COUNTY OF SAN MATEOInter-Departmental CorrespondenceSHERIFF’S OFFICE | ||
DATE: |
July 7, 2004 | |
BOARD MEETING DATE: |
August 31, 2004 | |
TO: |
Honorable Board of Supervisors | |
FROM: |
Sheriff Don Horsley | |
SUBJECT: |
Agreement with Softech & Associates, Inc. | |
Recommendation | ||
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute an agreement with Softech & Associates, Inc., in the amount of $110,570, for the term of June 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005. | ||
Background | ||
The Sheriff’s Office has a long standing need to ensure the accuracy and protection for scanned images of criminal records and other documents for the Records Bureau. In order for the Sheriff’s Office to reduce the amount of paper in storage, a reliable document imaging system is fundamental. The existing document imaging system used by the Sheriff’s Office is an outdated system by Westbrook Technologies, otherwise known as FileMagic. The system uses proprietary technology to manage images of scanned documents that are then stored on an old-model Compaq server attached to an optical disk jukebox. This form of technology is outmoded and cannot be easily or inexpensively upgraded. Modern systems utilize current gigabyte hard drive and cd-rom storage& retrieval technology, and are far simpler to operate and maintain. Westbrook Technologies no longer supports the existing version of FileMagic used by the Sheriff’s Office. It is critical that a modern, reliable document imaging system be installed, and the existing Sheriff’s criminal files be migrated to that new system. | ||
Discussion | ||
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To accomplish this objective, a working committee was formed, composed of technical, investigative and criminal records personnel from the Sheriff’s Office, and document imaging experts and project management from the County Information Services Department (ISD). Over the last 12 months, a requirements definition was completed, as well as a systems evaluation to select an appropriate document imaging system for the department. FileNet is currently the County’s document imaging vendor, under an umbrella agreement with ISD. After looking at other systems and cost, it was determined that FileNet best meets the County existing standards for document imaging; best meets the needs of the Sheriff’s Office to eventually share selected file information with other criminal justice agencies through the County backbone, and offered the most competitive pricing, consistent with a limited working budget. Other than initial hardware installation and testing, the most complex component of the project is converting all the existing old FileMagic files to the new system. The firm of Softech was recommended by ISD based on their knowledge of the County technical environment in prior successful County document imaging data conversions. Softech & Associates, Inc. will install FileNet in conjunction with ISD and Sheriff’s Technical Services Unit staff; will provide their own custom software which integrates with FileNet, to make data entry of indices by the Records staff into the new FileNet document imaging system easier, and will convert the existing FileMagic records into the new FileNet system, thus enabling the Sheriff’s Office to eliminate the archaic FileMagic system. FileNet will be then be subsequently maintained by the Sheriff’s Office Technical Services Unit, supported by an upgrade & technical support agreement with the vendor. Customer and technical training is included in the proposed Softech Agreement, as well as ongoing conversion software support. This project will result in: § Faster image retrieval § More robust security § Enhanced query creation § Readily accessible technical support § Ability to copy images to permanent, unalterable medium Overall, FileNet will enhance the productivity of the Sheriff’s Records staff by removing the complexities and increasing number of “workarounds” required with the old FileMagic system, and by improving the accessibility of information across multiple platforms used in the department. | ||
Vision Alignment | ||
This item keeps the commitment of responsive, effective and collaborative government through goal number 20: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain. | ||
Fiscal Impact | ||
The term of the proposed Agreement is for one year, commencing on August 1, 2004 through July 31, 2005. The agreement is for a total of $110,570, of which $101,010 represents the one-time project cost for purchase of FileNet and Softech software, data conversion, training, and project-related consulting/engineering services. Annual maintenance following the warranty period will be $9,560 per year. The cost for this Agreement has been included in the FY 2004-05 budget. Therefore, there is no additional County cost incurred by this action. | ||
