MEMORANDUM

To:     Mike Wildgen

          City Manager

From: Debbie Van Saun

          Asst. City Manager

Re:     staff report – project management software

Date:  December 28, 2004

The following is submitted in response to Commissioner Sue Hack’s request for information on the above-referenced topic:

· Earlier in 2004, staff in the City Manager’s Office, Planning Department, and Information Systems Department began reviewing options for tracking/managing projects within the Planning Department.

· Examples of projects that would be tracked and managed electronically are: area plans, nodal plans, code updates, specialty planning projects (in areas such as historic resources, long range population projections, and mapping updates), etc.

· Early on, it became apparent that something more detailed than what might be developed in Microsoft Excel or Access would be needed. 

· An analysis of the Microsoft Project software and its applicability to the intended use led staff to set up a review session in October with an instructor from our current training vendor (New Horizons) so that multiple staff members could be exposed to the various attributes and functions of the software.

· Part of the review process involved soliciting user comments from Victor Torres, Neighborhood Resources Director, who used the software extensively while in municipal government in New Mexico.  Victor pointed out the various levels of project detail that could be utilized as well as the template capability that exists for streamlining data entry. 

· Based upon our review of the capabilities of the Microsoft Project software and the intended use, we decided to purchase the necessary licensing and training at a total cost of $3,315.70.

· Once the software is installed on the appropriate Planning computers, training will take place and staff will begin utilizing the project management capabilities.  Full implementation may take several months, including the initial data entry for all current projects within the department. 

· The desired outcomes include the development of an efficient tracking tool with reporting capabilities that can be transferred to the Planning Department’s website for public access.

c:       Linda Finger, Planning Director

          Ron Hall, Information Systems Director

          Victor Torres, Neighborhood Resources Director

          Dave Corliss, Asst. City Manager