HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2026-01-27_11a IT Strategic PlanItem 11.a.
MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council
FROM: Nicole Valentine, Director of Administrative Services
BY: Kevin Waddy, Information Technology Manager
SUBJECT: Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan
DATE: January 27, 2026
RECOMMENDATION:
1) Adopt a Resolution approving the Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan; and
2) Find that adopting a Resolution approving the IT Strategic Plan is not a project subject
to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it has no potential to result
in either a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
(State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15060, subd. (c)(2)-(3), 15378).
IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES:
The total contract cost was $84,150 and was incorporated in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-
26 budget and IT Division work plan. The projects associated with the IT Strategic Plan
will not have a financial impact in FY 2025-26. Any projects in future fiscal years will be
incorporated into budget requests within the operating or 10 -Year Capital Improvement
Program (10-Year CIP) budget.
BACKGROUND:
An IT Strategic Plan serves as the foundational framework for evaluating and
implementing technology within the City.
In January 2025, the City issued a Request for Proposals for consultant services to assist
in the development of the IT Strategic Plan. In March 2025, the City entered into an
agreement with SDI Presence LLC (SDI) to work collaboratively with staff to create the IT
Strategic Plan. This staff report will discuss the purpose, the process used to develop,
and the highlights of the IT Strategic Plan (Exhibit A of Attachment 1). Funding decisions
guided by the IT Strategic Plan would still occur through the normal budgeting and
procurement process.
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Item 11.a.
City Council
Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan
January 27, 2026
Page 2
ANALYSIS OF ISSUES:
Purpose of the IT Strategic Plan
The purpose of an IT Strategic Plan is to provide a structured roadmap for how the City
will use technology to support its organizational goals, service delivery, and long -term
operational needs. The IT Strategic Plan establishes priorities for technology investments,
aligns IT resources with departmental and Citywide objectives, and ensures that
technology decisions are made in a coordinated, efficient, and fiscally responsible
manner.
The IT Strategic Plan also serves as a governance and planning tool by identifying current
technology strengths and gaps, outlining future initiatives, and guiding the allocation of
staff time and financial resources. By doing so, the plan helps the City respond to evolving
service demands, manage technology risks, improve system reliability an d security, and
maximize the value of its technology investments for both internal operations and public -
facing services.
Methodology for Developing the IT Strategic Plan
Oversight for the development of the IT Strategic Plan was provided by the IT Divisi on,
including the IT Manager and IT Specialist. The process for developing the IT Strategic
Plan consisted of three phases:
Phase I – Background Information Technology Assessment;
Phase II – Strategic Plan Workshop; and
Phase III – Information Technology Strategic Plan Development and Review.
Phase I included an anonymous survey of all City staff with email addresses regarding
their level of satisfaction with the business applications they use, the support they receive,
and the City’s IT infrastructure. In-person interviews with key user stakeholders in each
of the City’s departments were utilized to identify the business applications that they use,
issues that they are experiencing, projects that were in progress, and p rojects that they
would like to initiate in the future. With this information, SDI created an IT Assessment
Report that developed a portfolio of proposed projects to be considered in the IT Strategic
Plan. The portfolio provided key metrics for each project, including descriptive information
about the project, range of costs, estimated level of risk, and estimated level of effort.
Phase II included an interactive and highly participative workshop in which the City
Manager, department heads, and key users collaboratively reviewed and prioritized
proposed IT projects to establish the project schedule included in the IT Strategic Plan.
The project portfolio workshop organized projects into broad categories based on their
current status, including projects already underway, those planned to begin within the
current fiscal year, longer-term strategic initiatives proposed for future years of the IT
Strategic Plan, and tactical items identified for future consideration as resources allow.
Workshop participants reviewed and discussed each project, refining the portfolio by
adding, removing, or consolidating initiatives as appropriate. Participants then engaged
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Item 11.a.
City Council
Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan
January 27, 2026
Page 3
in a structured voting exercise to identify the projects most critical to the City’s needs. The
outcomes of this collaborative process were used to refine and finalize the proposed IT
Strategic Plan timeline.
The final phase of the IT Strategic Plan development focused on establishing a clear
framework to align the City’s information technology resources with the City’s business
objectives and operational priorities. The IT Strategic Plan is intended to enhance the
City’s ability to respond to changing circumstances and evolving technology needs, better
manage the total cost of ownership for IT systems, and maximize the value of the City’s
technology investments. In addition, the Plan supports the consistent and reliable delivery
of information technology services to City staff and the community.
Highlights of the IT Plan
To support development of the IT Strate gic Plan, SDI prepared a SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and accompanying recommendations
to address issues identified through the SWOT process and concerns raised during user
interviews. The analysis found that the City’s IT Division is viewed very positively by
internal users, with departments expressing strong satisfaction with service delivery and
customer responsiveness. The City has invested in robust enterprise applications and
demonstrates a strong organizational commitment to improving and modernizing core IT
operations. City departments are generally receptive to technological initiatives and
supportive of increased use of technology, providing a solid foundation for future
improvements.
The analysis also identified several areas for improvement, including the absence of a
clear, organization-wide system for managing IT decisions and the underutilization of
existing business applications. Decentralized software license management and limit ed
ongoing training contribute to inefficiencies, higher costs, and reduced return on
technology investments. Opportunities were identified to expand the use of the City’s
Geographic Information System, implement a comprehensive IT asset management
program, and align IT staffing levels with service demand through a combination of
internal resources and external service providers. Key risks include potential loss of
institutional IT knowledge due to staff turnover, increased cybersecurity exposure as the
City expands its digital presence, and vulnerabilities related to business continuity in the
event of a major disruption.
The project schedule that forms the core of the IT Strategic Plan was developed through
a collaborative and highly interactive process b etween City staff and SDI. SDI prepared
a detailed Gantt chart, updated estimated project costs, and developed annual and total
program cost projections for the IT Strategic Plan. As reflected in Table 1, the project
schedule identifies short-term projects scheduled in FY 2026, projects planned for FY
2027 - 2030, and unscheduled projects placed in a “Parking Lot” for future consideration.
The schedule also reflects projects that have been completed or removed. Project timing
is shown in quarterly increments for FY 2026, half-year increments for FY 2027, and full-
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Item 11.a.
City Council
Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan
January 27, 2026
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year segments for FY 2028 through FY 2030 to support long-term planning and resource
alignment.
Table 1: Project Schedule
Staff is seeking City Council acceptance of the IT Strategic Plan through approval of the
attached Resolution (Attachment 1).
ALTERNATIVES:
The following alternatives are provided for the Council’s consideration:
1. Staff’s recommendation; or
2. Provide other direction to staff.
ADVANTAGES:
The IT Strategic Plan provides the City with a clear roadmap for managing technology
investments in a coordinated and fiscally responsible way. The Plan aligns IT initiatives
with City operations and Council priorities, improves transparency around project timing
and costs, strengthens governance and cybersecurity, and helps maximize the value of
existing technology systems. Overall, it supports more reliable service delivery, reduces
reactive decision-making, and positions the City to adapt to evolving technology needs
while using resources efficiently.
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Item 11.a.
City Council
Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan
January 27, 2026
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DISADVANTAGES:
While the IT Strategic Plan establishes a clear framework for future decision -making, it
also requires ongoing coordination, resource planning, and periodic updates to remain
effective. Some initiatives may need to be phased in over time to align with available
funding and staffing capacity, and priorities may evolve as technology and organizational
needs change.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Adopting a resolution approving the IT Strategic Plan is not a project subject to the
California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it has no potential to result in
either a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
(State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15060 (c)(2) and (3), 15378.) Alternatively, the IT Strategic
Plan is exempt from CEQA on the basis that it can be seen with certainty that there is no
possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
(State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061, subd. (b)(3).)
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS:
The Agenda was posted at City Hall and on the City’s website in accordance with
Government Code Section 54954.2.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution with Exhibit A - IT Strategic Plan
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ATTACHMENT 1
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF ARROYO GRANDE APPROVING THE INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined it is in the best interest of the City to
establish an Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan document to provide a future
agreed upon vision for the City and its operations; and
WHEREAS, the IT Strategic Plan is a key step in the City’s approach to planning long-
term to identify needs and how best to address those needs in the most efficient and
effective manner; and
WHEREAS, the IT Strategic Plan is based on input obtained through surveying all
employees, in-person interviews of key stakeholders in every department, and a
collaborative workshop that created a collaborative process that refined and finalized
the IT Strategic Plan timeline; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Arroyo
Grande hereby:
1. Finds that all recitals above are true, correct, and incorporated herein.
2. Finds that approving the IT Strategic Plan is not a project subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it has no potential to result in either
a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
(State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15060 (c)(2) and (3), 15378.) Alternatively, the IT
Strategic Plan is exempt from CEQA on the basis that it can be seen with
certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a
significant effect on the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061, subd.
(b)(3).)
3. Adopts the IT Strategic Plan as set forth in Exhibit “A”, which is attached hereto
and incorporated herein by this reference.
On motion of Council Member , seconded by Council Member
, and on the following roll call vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
The foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted this 27th day of January, 2026.
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RESOLUTION NO.
PAGE 2
CAREN RAY RUSSOM, MAYOR
ATTEST:
JESSICA MATSON, CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
MATTHEW DOWNING, CITY MANAGER
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
ISAAC ROSEN, CITY ATTORNEY
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RESOLUTION NO.
