifications that will continue to enhance the project to meet the city's needs. Sunnyvale also retains the right to enhance the software itself, if they don't want to wait for Berryman and Henigar to do it for them.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
