Redmond to seek council approval for $528,000 EnerGov cloud licensing agreement

City technology staff asked council to place a two‑year EnerGov cloud licensing and service agreement with Tyler Technologies on the May 20 consent agenda, describing the move as part of a broader permitting process modernization.

Deputy Director Chad Marsh and Carmen Hall, project management office manager, told the Committee of the Whole on May 13 that the EnerGov modernization project was approved in the 2023 BTIP and includes a parallel effort to simplify and standardize permitting workflows across planning, public works and fire. The requested contract—about $528,000—covers two years of cloud licensing and service and replaces the city’s current on‑premises agreement.

Why it matters: staff said moving EnerGov to a cloud SaaS model will improve system reliability and uptime, provide redundant off‑site disaster recovery, streamline vendor‑managed updates, and free TIS staff for other work. Tyler Technologies has signaled it will discontinue its on‑premises offering in the future; Marsh said moving now allows the city to align migration timing with its process improvements rather than be forced later.

Costs and fiscal context: staff said ongoing operational costs are higher in the cloud—roughly $254,000 annually with a potential 5% year‑over‑year increase—but offset in part by existing operational and prepaid amounts. Because the city pre‑paid a 2025 license, staff said the city will receive an approximate $67,000 credit and will not be double‑charged for concurrent instances. Marsh and Hall estimated a roughly $20,000 additional net cost over a five‑year comparison that includes hardware, staff time, and data‑center costs. Staff said part of the ROI analysis will include later estimates of planning, public works and fire staff time saved through process improvements.

Security and continuity: council members asked about cybersecurity. Marsh said vendor‑managed cloud hosting can improve security posture by placing patching and infrastructure security in the vendor’s domain, complemented by the city’s cybersecurity team.

Next steps: staff asked that the intergovernmental permitting and licensing contract be placed on the May 20 consent agenda; the committee had no objections. Staff said they will return with a statement of work for Tyler Technologies to support process improvement and implementation and expect a platform flip to the cloud after process changes (staff anticipated a flip in roughly Q1 of the following year).