PAGE 3
EXHIBIT A
IT STRATEGIC PLAN
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Information Technology Strategic Plan
December 30, 2025
Prepared by:
ATTACHMENT 1
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The City of Arroyo Grande Information Technology Strategic Plan
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ATTACHMENT 1
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Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.1 SCOPE & OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE IT STRATEGIC PLAN ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.3 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 ABOUT THE CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1 IT STRATEGIC PLAN OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................................................... 11
2.2 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE USER INTERVIEWS .................................................................................................................................................... 12
2.3 SDI’S RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
2.4 PROJECT SCHEDULE AND COST PER FY ........................................................................................................................................................... 18
3.0 STRATEGIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND TRENDS .................................................................................... 22
3.1 GUIDING PRINCIPLES .................................................................................................................................................................................. 22
3.2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRENDS .............................................................................................................................................................. 24
4.0 PROJECT SCHEDULE ......................................................................................................................................................................... 29
4.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
4.2 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
4.3 PROJECT PORTFOLIO ................................................................................................................................................................................... 30
4.4 PRIORITIZATION WORKSHOP ......................................................................................................................................................................... 31
5.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
5.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
5.2 ENTERPRISE IT GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 43
5.3 RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 44
5.4 CLOSING THOUGHT .................................................................................................................................................................................... 45
6.0 APPENDIX - ITSP PROJECT PORTFOLIO (ALPHABETICAL BY SPONSOR) ................................................................................................. 47
ATTACHMENT 1
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Revision Log
Date Title Description
December 30, 2025 IT Strategic Plan, Client Working Draft Initial draft of the IT Strategic Plan for the City’s review
January 7, 2026 IT Strategic Plan – Final Report Final document after the City’s review
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Scope & Objectives
This document, entitled Information Technology Strategic Plan (IT Strategic Plan or ITSP) was developed for the City of Arroyo Grande (City)
by SDI Presence LLC (SDI). The IT Strategic Plan will enable the City to align the allocation of its information technology resources with the
City’s business objectives and to obtain greater benefits for its investments in information technology. Although the IT Strategic Plan
provides a holistic view of the City’s information technology needs and priorities at the present time it does not attempt to predict the future;
but rather, it provides a baseline that will enable the City to re-allocate resources as needed to effectively respond to new and/or changing
requirements.
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1.2 Development of the IT Strategic Plan
Figure 1.1 - Development of the IT Strategic Plan (Source: SDI)
Figure 1.1, Development of the IT Strategic Plan, provides a high-level view of the activities that were performed and the deliverables that
were created leading up to the ITSP itself. As shown, the planning process was oriented around three phases with the objectives of
identifying where the City is today regarding its use of information technology, where it needs to go, and how the City can get there.
In Phase 1, Initiate, and Phase 2, Assess, SDI conducted a series of activities which defined where the City is with its use of information
technology today and where it needs to go. Activities included:
Conducting an online survey open to all City employees with an email address in order to obtain information regarding their level of
satisfaction with the business applications they use, the supporting IT infrastructure, and the support services provided for them.
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Interviews with key user stakeholders to identify the business and operational applications being used, issues and obstacles that
the users were encountering, opportunities to improve business processes, future needs, and planned projects.
A review of the City’s conformance to best practices for information systems.
An analysis of the gap between the City’s current conformance to the best practices and to desirable targets.
An analysis of the City’s IT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT Analysis).
Findings related to the most significant information technology challenges facing the City.
Recommendations to remediate the findings.
In Phase 3, Deliver, SDI:
Developed a portfolio of strategic projects based on the findings and recommendations, user needs, and projects that were already
in-progress or planned. The portfolio was reviewed with the City, revised, and used as the basis for a project prioritization workshop.
Facilitated a prioritization workshop with the City Manager and department heads to reach consensus as to the projects to be
included in the IT Strategic Plan and the priorities of projects which were aligned over the next 5 years.
Developed granular project schedules.
Developed the IT Strategic Plan (this document).
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1.3 Document Organization
Figure 1.2 - Document Organization (Source: SDI)
As depicted in Figure 2, Document Organization, the IT Strategic Plan is structured as follows:
Section 1, Introduction: Provides information regarding the scope and objectives of the ITSP, the organization and contents of the
document, and information regarding the City of Arroyo Grande.
Section 2, Executive Summary: Provides a high-level review of how the plan was developed, the resulting project schedule, and
estimated costs per fiscal year for FY’s 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030.
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Section 3, Plan Foundation: Provides information regarding the guiding principles for this IT Strategic Plan, and trends in
information technology that are reasonably mature and relevant to the City’s objectives including artificial intelligence, business
intelligence, data governance, and the continuing evolution of “SMART” communities (use of information technology to increase
operational efficiency, share information with the public, and improve the quality of government services to citizens).
Section 4, Project Schedule: Provides information regarding the methodology used in the development of the ITSP, the Project
Portfolio, Project Schedule, Costs Per Fiscal Year, and Gantt charts.
Section 5, Conclusion: Provides final project thoughts and the next steps the City should consider in implementing ITSP projects.
Appendix: Provides an abbreviated version of the ITSP Project Portfolio.
Terminology and Numbering
In order to make this document more usable by people who are not information technology professionals, SDI has minimized the usage of
technical jargon and acronyms. The City’s IT Division is part of the Administrative Services (AS) Department and is generally referred to as
either AS/ITD or ITD to avoid confusion with information technology (IT) in general.
Figures and tables have been numbered consecutively within each section of the document, i.e., 1.1, etc.
1.4 About the City of Arroyo Grande
Picture Source: City of Arroyo Grande
The City of Arroyo Grande is a dynamic and historic community located along California’s Central Coast, approximately two miles inland
from the Pacific Ocean in San Luis Obispo County and with a population of just over 18,000 residents. Incorporated in 1911 as a general
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law city, Arroyo Grande operates under the Council-Manager form of government, with a five-member City Council elected by district for
four-year overlapping terms. The Council is elected on a non-partisan basis, and Council members must live in the district they represent.
