TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 35451 with Deloitte Consulting, LLP, of San Diego, CA, for stabilization and enhancements of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software system, to increase the annual contract amount by $24,000 for a revised annual contract amount of $264,000, with a 25 percent contingency in an annual amount of $66,000 for a revised total annual contract amount not to exceed $330,000, and to extend the term of the contract for an additional one-year period to December 31, 2023, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to amend Contract No. 35451 with Deloitte Consulting, LLP (Deloitte), to increase the annual contract amount by $24,000 for a revised annual contract amount of $264,000, with a 25 percent contingency in an annual amount of $66,000 for a revised total annual contract amount not to exceed $330,000. This extension is required since the City of Long Beach (City) has had difficulty in recruiting for a Salesforce Administrator position and continues to require the services of Deloitte to provide ongoing support and enhancements to the CRM system as it fills this position.
On October 1, 2019, the City Council adopted Specification No. RFP TI18-063 and awarded a contract to Deloitte in the amount of $1,650,000, with a 10 percent contingency in the amount of $165,000, for a total amount not to exceed $1,815,000, for a period of one year, with the option to renew for an additional one-year period, for services to design, develop, and implement the CRM system.The new Go Long Beach application software system was built atop the Salesforce platform and replaces the outgoing applicatoin that was released in 2012. Deloitte and Salesforce, through its recommended reseller, Carahsoft Technology Corporation, were selected for implementation and software licensing, respectively at the conclusion of a competitive selection process. On December 8, 2020, the City Council approved two additional years of support from Deloitte to provide ongoing support and enhancements for the Salesforce platform.
The Go Long Beach application processed nearly 50,000 requests for service during calendar year 2022, marking a 15 percent increase from the previous year. The Go Long Beach app is powered by the Salesforce platform which is a robust and complex platform that provides case management, reporting, integration, and application development capabilities.
The administration and management of the Salesforce environment is complex and requires specialized knowledge to properly administer the system. Deloitte has partnered with the City over the past two (2) years to provide Salesforce administration and to develop enhancements and/or fixes for the Go Long Beach application. Examples include:
• Adding new topics. Notable examples include reporting illegal fireworks and electronic scooters. The fireworks topic was enabled in late 2021 and eliminated the need to maintain a portal on the City Prosecutor website for reporting illegal fireworks activities. The electronic scooter topic was released in October 2021 and has been modified multiple times in order to meet the needs of the City and operators, respectively; this topic is currently the third most requested service request behind dumped items and graffiti.
• Integration support. Support integrations between Salesforce and other systems, namely Oracle CC&B and Azteca Cityworks. These integrations automatically create work orders in backend City systems and provide status updates automatically when work is conducted.
• Enhance existing topics. Topics have required fields to be added, removed, or modified based on City staff needs. Related features, such as email templates and associated translations, have also required modification over time.
• Salesforce administration. The Salesforce platform requires ongoing support and maintenance and Deloitte has led the effort in completing all requisite Salesforce administration tasks since platform adoption. Moreover, Deloitte has been an escalation point for Salesforce tasks that City staff have been unable to resolve (e.g. bulk service request closures.). Lastly, Deloitte has been a valuable asset and ally to the City during times of application disruption; the Deloitte team has a direct relationship with Salesforce and has been able to escalate issues and defects, namely issues pertaining to the Android version of Go Long Beach during launch.
In addition to ongoing support for the Salesforce platform and the continued creation and support of new topics, the City anticipates that Deloitte will assist some departments in adopting Salesforce as a constituent relationship management system to better manage stakeholders relationships.
Additionally, the Department has found it difficult to hire a knowledgeable candidate with this expertise of Salesforce and Deloitte is providing quality support and services. Recruiting a candidate with suitable experience in and knowledge of the Salesforce platform needed to operate the Go Long Beach application has been unsuccessful to date. Deloitte will continue to provide support for the Go Long Beach application until a candidate can be hired and onboarded and knowledge transfer can occur, or if recruitment continues to fail a competitive procurement can be conducted for long-term managed services support.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Erin Weesner-McKinley on February 13, 2023, Purchasing Agent Michelle Wilson on February 6 , 2023, and by Budget Operations and Development Officer Rhutu Amin Gharib on February 10, 2023
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action to amend Contract No. 35451 is requested on March 7, 2023, to ensure continued stabilization and enhancement needs for the CRM system are addressed in a timely manner.
FISCAL IMPACT
The requested action increases the annual contract authority with Deloitte by $24,000 and the contingency by $6,000. The new annual contract amount will be $264,000, with a 25 percent contingency of $66,000, for a revised total annual contract amount not to exceed $330,000. This contract increase was not included in the original critical needs technology funding plan, but sufficient budget is available in the General Services Fund Group in the Technology and Innovation Department, offset by savings generated from other critical needs requests and the vacancy from the CRM support position. The original cost to implement a new CRM system was included in the critical technology infrastructure needs presentation on December 5, 2017. This recommendation is anticipated to have no staffing impact beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
LEA D. ERIKSEN
DIRECTOR
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER