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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8303 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8303 February 13, 2001 „R = To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 1 of 3 rare SUBJECT: GOLF POINT OF SALE AND RESERVATION SYSTEM At the January 2, 2001 City Council meeting, staff presented M&C G-13118 which, upon approval, would adjust the Fiscal Year 2000-01 Golf Enterprise Fund budget to reflect the continued operation of Meadowbrook Golf Course and opening of the Pecan Valley "River" course in July 2001. The budget adjustment is necessary since the original budget adopted by the City Council on September 12, 2000 reflected the opening of the Pecan Valley "River" course in October 2000 and the closure of the Meadowbrook Golf Course for renovation. During discussion of this matter questions were raised regarding expenditures incurred for the Golf Point of Sale (POS) program during Fiscal Year 1999-00. The following provides information regarding the technology improvements made in the City's golf operations program last year and related background on the POS system. On June 18, 1996, the City Council approved M&C P-7961 for the purchase of a computerized POS system for the three (3) golf shops operated by the City (Pecan Valley, Meadowbrook and W Sycamore Creek. At that time Z.Boaz and Rockwood were operated by contract). The total cost of the POS system, which was purchased from Fairway System, Inc. (FSI), was $95,087. In addition, the purchase included an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that allowed customers to make advanced reservations for tee times on a twenty-four hours, seven (7) days a week basis. Ongoing service support for these systems by FSI required an additional cost of $18,000 annually. In 1998, as Y2K rapidly became an issue, all City of Fort Worth computers and software were required to be Y2K compliant. After weeks of discussions, the President of FSI refused to sign an affidavit or ensure their system would be compliant. At that time, under the advice of the IT Solutions (ITS) Department, staff made the decision to replace the current POS and IVR system. In February 1999, the City contracted with Integral Software Solutions, Inc. (ISSI), to develop a Y2K compliant POS system for the Golf Division. After review of the needs and requirements of the Golf Division operations, it was determined the system should mirror the FSI system, plus include enhancements to the IVR and inventory programs. A statement of work was agreed to by both the City and ISSI. The total cost quoted for the system was $85,000 plus the cost of hardware. Development of the system progressed throughout the spring and summer of 1999, including training of staff. Incremental payments were made to ISSI as various stages of the program were completed. September 1, 1999 was the original implementation date for the new system as the old system was scheduled to be terminated. However, one week prior to the implementation date, staff was informed by ISSI, that the program was not ready to be installed. A total of $95,894 was paid to ISSI for the software development ($85,000), some additional hardware (receipt printers and hand scanners) and staff training ($10,894). Since the staff of ISSI had successfully completed ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS ` INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8303 February 13, 2001 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 2 of 3 SUBJECT: GOLF POINT OF SALE AND RESERVATION SYSTEM work for the City in the past (MNVBE System and the M&C System) the total amount invoiced by ISSI was paid. It was anticipated the contractor would remedy any problems if necessary. However, prior to the new POS system being installed in December 1999, ISSI abandoned the project and left many aspects of the program incomplete. Upon closer review by ITS staff, it was found the POS system did not meet the scope of work that had been presented to the City by ISSI. Major aspects of the system were not present or required significant upgrading to insure adequate functionality of tracking and reporting procedures. In addition, the IVR reservation system was never developed by ISSI. As a result, ITS completed the basic functionality of the system in order to implement prior to December 31, 1999 and to date has spent a total of $59,338. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) was also implemented prior to the end of the calendar year. On January 5, 2000, ITS and Golf staff met to determine the best possible solution to adequately complete the system. It was agreed ITS would complete the project to meet the needs of the Golf Division. Initially ITS did not believe the additional cost would be exorbitant, with an estimated 41"41 additional cost of $23,200, however, each required function was addressed separately as detailed specifications were developed. ITS used experienced contract programmers-to analyze the existing code and rebuild many aspects of the system. Most primary parts of the POS system were functional by mid-Summer 2000. To date the contracted programmers, ITS analyst and administration costs have totaled $364,746 which have been charged to the Golf Enterprise Fund. There remains some upgrades to the system, i.e., Internet access to tee times to be accomplished, Although additional expenditures were made beyond those originally anticipated, staff determined that it would be more effective to complete the system in order for the City to be the proprietary owner of the computer language source code on this system, and therefore, ITS can perform any and all future system upgrades and repairs. All hardware is leased equipment and will be upgraded on a regular schedule as determined by the ITS Department. In conclusion, this project was poorly managed by staff. The initial decision to replace the 1996 FSI system while made in good faith and on the basis of Y2K compliance, was not a sound monetary decision. The risk of the system not adjusting to Y2K was not worth the initial price of $85,000 to replace it. However, due to the directive that all systems must be Y2K compliant, the decision was made to replace it. Secondly, once this decision was made, staff failed to adequately monitor the work being done by ISSI, the contractor employed to write and replace the FSI system. Thirdly, the cost estimates to salvage the partially installed ISSI system were grossly Lind erestimated. Forth, as ^�"' ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS NO. 8303 3g February 13, 2001 r ° To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 3 of 3 y+s�rs SUBJECT: GOLF POINT OF SALE AND RESERVATION SYSTEM the salvage project developed, cost monitoring was poor at best. Golf staff failed to monitor costs and ITS staff failed to update the department on the escalating costs. Obviously, it would have been more prudent to abandon the project and purchase a market available system. This option was not given appropriate consideration resulting in a $364,746 expenditure, which could have been avoided with more effective management of the project and communication amongst the two departments. Procedures have been put into place to prevent this situation from occurring again. This includes project request, estimation and expenditure approval forms being executed between ITS and user departments. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Richard Zavala, Parks and CoJTe � ervices Director or Libby Watson, Assistant City Manager. kB ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS