Rosenberg staff backs switch from EnerGov to MyGovernmentOnline to avoid costly cloud migration

City staff told Rosenberg's council at a workshop that switching the city's permitting, code compliance and public-works software from Tyler Technologies' EnerGov/Intergov products to MyGovernmentOnline (MGO) would avoid a costly cloud migration and recurring per-user licensing fees.

Brian (IT/project lead) and staff member Joyce presented the proposal and said the city will keep its ENCODE system for finance, utility billing and municipal court but replace EnerGov/Intergov modules used by planning, permitting, code compliance and public works. "Our current software has never fully and properly been implemented, which severely has reduced our efficiencies," Brian said, and that EnerGov updates will end unless the city moves Tyler products to Tyler's cloud.

Staff said continuing with Tyler would require a roughly $100,000 one-time cloud migration cost plus additional reimplementation expense and per-user license fees; EnerGov/Intergov currently costs about $70,000 annually. The MyGovernmentOnline option, presented as an interlocal partnership with an organization created by local governments, would be subscription-based with unlimited users and a monthly total that staff said would amount to $6,205 per month (about $74,460 per year). Staff told council there is no upfront cost and no RFP is required for an interlocal agreement.

Deployment and timing: Staff outlined a discovery, configuration, testing and training sequence and said the target is to complete the switch before Oct. 31 contractual deadlines for current services, with a planned November 1 target for the new system to be live in time to avoid a gap. Brian and staff said Richmond and other municipalities use MGO and that the city could run both systems for a short overlap period during cutover.

Security and support: Councilmembers asked about cloud security and data recovery; staff said the city's IT director has vetted the provider and is satisfied that cloud security and data portability meet the city's needs. Staff emphasized unlimited support and no-cost custom reports as part of the MGO product offering.

Costs and tradeoffs: Staff compared continuing with EnerGov (estimated one-time migration and reimplementation costs, plus per-user licensing and annual fees that could rise as the staff base grows) versus switching to MGO at the $6,205 monthly subscription. Brian and Joyce told council that MGO includes a native mobile app, 24-hour customer support and unlimited internal user accounts.

Council response: Several councilmembers supported moving to a product with lower up-front conversion costs and broader user access. Felix (Councilmember) said he favored progress and saving money; Hector (Councilmember) raised questions about data portability and previous migration issues, which staff said they had addressed in conversations with the vendor and the IT director.

Next steps: Staff will proceed with the interlocal agreement and begin implementation planning with a discovery phase and a test environment. The council did not take a formal vote at the workshop; staff asked for direction and indicated it would start configuration after council approval.