Accept the Technology Oversight Committee Quarterly Report
Technology Oversight Committee
Quarterly Report to Council, Quarter 2, 2022
PART I – Technology Project Oversight
Background
On February 2, 2011, City Council approved Resolution #36844 creating an independent five-member citizen committee for City of Portland technology projects. On July 12, 2019, City Council adopted changes to City Code Chapter 3.15.090 to establish the duties and authorities of the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively as they relate to Technology Project Oversight. On June 29, 2011, Council adopted an update to BTS Administrative Rule (A.R.) 4.01 – Technology Project Intake as well as a new rule (BTS A.R. 1.07) on Technology Project Oversight.
As stated in BTS A.R.1.07, technology project oversight for the City of Portland may include citizen oversight and quality assurance.
Citizen Oversight
The citizen members of the Technology Oversight Committee (TOC) are:
Representing Member
Mayor Wheeler Wilfred Pinfold, PhD - CEO Urban.Systems Inc.
Commissioner Mapps Jimmy Godard
Commissioner Ryan Leland Knell
Commissioner Rubio Dyanna Garcia
Commissioner Hardesty Victoria Trapp
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance (QA) – provided by external consultants – is a required component of projects under the purview of the TOC. The role of the QA consultants on a project overseen by the TOC is to provide guidance and oversight to the City staff on the technology project, but ultimately to report the QA’s unbiased findings to the TOC.
Responsibilities
The TOC is staffed by the Office of Management & Finance (OMF) Business Operations Division. OMF Bureau of Technology Services (BTS) provides expertise to support the TOC through the duration of projects overseen by the TOC. Customer bureaus whose projects are under the purview of the TOC are responsible to provide accurate and timely project information to OMF and the TOC from the time of project intake through TOC monitoring to project completion.
PART II – Technology Projects under TOC Oversight
Office 365 Implementation project
Portland Police Bureau
Project Description
The goal of this project is to provide the Police Bureau with the ability to collaborate with the rest of the City using the Microsoft Office 365 product. Police email accounts will be migrated to Office 365 and eliminate the need to replace their on-premises Exchange email servers that have reached end of life.
The project will be completed in phases:
- Phase I – Discovery
- Phase II – Pilot, Testing, and Migration
- SharePoint Online
The project is currently in the Discovery phase, which will provide the necessary information to begin implementation in Phase II.
Major accomplishments April through June 2022
During the past quarter this project has seen a delay in its overall timeline for the Discovery phase. Microsoft engineers have not attempted this type of cross-tenant synchronization before, and the tool that Microsoft provides for migrating mailboxes is unable to meet the City’s requirements. To mitigate the challenges in mailbox migration, while maintaining cross-tenant synchronization, the team has selected an Exchange migration tool from Quest that will allow the team to do the necessary tasks within the project’s budget.
This project has completed its Azure and Office license budget timelines, compiled likely impacts to other bureaus that Police will create during its transition to Office 365, completed and reviewed a PPB staff change management survey, proposed a logging solution submitted for review, and has completed a Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI) analysis.
Upcoming milestones
- Complete cutover/migration plan.
- Complete production test plan.
- Prepare production tenant.
- Complete and obtain approval of high-level implementation plan.
Risks and concerns
- Project scope (hasn’t been done before).
- Phase 2 and 3 timelines unknown until after current phase complete.
- Schedule highly dependent on resource availability.
- Cross tenant synchronization.
- Ever-changing MS environment.
Color ratings: Police Office 365 Project
April 27, 2022
Note: Due to the number and amount of budget adjustments, and the different impacts these adjustments have on various funding sources, budget figures above now display the project budget without Police contingency. The net gain/loss of adjustments funded by Police are to be add/subtracted from Police contingency.
Integrated Tax System project
Revenue Division
Conclusion
This project has concluded, and in April of 2022 the project team presented its last post-implementation report to the Technology Oversight Committee. The purpose of this post-implementation report was threefold:
- To assess whether the business and technical objectives were achieved.
- To evaluate the overall success of the project.
- To ensure lessons learned are identified and documented to inform future ITS rollouts and other City of Portland projects.
This project faced the challenge of implementing new tax programs, a reorganization to accommodate these new programs, new tax clients, and for the first time the Revenue Division administered complex personal income tax programs.
According to the QA Post Implementation report, the project team and leadership did an outstanding job of resourcing the project, creating a training approach that was nimble for onboarding new staff, while preparing for go live and proactively managing the change.
All those interviewed about the project view it as a successfully managed project: the project appears to have an adequate level of funding with an appropriate contingency, has the intended scope, and the system went live ahead of schedule. This project faced challenges with testing, implementing a service pack earlier than planned, and onboarding many new employees. Despite these challenges, the team kept the rollout on schedule.
Body-Worn Cameras project
Portland Police Bureau
Project Description:
The City has decided to adopt body-worn cameras to improve public trust, police accountability, risk management, and training opportunities. Council appropriated one-time funding of $2.6M for the body-worn cameras program and Council approved the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) on February 9, 2022.
Major accomplishments April through June 2022
The project team introduced itself to the committee in January, but still has preliminary work to do before it starts presenting quarterly progress reports. Axon has been selected as the vendor, and the team is currently in contract negotiations. One TOC member was able to attend a product demonstration in May.
Record Management System (RMS) Project
Portland Police Bureau
Project Description:
This project will upgrade the Police Bureau’s Record Management System, Versadex, such that files that are pushed to the vCloud for storage. The intent of this project is to streamline processes and reduce costs. A prior RMS project was suspended due to a loss of funds in 2020, so the Police bureau is behind by multiple software versions of this key platform. Both the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and Gresham Police Department have made the switch to the vCloud.
Major accomplishments April through June 2022
The project’s timeline is still unknown since projects like the Police Office 365 project and the Body-Worn Cameras project are a higher priority. The project will have a more clearly defined schedule upon kickoff. The tentative start date for this project is March 2023.
Official Record (Efiles)
Impact Statement
Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information
This report covers the activity from April through June of 2022. The report summarizes the status of the technology projects under the Technology Oversight Committee’s (TOC) purview.
Financial and Budgetary Impacts
This action does not have any costs to the City.
This action does not affect current or future staffing levels.
This action does not create or modify any financial obligation.
Community Impacts and Community Involvement
The report will inform Council on the progress of the TOC. The community will benefit from the increased accountability and transparency of City technology projects.
The committee is made up of five members of the public who were each selected by a City Council member. These community members have been involved in creating the committee operating principles and procedures. They reviewed the draft of this report and provided feedback.
The continued involvement of public members is expected for the duration of this committee. Members of the TOC may testify at Council when the reports are presented.