The mayor is elected at large for a two-year term and is the presiding officer of the Council. The City Council is responsible for, among other
things, passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committees, and hiring the City Manager and City Attorney.
The City of Arroyo Grande is considered a full-service city, meaning that all or most municipal services are provided by the City, as opposed
to being contracted out to third-party providers. Some services commonly contracted out by municipalities include public safety and utility
services; however, only fire services, sanitation treatment, and solid waste disposal are contracted out by the City of Arroyo Grande.
The City’s mission is to be the best place possible for everyone who lives, works, and visits. It strives to achieve this mission by providing
efficient and responsive government services.
Figure 1.3 – City’s Organizational Chart (Source: City of Arroyo Grande)
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The City’s organization is depicted in Figure 1.3, City’s Organizational Chart. The City’s FY 2026/27 Budget provides for 94.3 FTE’s, more than
2/3 of these employees are in the Police Department and Public Works. IT services for the City are provided by 2 FTEs in the Administrative
Services Department as well as by external service providers and other governmental entities (for example, Police dispatch services are
provided by the San Luis Obispo County Sherriff’s Office Dispatch Center) as needed.
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2.0 Executive Summary
2.1 IT Strategic Plan Overview
The IT Strategic Plan was prepared for the City of Arroyo Grande with the objective of providing the City with the foundation to:
Align the allocation of IT resources with the City’s business objectives and priorities.
More agilely respond to changed circumstances and requirements.
Better manage the City’s total cost of ownership for information technology.
Derive greater value for its investments in information technology.
Consistently deliver information technology services to the City’s internal users and to the community.
The ITSP was developed in a highly interactive and participative manner which included:
An anonymous survey of all users with a City email address regarding their level of satisfaction with the business applications they
use, the support they receive, and the City’s IT infrastructure. The results of the “Voice of the User Survey” were provided in the
User Survey Report delivered to the City under separate cover.
In-person interviews with key user stakeholders in each of the City’s departments to identify the business applications that they
use, issues that they are experiencing, projects that were in progress, and projects that they would like to initiate in the future. The
results of the interviews were provided in the IT Assessment Report delivered to the City previously.
An interactive and highly participative workshop in which the City Manager, department heads, and key users reviewed a list of
projects and prioritized them to provide the basis for the project schedule included in the ITSP.
The completed ITSP provides an accurate depiction of where the project participants believe the City is today, where it needs to go, and how
it can best get there given available resources. The development of the ITSP also included a series of recommendations from SDI to enable
the City to better deliver IT services and to govern the use of IT resources.
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2.2 Key Takeaways from the User Interviews
SDI conducted interviews with key stakeholders across the City including:
City Manager
Administrative Services
City Clerk’s office
Community Development
Five Cities Fire Authority
Human Resources
Police
Public Works
Recreation
These interviews focused on:
The business applications and IT infrastructure being used by the interviewees and the challenges that they were experiencing with
them and with the support for them.
IT projects that were currently in progress and planned.
Opportunities to make better use of existing technology or to acquire new technology.
Table 2.1, Key Takeaways from the User Interviews, provides a summary of the primary concerns and opportunities noted in these
interviews. Table 2.1 is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of these interviews, but rather to convey the key discussion points
from them. Detailed abstracts from the interviews were provided in the IT Assessment Report previously delivered to the City.
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Table 2.1 – Key Takeaways from the User Interviews
Key Takeaways
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The useability of the City’s website (CivicPlus) is a concern. Citizens
frequently complain to Council Members about it.
The Council Chamber AV technology is a mission critical system and highly
visible. This is where Council Members are seen by the public across the City.
Troubleshooting Chamber technological issues is complicated.
The last Council Chamber AV system upgrade did not go far enough. There is
a need for cutting-edge technology, e.g., all wireless technology and
dedicated devices (such as laptops) at the dais for Council Members.
Employees need training in the use of Tyler’s EERP.
There are multiple payment processors in use across the City; these
processes need to be consolidated in the future.
Training is needed to take full advantage of the Adobe Suite. Users
sometimes find that Adobe Acrobat licensing is frustrating; there are rarely
licenses available for users who do not have a dedicated workstation.
The availability of two CRM solutions (CivicPlus Citizen Request Tracker and
Citizenserve used by Community Development) on the website is confusing
to the public.
City staff members are using AI-based tools, but the City does not have
policy on the appropriate usage of AI.
Investigate implementing Public Wi-Fi for the entire City. Wi-Fi availability is
very useful for events but is not available in some parks.
Investigate the feasibility of moving business license processing from
Citizenserve to Tyler’s EERP.
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Key Takeaways
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Reconfigure the City Hall, Fire Station 1, and Public Works Corporation yard
conference rooms to make them more useful. There are technical issues
with the “Zoom” conference rooms, they are not working well.
Migrate from the City’s current implementation of LaserFiche (document and
record management) to LaserFiche’s cloud solution including additional
licenses (already approved and budgeted).
A solution for the digital submission of site plans and other documents is
needed.
There is a need for additional GIS services and capabilities. The current GIS
system is deficient, and the maps are too old.
The training room at Fire Station 1 (originally designed as a backup EOC)
does not meet basic needs, is not reliable, does not support
teleconferencing and is not ADA accessible.
HR has purchased NEOGOV modules for recruiting and onboarding and an
analysis is needed to best understand how to utilize both NEOGOV and
TYLER EERP since there is overlaying functionality between NEOGOV and
Tyler EERP,
There is a need for an asset management system that ties into the GIS
system and enables remote access via mobile tablet-based devices for utility
field worker access.
There is a need for a digital work order management system.
Explore the feasibility of migrating to a more functional and robust
Recreation Management system that can integrate with Tyler EERP.
The security camera system needs to be expanded to all City facilities so they
can be monitored.
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2.3 SDI’s Recommendations
Based on the user interviews, interviews with the City’s IT staff, a review of the City’s conformance to best practices for the management
and delivery of information technology services, for security and the protection of information, and for the management of IT assets, SDI
prepared a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and recommendations to enable the City to remediate the
issues identified in the SWOT analysis and concerns identified through the user interviews.
SWOT Analysis
Figure 2.2, SWOT Analysis Methodology, depicts SDI’s approach to the development of
an assessment of the City’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats. As
shown, the City’s strengths lead to opportunities to make greater use of information
technology in serving the needs of its customers, while its weaknesses make it
vulnerable to potential threats which could impede the City’s ability to realize the
opportunities. Looking at the City in this framework, SDI found that it has both
significant strengths and opportunities; however, it must act to remediate the
weaknesses and mitigate the potential threats in order to realize the opportunities.
Table 2.3, Findings from the SWOT Analysis, provides SDI’s findings.
Table 2.3 – Findings from the SWOT Analysis
Area Findings
Strengths Departments are very satisfied with ITD’s service delivery and customer response.
The City has acquired robust applications (Tyler EERP, NEOGOV, Laserfiche, etc.).
Figure 2.2, SWOT Analysis Methodology
(Source SDI)
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Area Findings
There is an active commitment by the City to improve, streamline, and enhance core IT operations.
City departments appear to have little resistance to technological initiatives and support an increased use of technology.
Weaknesses
The City does not have a sustainable approach to the enterprise governance of information technology.
The City does not fully utilize its existing business applications.
Software license management is not centralized which results in inadequate application license allocation and availability.
There is a lack of continuing training in the use of business applications.
Opportunities
Expand the use of the Geographic Information System city-wide.
Promote continuous improvement in IT service delivery.
Create an IT asset management program to manage technology assets, their use, viability, lifespan, and cost.
Align ITD staffing levels with service demand through a combination of increased internal staffing and augmented external
service providers.
Threats
Potential loss of critical IT knowledge due to staff retirements or attrition.
Increased exposure to cybersecurity threats as the City increases its online profile.
Increased costs for IT, and reduced value as a result of the City’s overly heterogeneous business application environment.
In the event of a significant disaster, full business continuity may not be achieved.
Higher costs due to not fully leveraging business application functionality.
Recommendations
Table 2.4, Summary of Recommendations, provides a summary of the recommendations that SDI developed for the City. Each of these
recommendations resulted in the identification of one or more projects in the IT Strategic Plan for implementation. Please note that the
recommendations are discussed in greater detail in the IT Assessment Report previously delivered to the City. Table 2.4 provides information
for each of the recommendations including:
SDI’s estimate of the potential impact of the implementation on City operations in relative terms (High, Medium, Low).
SDI’s estimate of the potential difficulty of implementing the recommendation considering the estimated cost, the resource
requirements (for both user and ITD staff), and the risk involved. These have been consolidated into a single relative estimate (High,
Medium, Low).
The relationship of the recommendation to a series of objectives including:
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Improve the utilization of IT resources.
Streamline the delivery of information technology services.
Improve application effectiveness.
Enable improvements in the City’s return on investment /value (ROI/V) for its spending on information technology.
Table 2.4 – Summary of Recommendations (Source: SDI)
Recommendation
Estimated
Business
Value
Estimated
Difficulty
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The City should create an Application Portfolio. Medium Low
The City should conduct application post implementation reviews of Tyler EERP,
Laserfiche, NEOGOV, and Tyler Human Resources. High Medium
The City should provide on-going application training. High Medium
The City should create comprehensive business resilience plans. High High
The City should create a Cybersecurity, Awareness, and Action Plan. High High
The City should migrate the functions currently performed in EDEN to Tyler’s EERP. High High
The City should create a city-wide GIS Roadmap. High High
The City should develop an inventory of all IT Assets, document them, and write a
formal refreshment strategy for key components. High Medium
The City should structure an IT oversight committee to provide strategic directions for
the use of IT with the City. High Low
The City should augment the IT Division staff by adding FTE or contracting with outside
vendors. High High
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Recommendation
Estimated
Business
Value
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Difficulty
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The City should develop an IT Service Catalog and develop detailed delivery tasks for
outside vendors including performance metrics and service level requirements. High Medium
2.4 Project Schedule and Cost Per FY
Development of the Project Schedule
The project schedule that is at the “core” of this ITSP was developed with the City in a series of highly interactives and participative steps in
which:
SDI developed a portfolio of strategic projects that was based on the interviews conducted with the stakeholders from the City’s
user community and SDI’s recommendations. The portfolio was reviewed by the City’s management team in a workshop where the
participants had the opportunity to add, change, and delete projects, to prioritize them through a voting exercise, and to arrange
them across the timeline of the IT Strategic Plan.
