ITAC MEETING MINUTES
For May 18, 2006
ATTENDEES:
Reginald Brown, Niamh Darcy, JP Kenney, John Killebrew, Darryl McGraw, Gloria McNeill, Shannon Schelin
WAKE COUNTY:
Velvadine Wallace, Elizabeth Wanner
Meeting started at 9:10 a.m. Lib welcomed everyone on the teleconference bridge and stated that Darryl McGraw, CIO of Wake Technical College, was joining the conference and was recently appointed by David Cooke to the group. Lib informed the group that we would be using the Oracle Collaboration Suite for the meeting to determine its effectiveness.
IS RECOMMENDED BUDGET:
Lib gave a brief overview of the IS Recommended Budget for fiscal year 2006-2007. She stated that the recommended budget for the department is close to $9M. The requested budget amount was approximately $10M, and that services of the new position requests were not funded. Lib stated in order to accomplish the key initiatives outlined in the IS Business Plan, the management staff requested 7 expansion positions, which reflected (3) contract conversions, (2) new desktop technicians, (1) new Administrative Assistant – Telecom & Administration, and (1) new IT Specialist. Lib stated that since the Board of Commissioners approved only one position, she would ask for permission to use the available funds from this year’s budget and the lapse salaries to hire contractors for the coming year to meet the identified needs. Niamh asked what was the rationale for getting only 1 position approved. Lib replied that the Board of Commissioners was faced with large funding needs in the areas of schools, Human Health Services and public safety and that a three-cent tax increase was recommended for those needs, which took precedence over the IS expansion requests.
Lib then went on to discuss the main initiatives planned for FY 2007, which consisted of the Finance, Budget, HR Systems replacement project (ERP), Property Tax System rewrite, Planning and Permitting System project, Board of Elections support, and Document Management. Lib stated the ERP would be a 24-month project and would begin with the Finance System then proceed to the HR System. She stated that four positions in Information Services are being used to support the ERP project and that Dan Edwards, Assistant Director – ERP, is working on recruitments for the other positions, which should be completed by the end of June.
Lib proceeded to briefly discuss the Horizon Issues and stated that one of the focus areas of concern is supporting employees working from remote locations and the other area of focus is keeping up with the security requirements.
Lib then asked if anyone had any comments or suggestions about the recommended IS budget for FY 2007. Shannon asked if Wake County was looking into using 311 (Government Information and non emergency services). Lib replied no and we saw it more as a City service and Raleigh is working on something like a 311 Service. Shannon asked if Wake County outsourced finance transactions. Lib replied that Wake County uses IVR functionality so that taxes could be paid via a telephone system and the vendor for this service is VDS (Voice Data Solutions). She said we process payments from checking accounts for some services via our website, but no credit card payments as of yet.
Lib then gave a brief overview of the CIP Automation budget for FY 2007. She stated that $1.5M was budgeted for Enterprise Infrastructure projects designed to handle the data transport, security, and storage needs of the organization. She also stated that $1.3M was budgeted for Computer Equipment repairs and replacements and about 300,000 are budgeted for new business applications.
Then Lib asked about the effectiveness of the Oracle Collaboration Suite for the meeting. Everyone was in agreement that the Oracle Collaboration Suite is an effective and excellent tool for technology and communication and that we should continue using it for future ITAC meetings.
Meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.