City seeks consultant to advise on potential new software system

City in Heart of Silicon Valley is seeking proposals from consultants who can assess its need for a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package – and guide the process if the city chooses to replace its seven-year-old system .

The city of Cupertino has issued a request for proposals (RFP-IT-2021) last week for consulting services that would have three phases: phase I is an assessment of what the city needs in an ERP tool; Phase II is a call for tenders for this software package; and phase III is project management if the plan goes into implementation.

The city is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms that provide ERP system consulting services. The city’s current ERP system, Tyler New World, was acquired in 2014 and incorporates what the city classifies as financial services (including accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliation, budgeting, contract management, general ledger and purchasing) and human capital ( human resources functions including benefits management, portal, performance management, personnel and recruiting, and payroll).

The city, with a population of around 60,000, hopes to select a consulting firm to handle all three elements of the ERP plan, but notes that the findings of Phase I, along with the city’s finances, could determine whether it goes on to the next two phases.

“At the end of the needs assessment”, states the RFP, “the selected consultant will prepare and submit to the city a written report including an objective analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and, if applicable, identifying the practices and inefficient methods to streamline business processes independent of the capabilities of the current software system.

If the consultant judges that the City should replace its current ERP tool, the consultant will be responsible, among other things, for developing the RFP and selecting the supplier. The consultant would then play a project management role during the implementation of the ERP system.

The call for tenders indicates that the consultant will be chosen based on the following criteria:

• Qualifications and experience of key personnel who will perform the work
• Work program and methodology for carrying out the missions
• Project schedule for phases I, II and III
• Experience with California municipalities for similar projects
• Ability to accept city contract terms including endorsements and insurance requirements
• For phase III, the combination of supplier solutions implemented
• References and recommendations
• Cost

The call for tenders specifies the key dates for suppliers:

• Pre-submission questions before 5 p.m. on December 10
• Answer questions before 5 p.m. on December 22
• Proposals to be submitted before 5 p.m. on January 7
• Shortlist developed by January 18
• Interviews and referral calls before January 24
• Consultant selected before January 31
• Begin contract negotiations by February 1
• Contract signed by the consultant before February 25
• Start of services before April 4