SDI reviewed the draft project schedule that resulted from the workshop, suggested revisions where applicable, and then reviewed
the revised project schedule with the City’s Administrative Services Director and ITD Manager. Questions that resulted from SDI’s
review of the draft project schedule were reviewed with the participants in the workshop by the City and some additional chan ges
were made to the project schedule, and the status of projects in progress was updated. This became the basis for the IT Strategic
Plan.
From this schedule, SDI developed a Gantt Chart (provided in Section 4.0, Project Schedule), updated the estimated costs for each
project from the portfolio, and developed the estimated cost per fiscal year and the total program cost for the IT Strategic Plan.
Figure 2.5, Project Schedule Following City Review, depicts the project schedule following review by SDI and the City. The project schedule
identifies projects that:
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Are presently in progress during this fiscal year (FY 2026) or budgeted and scheduled to commence in FY 2026.
Are planned for completion during FY 2027, FY 2028, FY2029, and FY 2030, pending formal approval and budgeting.
Could not be scheduled at this time and placed in a “Parking Lot” for future consideration.
Were completed or deleted.
The project schedule looks at FY 2026 by quarters, FY 2027 in half-year increments, FY 2028, FY 2029, and FY 2030 in full-year segments.
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Figure 2.5 – Project Schedule Following City Review (Source: City of Arroyo Grande and SDI)
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Cost Per Fiscal Year
For each of the projects in the project schedule (excluding projects presently in progress in FY 2026 or that have already been planned and
budgeted for completion during FY 2026), SDI developed estimated high and low costs, averaged them, and then allocated the average cost
for the project into the fiscal year in which the project was scheduled to begin. Table 2.6, Summary of Cost Per Fiscal Year and Total Program
Cost, provides the potential cost for the implementation of the IT Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, and for the projects
in the “Parking Lot” that the City was not prepared to prioritize and schedule at this time. Table 2.6 also provides a total program cost for
the IT Strategic Plan. Please note that due to rounding, the total program cost is slightly less than the sum of the costs for the individual FY’s
and the projects in the Parking Lot.
Table 2.6 – Summary of Cost Per Fiscal Year and Total Program Cost
Fiscal Year: 2027 2028 2029 2030 Parking Lot
Cost Per Fiscal Year ($000’s): $ 505 $ 271 $ 280 $ 278 $ 248
Total Program Cost ($000’s) $ 1 ,581
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3.0 Strategic Information Technology Guiding Principles and Trends
In order to establish a basic level of guidance relative to IT planning and to create a foundation for meeting ITSP objectives, this section
provides a discussion of:
Guiding principles for the City including Enterprise Information Technology Governance and Cloud Migration. These guiding
principles are based on IT best practices and will enable the City to derive greater value for its investments in information technology
and more agilely respond to new and/or changed requirements.
Information technology trends that SDI considers to be mature and highly relevant to the City’s continuing development and
implementation of the ITSP. A concern for all IT planners is that not only does information technology continually evolve but the
pace of this evolution is continually accelerating. As a result, the ways in which organizations use information technology are
changing as are the expectations of internal and external stakeholders for access to information and services.
3.1 Guiding Principles
Enterprise IT Governance
Although the value of the effective use of information technology is well documented and accepted, the ability of an organization to realize
greater value for its investments in information technology depends, to a large degree, on its ability to ensure the alignment of information
technology plans and priorities with the organization’s long-term business goals. In the absence of a formal IT governance structure and a
strategic vision for the use and funding of information technology, this alignment is difficult to achieve and maintain. This can result in the
diversion of resources from long-term infrastructure projects, additional costs, delays, false starts, the adoption of applications and
systems that are redundant, or that seem promising at first but that fail to meet expectations or that are dead ends.
Although processes for the enterprise governance of information technology are relatively easy to establish, many public sector
organizations find it difficult to sustain them over time since:
The normal changes in an organization’s management team that typically occur over time may diminish support for IT governance.
Although IT governance is vital for IT-enabled organizations, it is not embedded in organizational culture in the same way as
budgeting, for example, and can be perceived by already overburdened decision-makers as yet another ancillary responsibility.
Key decision-makers may be more focused on the needs of their units rather than on the needs of the enterprise.
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The enterprise governance of IT often works best when it is added as an agenda item to an existing meeting of the City’s management team.
As an agenda item, the IT governance discussion does not need to be extensive, and if there is no new business to discuss, it can be
bypassed.
Cloud Migration
The migration of business applications that are hosted on-premises to the Cloud has become an appealing alternative for organizations in
both the public and private sector who have aging IT facilities and infrastructures. For these organizations, the use of Cloud based services
including Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), offer alternatives to initial capital
expenditures, recruitment and retention of full-time IT staff members, or reliance on staff-supplementation services (contractors). An
additional benefit for many organizations is that using SaaS simplifies their disaster recovery and business continuity planning since, in the
event of a local incident disabling their facilities, they can quickly resume operations from alternative facilities that have connection to the
Internet.
