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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Jennifer Stalling, City Clerk
Jeff Anderson, Deputy Chief Information Officer
DATE: June 22, 2020
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval for purchase of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Public Records Request Management software solution from GovQA of Woodridge, IL with a 5-year contract and an amount not to exceed $130,309.
PURPOSE:
The City of Aurora desires a turnkey, software-as-a-service solution that complies with existing processes / rules and meets desired capabilities for City staff both employees and residents, with scalable and clear pricing. Marketplace.city was utilized to analyze the market and comparable contracts and also to aid in the selection process.
BACKGROUND:
The City used the Marketplace.city Clearbox process for this project.
Summary:
- Created a Market Landscape with 16 vendors
- Upon review of solution and experience, The City staff determined that 10 vendor solutions fit the desired criteria.
- Vendor Questionnaire was sent to 10 companies to better understand capabilities, experience, implementation approach and pricing for interested vendors to read and complete to be included in the reporting and selection process.
Vendor Down-Selection
- City staff validated and analyzed Vendor Responses:
- 3 responses with pricing and references in mandated timeline of 2/25/2020
- Armedia+ZyLab, GovQA, Granicis
- Granicus eliminated for incomplete solution
- City staff hosted 2 live vendor demos and conducted vendor scoring
- City staff determined that GovQA would be the best fit solution to meet functional needs
DISCUSSION:
After using the Marketplace.city process, City staff determined GovQA has the best fit solution to comply with existing processes / rules and provide a turnkey system for both city employees and citizens, with scalable and clear pricing. GovQA’s Exchange Platform offers centralized, standardized, secured, streamlined, and automated request and communication management - finely tuned to meet the City of Aurora's needs
Benefits:
-Superior Product: The GovQA solution is the preferred platform as it is secure, has an intuitive
interface that is easy to use, and has all the features requested by the team (easy user
interface; logical, configurable workflow; tools needed for current state / future needs)
-Met City’s Requirements: GovQA’s solution met / exceeded all functional, Customer support
and implementation requirements.
-Scalability / Innovation: GovQA offers many solutions for management of government
compliance processes. These offerings include modules for invoicing, online payments, and
OCR conversion as well as solutions for subpoenas, legal holds, complaints, correspondence,
claims, discovery, and citizen requests (CRM/311).
- References & Customer Base: GovQA has a strong customer base, With 110+ of the top 300
U.S. cities, 35% of top U.S. counties, and 80+ state agencies as clients:
- Similar experience (size/scope): Huntington Beach, CA; St. Petersburg, FL; Reno, NV
- IL Experience: Joliet, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Chicago Police Department
- Risk: All costs are waived for 2020. The City can opt out at yearly intervals across the 5 years.
Pricing / Contracting: The final proposal was $130,309 for 5 years, with the ability for the City to renew or opt out at annually.
Contract Duration: 1-5 years
Contract Pricing:
2020: No Cost
2021: $24,300
2022: $25,151
2023: $26,031
2024: $26,942
2025: $27,885
Total Cost: $130,309
No funds are needed in 2020. Future funds have been budgeted in account number 101-1380-419.45-02.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
Impact on Departments/ Divisions procedures: The core of the GovQA Exchange Platform is designed to enable organizations to follow a business defined workflow process for each individual request type, allowing for easy process management and automated actions / features to reduce workload, manage collaboration, and alleviate the overall stress in remaining compliant. GovQA has also created the Complete Redaction Process with automated quality assurance checks to ensure all redactions are applied completely and any risk of exposing sensitive information is eliminated.
Impact on Technology: GovQA has a suite of other solutions and integrates with dozens of established partners (such as back-end repositories, payment processors, and existing document management systems), providing the scalability to evolve based on the City's needs. All GovQA Solutions are highly configurable and can be added over time and at any time. GovQA also has the support and implementation teams to guide kickoff, training, and provide overall support, limiting IT personnel time needed to be spent on FOIA support.
Impact on the public: GovQA prioritizes citizen engagement, making public records requests easier to submit and allows governments to respond more quickly to citizen requests. GovQA provides the City with a mobile responsive public facing web based portal, which will allow anyone to submit a request for City records, check the status of previously submitted requests, and retrieve requested record securely:
Capture requests via any channel (web, mobile, phone, voicemail, email, text message, walk-in, snail mail, fax)
- No file size limitations
- Customized, user-friendly public portal with look and feel of your website
- Let requesters find information OR submit a request online
- Offer requesters 24/7 access and status updates.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Approve purchase of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Public Records Request Management software solution from GovQA of Woodridge, IL with a 5-year contract and an amount not to exceed $130,309.
cc: Infrastructure and Technology Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution requesting approval for a FOIA/Public Records Request Management software solution that complies with the existing processes/rules and is also user friendly.
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WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora desires a turnkey, software-as-a-service solution that complies with existing processes / rules and meets desired capabilities for City staff both employees and residents, with scalable and clear pricing; and
WHERAS, No funds are needed in 2020. Future funds have been budgeted in account number 101-1380-419.45-02; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: approves purchase of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Public Records Request Management software solution from GovQA of Woodridge, IL with a 5-year contract and an amount not to exceed $130,309.