Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Information Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sammamish presentation outlines multi‑year IT strategic plan; finance and permitting systems prioritized
Summary
City IT staff presented a strategic plan that prioritizes a financial system modernization this year and a permitting system replacement next year, along with enterprise integration, security maintenance and a change advisory board for project prioritization.
Sammamish City IT Director Jim Hominyk presented an information technology strategic plan at the Jan. 14 study session, laying out a multi‑year road map that prioritizes an updated financial system now and a permitting (community development) system in the near term.
Why this matters: The plan is intended to move the city from multiple point solutions toward a more integrated enterprise approach that can improve staff efficiency, enable data-driven dashboards and reduce the administrative overhead of maintaining many distinct systems. IT staff also highlighted ongoing cyber‑security work as a continuing priority.
Key points from the presentation: - Needs assessment: IT interviewed 39 staff across departments and worked with external technology partner Flow Analytics to inventory systems and identify gaps in documentation and integration. Staff discovered several point systems that were not centrally documented, including some park lighting and irrigation controls. - Near-term priorities: The financial system modernization is the first major initiative and is budgeted in the current biennium; IT reported the project is in vendor selection with two finalists. A modern phone system (team‑based) and a permitting system replacement (community development) are planned for later in 2025 and 2026. - Enterprise approach: The plan favors integrated enterprise systems to reduce duplicated licensing costs, centralize data and enable workflow automation; the plan includes the creation of a technology change advisory board (CAB) with department leadership to prioritize competing projects. - Security and resilience: Hominyk reiterated ongoing investments in cyber security and infrastructure following a prior cyber event; IT will continue to prioritize patching, security monitoring and resilience efforts. - Metrics and next steps: Council members asked for measurable success metrics (systems retired, staff hours saved, security posture improvements) and for a public dashboard to show progress and efficiency gains. IT committed to return with more detailed milestones and monitoring measures as projects proceed.
Budget and timeline: The heaviest technology investment is planned in 2025–2026 for enterprise initiatives; IT said those asks are included in the current budget. The permitting system is targeted to begin implementation later in 2025 and extend into 2026.
Council questions focused on asset mapping in CityWorks (stormwater and parks assets), how a move to enterprise systems would create efficiency and potential cost savings, and what metrics will be used to measure success. IT said it would present configuration milestones and more concrete metrics as projects advance.
Ending: Council thanked IT for compiling the plan and asked staff to return with measurable success indicators and periodic reports as large procurements move forward.
