Submitted By
Erik Jacobsen
Reviewed By
A.M. Zayyad
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Approving A Purchase And Subscription Agreement With Granicus, LLC For Village Website And Other Services Through A Master Agreement Secured By The National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance For A Term of Three Years In An Amount Not To Exceed $109,717.72 Annually, Authorizing its Execution And Waiving The Village’s Bid Process For The Agreement
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Overview
Overview
The Village seeks to address several priorities related to digital communications by replacing its existing contract with Granicus with a contract for the Granicus Government Experience Cloud. This product offers a suite of solutions that address the Village’s need for a website redesign, community engagement portal, and online customer service hub. The Village has relied on components of the Granicus government transparency suite in increasingly broader ways since 2011, and this latest proposal would expand the relationship to harness the solutions Granicus offers to help the Village better connect and engage with residents.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Approve the resolution with the understanding that Village staff will continue to explore the possibility of incorporating a mobile app in the future to supplement and further enhance digital communications.
Fiscal Impact
The terms of the current proposal include a three-year contract that would update the Village’s existing Granicus subscription to include the new products outlined in the proposal.
The proposal includes Year 1 pricing of $98,904.51. This includes $74,797.40 in one-time setup and configuration fees and $34,656.94 in prorated subscription fees with credit for subscription fees already paid. The proposal includes Year 2 pricing of $102,539.93 for subscription fees and Year 3 pricing of $109,717.72 for subscription fees.
The Granicus Government Experience Cloud can be purchased through the National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCAP 01-115). The NCPA is a leading national government purchasing cooperative that reduces the cost of goods and services by leveraging the purchasing power of public agencies in all 50 states.
Background
The Granicus Government Experience Cloud offers solutions for several of the Village’s public communications and customer service priorities. See below for an overview of the various components that would be new additions to the Village’s Granicus contract:
OpenCities SaaS License
The OpenCities platform would allow the Village to launch a modern, easy-to-use website. Included in the contract are ongoing product and security updates and enhancements. The current Village website is run through Drupal CMS and was launched in 2013. For several years staff has been exploring website redesign options. The current Village website is running on Drupal 7, which will no longer be supported after November 2023, thus requiring an upgrade by this date.
Engagement HQ Unlimited License
Engagement HQ would provide the Village with a community engagement platform designed to increase public participation on a range of topics. The platform includes eight unique tools for better online engagement - forums, ideas, places, stories, guestbooks, questions, polls, and surveys. These tools can be deployed to gather feedback about any topic the Village chooses. The platform’s analytics framework makes it easy to visualize the feedback through reports that can be shared with stakeholders. Selecting a community engagement platform was included in the Communications Department’s 2022 work plan.
govService Essentials
The govService Essentials platform would serve as an online customer service hub for residents. The robust program offers back-end administration capabilities that allow staff to assign tasks and fulfill requests through a customized workflow. The selection of a new customer service request management system was included in the Public Works Department’s 2022 work plan to replace an internal-only system and outdated Microsoft Access application.
Communications Cloud License
The Cloud would enable the Village to connect with residents through email and SMS/text messages. The service would integrate with other products included in this proposal to give residents the option to sign up to receive more information about topics of their choosing. The service could replace the current Constant Contact email marketing tool that several Village departments use to send mass notifications.
OpenForms Enterprise License
OpenForms is a digital forms builder specifically designed for government that would help the Village turn complicated, multi-page forms into simple, step-by-step forms that adjust based on customer responses. The Village currently has several online forms set up through its current website and a number of links to PDF forms posted on the Village website. These existing forms could be upgraded using this new software to create an improved experience for both the person filling out the forms and the administrators who process the submissions.
Alternatives
Alternative 1: Include the Granicus Resident Mobile App in the contract at an additional cost of approximately $12,000 per year plus a one-time implementation fee of $10,000.
Advantages
• This product would allow residents to make online requests by downloading a mobile app rather than navigating to the Village website via the web browser on their mobile device.
• There is an option to wait and add this to the contract at a later date after reviewing data to determine how users are accessing the govSerivce Essentials platform from mobile devices.
Disadvantages
• Additional costs may not be justified given typically low uptake of mobile apps related to municipal government. Granicus reports that based on its research, the percentage of residents who download a government service mobile app is typically in the low single digits.
• The Granicus mobile app is specific to the govService customer service hub module. While the app would allow residents to make service requests, it would not integrate with the community engagement platform.
Alternative 2: Explore other options and defer decisions related to a website redesign, online community engagement portal and online customer service hub until a later date.
Advantages
• Offers an opportunity to focus on each product as a separate entity.
• Provides more time to explore options related to a mobile app.
Disadvantages:
• The Village would still be employing a website designed in 2013 that is in some ways past its prime and will be operating on outdated security.
• Public Works staff would continue working with outdated databases for processing service requests with outdated security.
• Staff would not have access to tools that could help increase community engagement on various high-priority topics.
• The user experience from one platform to another would vary more than it would by using a single vendor.
• Dealing with multiple project managers and multiple interfaces would be more challenging from an administrative perspective.
• Some technical capabilities of other products may not align with the Village’s needs as well as Granicus’ product, specifically as it relates to the Village’s Geographic Information System.
The timeline for implementation would likely be longer as each separate item may require a request for proposals.
Previous Board Action
The Granicus Government Experience Cloud was presented to the Village Board during a study session on July 25, 2022. At that time Village Trustees gave direction to staff to proceed with plans to pursue an agreement with Granicus to replace the Village’s current contract with a new contract that incorporates new suite of digital communication products, including a redesigned Village website, new community engagement platform and new online customer service hub.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
The Civic Information Systems Commission passed a motion on Aug. 11, 2022, in support of the Village plan to expand its contract with Grancius to include the Government Experience Cloud. A letter from CISC Chair David Baker is attached to this agenda item.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Review and possibly renew the contract at the end of its three-year term.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A