Firms supporting commercial-off-the-shelf business applications are also moving toward cloud-based models since they provide the
opportunity to lower product development and support costs and streamline the development and delivery of new releases and
functionality by reducing the number of variations between client installations. Increasingly, a number of commercial-off-the-shelf
business applications are now being offered only as cloud-based application services. Compared to the traditional model where software
was installed in multiple client sites, often with some variation in both the installation of the software and the supporting systems
environment and with differing levels of technical currency, SaaS greatly simplifies the process of providing user support and helps limit the
variety of releases and versions that the application provider must support.
Key benefits of migrating applications to the Cloud include:
The ability to obtain services under the terms of a service level agreement.
The ability to obtain service coverage for extended hours of operation including 24x7 operations.
The ability to defer, or avoid, capital costs for the acquisition of information technology infrastructure (such as servers and storage
devices).
The ability to more readily scale the IT environment to meet demand.
Reduced dependence on local staff resources, including training and planning for staff succession.
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Nonetheless, organizations seeking to migrate to Cloud-based services need to carefully consider:
The ability of the Cloud-service provider to comply (and to certify continuous compliance) with applicable information-protection
standards such as CJIS and HIPAA as well as to comply with requirements for the security of personally identifiable information
(PCI).
The costs related to training, data extract and purification, and testing (in a public cloud environment, these costs can be higher
since an organization may have less choice about when to go live with an update).
The continuing costs for utilization as well as for the management of multiple service providers.
The provisions for the availability of information for decision-making (particularly if the service is hosted offshore).
Potential issues with data ownership and security.
The costs and effort related to potentially exiting contractual arrangements in the future.
Network connection capacity, bandwidth, and redundancy should be evaluated to ensure the hosted services are available when
needed and meet performance expectations.
3.2 Information Technology Trends
A key consideration in evaluating the potential impact of information technology trends is that
they do not impact the operations and priorities of organizations to the same degree. Although
predicting the future of information technology can be problematic, as depicted in Figure 3.1,
Strategic Trends in Information Technology, SDI has identified four information technology
trends that:
Are relevant to the City’s IT Strategic Plan and will likely have an impact on the City’s
business objectives and priorities in the future and may shape how the City
implements the plan.
Have become mature (i.e., are stable, scalable, and that are effectively supported).
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SDI is also mindful that the adoption of new technologies, products, services, and practices may not, by themselves, result in significant
improvements in organizational performance. It has been noted that improvements in organizational performance have less to do with
“shiny objects” (such as new technologies, products, services, and practices), than it does to the remediation of the obstacles preventing
organizations from effectively making use of the technologies, products, services, and
practices that they already have.
Artificial Intelligence
There has been considerable progress in the development of tools that enable organizations to effectively navigate through and consume a
growing body of information in real time as well as to personalize the delivery of information and services. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can:
Engage in interactions with humans using Natural Language Processing (NLP) or with other machines (“chat boxes”).
Interpret information provided by a user and take the appropriate action(s), based on either a predetermined set of responses or
utilize machine learning algorithms to respond to the user.
Internalize new information and/or trends and adapt responses as needed (Machine Learning).
Reduce the need for human input to respond to questions or to requests for services, thus increasing responsiveness and
minimizing lost productivity compared to traditional service desk processes.
The same features and functionality can assist staff members in effectively completing automated tasks that are performed routinely,
enable them to take on new assignments as needed with a minimum amount of training, and access knowledge bases to securely perform
tasks such as resetting and managing passwords and resolving common device and/or network issues without needing to complete a ticket
and wait for a response from the service desk.
Many of these tools are available as cloud-based services and can be installed, customized, and implemented with relatively less time and
expense than for traditional business applications.
Nonetheless, there are significant security issues related to the use of AI. One large city in California has recently determined that the safety
and security measures provided by unauthorized automated AI tools do not meet the city’s standards and has prohibited city employees
from using unauthorized AI technology for city business, including AI for transcription services or virtual meeting software. Gartner Research
identified AI Trust, Risk, and Security Management (AI TRiSM) as one of the top strategic technology trends in 2024.
Figure 3.1 - Information Technology
Trends (Source: SDI)
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Business Intelligence
There has been considerable progress in the development of tools that enable organizations to consume a growing body of information for
strategic/analytical purposes. Executives, in particular, have become increasingly reliant on “dashboards” to provide them with current
information on key performance indicators such as production goals, quality, and revenue.
PowerBI, a Microsoft product, is already being widely used and it is likely this trend will continue. There are some cautions about the
inconsistent use of tools, like PowerBI, in an environment where data (including the quality of the data, in terms of accuracy, consistency,
and timeliness) is not being actively governed.
