Commissioners ask for more details before committing to SimplyGov enterprise platform

Indian River County commissioners heard a detailed briefing on Jan. 27 about a proposed enterprise workflow and automation platform (branded in the presentation as SimplyGov/SimplyGoV) intended to consolidate multiple county software tools and reduce data fragmentation.

County administrator and IT staff framed the proposal as the outcome of a Stonehill/RedLeaf assessment that identified fragmentation, cybersecurity gaps and opportunities for an enterprise approach. IT Director Eric Harvey and consultant Jamie Grant of RedLeaf described potential benefits including a single source-of-truth for workflows, fewer licenses to manage, centralized reporting/dashboards, and advantages for cybersecurity. Vendor representative Dave O'Connell said the negotiated five-year enterprise price would be delivered as annual payments and include protections such as termination-for-convenience and renewal caps; staff characterized the five-year total as approximately $2.9 million if renewed each year.

Commissioners sought specifics before committing public dollars. Questions focused on three practical points: whether SimplyGov had been evaluated in previous permitting procurements (MGO was the procurement previously used for permitting), whether the platform could handle an integrated land-development review workflow end-to-end, and when savings from sunsetting roughly 13 existing platforms would materialize. Commissioner Adams and others emphasized the need for a phased analysis that shows when current platform costs would sunset and resulting net savings; some commissioners asked for example implementations and test cases for permitting.

County counsel and staff confirmed that data would remain county-owned and that terms such as "subject to appropriation" and "termination for convenience" were part of standard procurement language being negotiated to balance price and protection. No contract was approved on Jan. 27. Chair and staff directed the IT team to return to the commission with additional documentation and a clearer sunsetting/savings schedule, with the board suggesting a follow-up meeting in early February to allow time for that analysis.

The discussion highlighted a common procurement tension the board raised: potential short-term cost versus longer-term savings and operational improvements. Staff said initial implementation would focus on highest-priority workflows and that the enterprise license was structured to allow department-level rollouts while centralizing governance and security.