THE CHALLENGE

The City of West Palm Beach need to perform a CIS selection process and write an RFP. Marsha Gates, the City's Customer Service Supervisor, had never gone through a CIS selection process nor had she written an RFP. "Our utility chose our last CIS system vendor in the mid-1990's entirely on our own," said Marsha. "Our previous Utility Administration office selected the system without including the users in the process. Let's just say that it didn't work out. This time, we were determined to be inclusive and to bring in outside expertise." The City chose TMG Consulting through a formal procurement process to select a consultant that would assist in this endeavor.

TMG CONSULTING SERVICES

Florida municipalities face stringent procurement processes with Sunshine Laws that assure public access to the decision process. For example, as an alternative to publishing its RFP on the web at CISWorld.com, the West Palm Beach's purchasing department used their own site to advertise and collect vendor contact information for mailing the RFP to vendors. CISWorld.com included a hyperlink to the site.

The City's RFP attracted ten responses, which were then narrowed down to the four most responsive. To create the short list, the City's CIS Core Team members reviewed the vendor bids independently. Then they came together in a public meeting to discuss the pro and cons of each proposal, and rank them. Next vendor demos were conducted. "At least two system end-users attended every vendor demonstration," said Marsha. "That's totally opposite from what we had done before. Their presence was a reminder to all that we are selecting this system for them and value their input."

RESULTS

West Palm Beach bills water, sewer, garbage, recycling, and storm water management all on one bill. The City hopes to automate some of its manual processes once the system changeover is complete. "TMG Consulting's contract has seven milestones tied to specific tasks. Steve Wenke of TMG Consulting has kept us on task using these milestones and his expertise," said Marsha. "During this process, there were occasions when our discussions would go off on tangents, but Steve and TMG Consulting's templates would always bring us back to the reality of the task at hand. Steve and TMG are making this process a whole lot easier than I ever expected it could be!"