City Council Agenda Report
Meeting Date: November 7, 2023
From: Todd Dusenberry, General Manager of Public Utilities Department: Public Utilities
Submitted by: Adriana Ramos, Administrative Analyst
Subject
Master Scope of Work Agreement and Support and Maintenance Agreement with Advanced Utility Systems, a division of N. Harris Computer Corporation Recommendation
A. Approve and authorize the City Administrator to execute a Master Scope of Work Agreement with Advanced Utility Systems, a division of N. Harris Computer Corporation (Advanced), in substantially the same form as submitted, to conduct a data conversion and upgrade the existing Infinity Customer Information System (CIS) billing platform for an amount not-to-exceed $262,000;
B. Authorize a contingency amount of ten percent (10%) or $26,200, for updates and coding development, and unforeseen expenses not included in the proposal, and grant authority to the City Administrator to issue change orders for an amount up to the contingency amount, if necessary; and
C. Approve a Support and Maintenance Agreement with Advanced, in substantially the same form as submitted, to provide software support to the Infinity CIS billing system for an amount not-to-exceed $166,871.02, for a three-year term.
Background
Vernon Public Utilities (VPU) Customer Service billing system is operated by Advanced Utility Systems, a division of N. Harris Computer Corporation (Advanced), Infinity CIS Version 2.0 software. The Infinity CIS platform supports billing for all electric, water and gas utilities which includes the City’s vital time-of-use rate tariffs for Vernon residential and commercial customers.
For the past ten years, the Advanced billing system has provided reliable and accurate data, as demonstrated through the nearly 3,000 monthly bills that have been issued by VPU with no billing issues.
Currently, VPU is the only customer serviced by Advanced that is operating under the Infinity CIS Version 2.0 software that is outdated and for which vendor support is limited. Advanced stated they only have one to two team members on staff who are familiar and capable to modify code on the legacy Version 2.0. As is typical with software systems, older versions reach a point of end of mainstream support as new and improved versions become available and the focus shifts to support the new versions. Thus, conducting a data conversion and a system upgrade (Project) to Version 5.0 of the Advanced billing software is necessary to ensure that adequate support is available for this essential billing system.
The proposed Master Scope of Work Agreement encompasses all aspects of Vernon’s Infinity CIS upgrade, including but not limited to project management, requirements gathering, data integrity and clean up, data conversion, configuration including interfaces, and training. The Project is expected to be implemented over the next eight months. Conversion to the Advanced Version 5.0 system would also assist the utility in its migration to the Tyler Technologies (Tyler) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Munis software platform as it will further make it possible to easily automate the delivery of daily transfer files.
On December 1, 2020, the City Council approved the Tyler ERP implementation, which included a module for the Munis Utility Billing Customer Information System. It is anticipated that VPU’s Customer Service billing system will transition to the Tyler Munis system by June 2025, as critical software components are currently in the development phase. Key electric calculations such as Kilovolt-Ampere Reactive (KVAR), Demand Charge Proration modification, and KVAR factor modification are being developed by Tyler. Delivery of these critical billing features and testing of Time of Use are necessary to successfully execute electric billing and to synchronize these components with VPU’s other utility billing services (water, natural gas, and fiber).
The Advanced software is critical to VPU’s revenue stream, as it is used to bill customers for electricity, water, and natural gas, generating approximately $193 million for the City on an annual basis. To retain its reliable, accurate billing capability, VPU staff recommends that the City Council approve the proposed Advanced Master Scope of Work Agreement for the CIS billing platform upgrade and related Support and Maintenance Agreement.
1. The Advanced Master Scope of Work Agreement in the amount of $262,000 (consisting of estimated Data Conversion Cost: $100,000 and System Upgrade: $162,000) will allow VPU to conduct a data conversion and upgrade for the existing Infinity CIS billing system.
The recommended contingency amount of ten percent (10%) or $26,200 would be for any unforeseen expenses necessary for the conversion.
2. The Support and Maintenance Agreement in the amount of $166,871.02 (including estimated increases for years two and three) will provide the Information Technology Division software support to the Infinity CIS billing system for a three-year term. The Support and Maintenance Agreement will allow staff to remain current with software updates and will allow staff to contact the vendor with software questions as the need arises.
The proposed Master Scope of Work Agreement and Support and Maintenance Agreement with Advanced are each exempt from competitive bidding and competitive selection requirements pursuant to Vernon Municipal Code (VMC) Sections 3.32.110 (A)(2) and (B)(1), as the platform upgrade, any necessary equipment, and support and maintenance services can only be obtained from Advanced. The Infinity CIS software used by VPU’s Customer Service Division is only compatible with Advanced software and is proprietary to Advanced.
The Master Scope of Work Agreement and the Support and Maintenance Agreement have been reviewed and approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
Fiscal Impact
The Fiscal Impact is not to exceed $288,200 for the Master Scope of Work Agreement for the data conversion and upgrade of the existing Infinity CIS billing system from Advance’s Version
2.0 to Version 5.0. Approval of this action requires a modified appropriation of $288,200 for a Transfer Out from Electric Fund, Administration, Professional Services-Other, Account Number 055-050-580-529215 and a Transfer In Electric Fund, Administration, Capital Outlay, Account Number 055-050-580-660000.
Funds for a three-year term Support and Maintenance Agreement were included in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Electric Fund, Customer Service, Professional Services-IT, Account Number 055- 050-575-529210 budget in the amount of $50,000. However, approval of this action would require a modified appropriation of $2,700.55 for a Transfer Out from Electric Fund, Customer Service, Repairs & Maintenance-IT, Account Number 055-050-575-529110 and a Transfer In Electric Fund, Customer Service, Professional Services-IT, Account Number 055-050-575-529210.
Funds will be budgeted in subsequent years.
Attachments
1. Master Scope of Work Agreement
2. Support and Maintenance Agreement