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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Shanita Thompson, MIS Director
DATE: 7/19/2017
SUBJECT:
Resolution to approve a Professional Service contract with Reliance One for technology staff augmentation for the Information Technology Division.
PURPOSE:
Due to the diverse and high level of workload faced by the IT Division, contracted support is often required. This agreement allows for contracted services for "specialized" skill sets that may not be readily available in-house. In addition, it authorizes the city to place full-time employees on contract, with the possibility of hiring them in the future as optional. This allows us to find the best fit for the position. This will lead to a significant savings for the City.
BACKGROUND:
Due to recent retirements and other staff shortages, the need to get additional people for immediate help is urgent. This type of request was previously approved for Merrimac, Inc. in February 2014, resolution number R14-033. We are no longer using them and want to replace them. Multiple staffing agencies have been vetted so the issue of one company not providing the correct skill set is eliminated.
DISCUSSION:
Approval of this professional services agreement will benefit the City through increased efficiencies and cost savings. For example, Reliance One pricing is 30% cheaper than the cost that Merrimac, Inc. was charging for higher level support staff, which leads to a significant cost savings for the city.
In the past few months, MIS staff has had to compensate for the shortages by working additional hours and weekends. MIS is currently averaging 200 requests per month, having 1400 request already completed for the current year. This is an upward trend since the last request in 2014, by approximately 66%. Also, being a hybrid of internal and contracted staff, gives the internal staff time to evaluate a perfect candidate, prior to hiring them permanently.
Funding for the contract comes from unfilled MIS positions. ...
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