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SF Permit modernization: Exela platform nearly ready but reporting and data migration still behind schedule
Summary
DBI and the Department of Technology reported progress on the Exela (Acela) permit platform—nonproduction environments are built and major modules are in development—but data migration and reporting lag behind and some report components may not be ready for initial user testing ahead of the planned Sept. 4 go‑live.
DBI staff and the Department of Technology gave a technical update May 16 on the city’s SF Permit implementation on the Exela (referred to in the meeting as the Acela/Exela platform). Sean Buellen said development and test environments are complete and components for planning, code enforcement and inspections are under active build. Major data migration for permits, complaints and inspection history is in progress.
Buellen said some build tracks and reporting deliverables missed late‑April/early‑May milestones; development teams added vendor resources and are prioritizing customer‑facing reports for user acceptance testing. DBI staff emphasized that not all reporting components will be available at the start of internal systems testing, and that the September 4 go‑live remains the target but will require a carefully managed multi‑day data migration and possible extended downtime. During Q&A, commissioners asked whether reporting delays stemmed from data access or report complexity; staff said most slippage is due to complex report specifications and calculation rules.
Buellen also warned the commission that the migration involves very large historic datasets (tens of millions of records; transcript references both '110,000,000' and later '10,000,000' records), and that the team may need more than the planned four days of downtime for the cutover. The department plans user‑acceptance testing before opening the application to business users and expects to host departmental readiness meetings in late May to prepare for launch.
