4.6. SR 11-17-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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c~ty of iver MEMORANDUM Item #4.6. TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Mayor & City Council Lori Johnson, Asst. City Administrator/ Finance Director November 17, 1997 Consider Letter of Intent to Purchase Computer Software for Finance and Payroll Applications For numerous reasons, the city's payroll and financial software needs to be replaced within the next year. In anticipation of this purchase, funds were included in both the 1997 and 1998 budgets. This request is coming forward at this time because the vendor of choice is offering a discount which expires on November 18. This memo will provide background information on the need for the change, the selection criteria that were used, and the Finance Department's recommendation. Background In 1988, an IBM System 36 and the software necessary to perform all payroll, financial, and data processing applications were purchased for approximately $15,000; the expected useful life was estimated to be five years. Almost ten years later, our software vendor has informed us that our applications will no longer be upgraded or maintained because the hardware is obsolete. In fact, the applications will not be made year 2000 compliant. Our current system has been efficient, cost effective, and reliable but will no longer be supported so a change must be made. Recently, the Finance Department has been reviewing options, including renewing the licenses with the current vendor and buying upgraded hardware on which to run the updated software, or finding acceptable software to run on the current network. After reviewing the software available from numerous vendors, the selection was narrowed to two; BRC, the current vendor, and Micro Arizala Systems, Inc., whose product is FundBalance. When reviewing and comparing the 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425