ERP Group Focuses                      On Collaboration Opportunities

March 23, 2009 -- A group of municipal IT leaders is developing new ways to collaborate in finding long-term solutions for acquiring and managing the technologies usually found in enterprise-resources-planning (ERP) systems.

The ERP Municipal Users’ Special Interest Group, under the auspices of MISA/ASIM Canada, met in February in York Region, Ontario, to review a 100-page summary they have compiled from information submitted by vendors.

Thirty vendors responded to a request for information issued in July 2008 by the group of about 15 municipalities from Ontario and British Columbia. The RFI marked the first time that municipalities from various parts of Canada collectively issued a formal request to vendors for information concerning technologies that individual municipalities might purchase in future.

The group’s summary contains comments and evaluations of the vendor submissions and insights into the ERP market. Compilation of the summary, organized by functional topics, was led by Joe Evers, consulting principal of JcEvers Consulting Corp.

The summary and other documents related to the ERP Municipal Users’ Special Interest Group have been posted in the Municipal Members Peer-to-Peer zone in the Members Only section of www.misa.on.ca, accessible by password.

Common Ground

At the February meeting, Mark McKnight of York Region led the group through an analysis of projects planned by their municipalities in 2009, looking for common ground for collaboration.

This resulted in the formation of eight task forces that will seek to identify collaborative opportunities for municipalities dealing with eight ERP-related issues: architecture, asset management, DRP/business continuity, content management, financial systems value, human capital systems value, reporting and security. 

Another team will focus on discussions and negotiations with specific vendors. The group as a whole will next meet during the MISA Ontario Annual Conference in early June.

The users’ group was founded in the fall of 2006 by Louis Shallal, chief information technology officer of York Region. It has identified four goals:

•  Develop a service model with the vendor community to deliver municipally            focused products

•  Create a collaborative forum to advance the knowledge and capabilities of the municipal community

•  Facilitate active collaboration on common initiatives

•  Maximize the benefits of new development for the benefit of all participants.