Gartner has noted that they continue to “receive a significant number of inquiries from Power BI users struggling to govern the analytic
content creation and publication process. These concerns will be exacerbated in the Copilot era. Customers express concerns over
multiple ways to accomplish most tasks, such as modeling data or promoting content.”1
The inconsistent use of a tool in an environment where the data is also inconsistent can result in inconsistent results which mitigate the
value of this information for decision-making purposes. While it is easy to deploy PowerBI, the foundation for successful collection,
aggregation, and analysis of information by different businesses across an organization requires a larger, continuing effort, to establish and
maintain an enterprise data architecture. This is one of the “hidden” costs of the successful use of business intelligence and includes:
The development of processes (including processes for its governance, support, and evolution) and the allocation of staff resources
to support the data architecture since both the data being collected and the organization’s use of the data will change over time.
The development of standards and policies to ensure that business applications will be able to exchange information with other
business applications and support the integration and compilation of information.
The development of processes to govern an enterprise data architecture.
Organizations without an enterprise data architecture, supporting standards, and staff to support it, often find that their cost of ownership
for business intelligence can increase and quickly become a worst-case scenario as it increases while the return on the organization’s
investment decreases.
1 Top Strategic Technology Trends, 2024.
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Data Governance
The implementation of processes for the enterprise governance and management of data is, as discussed earlier in the section on business
intelligence, a fundamental building block for the successful use of information not only for decision-making but for the effective operation
of an organization particularly with regard to data quality. A study by IBM found that 82% of the respondents said that data quality concerns
are a barrier to effective information sharing, while 80% of executives do not trust the data they are provided to manage organizational
performance.2
Some variations in data quality are a natural consequence of the continuing development of business applications over time since the
implementation of new functionality can result in discrepancies between the quality of the data being entered. Changes in business
practices as well as changes in the proficiency of users in making use of business applications due to factors such as staff attrition.
Data governance ensures that the data used for decision-making and for supporting operations is accurate, current, and consistent:
The objective of data governance is to ensure that all units within the organization are working collaboratively to ensure that data is
available, consistently used across the enterprise, timely, and used appropriately (e.g., consistent with internal and external
standards for items such personally identifiable information). This is the role of the organization’s data stewards.
Individuals involved in the management of data include data custodians, who are responsible for the physical storage, availability,
and security of the organization’s data, while data owners are responsible for how their business or operational unit creates and
maintains the data in their business or operational applications.
The effective implementation of sustainable approaches to data governance and data management will be critical to the City’s efforts to
obtain greater value for its investments in business and operational applications.
“SMART” Communities
The implementation of “Smart” technologies is unusual in that this trend is not a single technology, per-se, but rather represents an
integrated approach to the utilization of emerging information technologies and technology trends. The objectives of “Smart”
implementations include enabling organizations to more effectively identify trends (such as incidents, traffic, power demand, parking space
2 What is data observability, IBM, https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/observability
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availability, etc.); to re-allocate or reprogram resources in response to these trends; and to support programs such as “Smart” energy-
efficient buildings, autonomous vehicles, and electronic payment processing.
The Internet of Things (IoT) provides the foundation for many “Smart” initiatives. For some time, devices have stored data so that it can be
manually downloaded and accessed on demand. Combining this capability with the ability to access the internet (and thus the ability to
both autonomously receive and transmit information) has brought us to the IoT. McKinsey, a leading management consulting firm, has
suggested six distinct types of applications to consume this information; tracking behavior, enhanced situational analysis, sensor-driven
decisions analytics, process optimization, optimized resource consumption, and complex autonomous systems (such as collision
avoidance).
The effective implementation and continued use of Smart technologies includes:
The development and implementation of open and collaborative processes to develop visions for the implementation of Smart
technologies as well as for the continuing governance of the initiatives.
The implementation of secure, resilient, and ubiquitous wireless services that enable access to smart services from any device,
anywhere, and anytime and that can scale to meet expected surges in demand (such as events) as well as unexpected surges in
demand.
The development of a comprehensive plan for the implementation and continuing support of the Smart services that leverages
public/private partnerships as well as regional partnerships.
The development and implementation of a plan to leverage the information produced by smart devices, including the use of
business intelligence, business analytics, and artificial intelligence.
One of the inhibitors of a wider use of Smart technologies is that they are typically implemented as siloed departmental applications rather
than as an enterprise program. This occurs as organizations often wish to gain experience in a limited area first, external funding may be
targeted to specific initiatives, and the time to implement, control cost, and manage risk are less with siloed applications.
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4.0 Project Schedule
4.1 Overview
Change has been, and continues to be, a constant concern for public sector executives who must often respond to increased public
expectations and new mandates with limited resources and with information technology environments that are not agile. Without a plan to
manage and respond to change, organizations tend to become reactive rather than proactive and, as a result, obtain reduced benefits for
their investments in information technology. This multi-year ITSP sets forth a roadmap for the City that identifies current technology projects
and, to the extent possible, future technology needs. The plan lays out the strategy and steps to meet those needs and to enable the City to
sustainably deliver high quality services to its internal user community and the public.
4.2 Methodology
Figure 4.1 - Development of the IT Strategic Plan for the City of Arroyo Grande (Source: SDI)
As depicted in Figure 4.1, Development of the IT Strategic Plan for the City of Arroyo Grande, SDI worked collaboratively with the City to
develop a detailed perspective on the issues facing the City in its use of information technology and to identify potential opportunities to
make better use of information technology. This interactive process resulted in the development of:
A Project Portfolio that included projects related to the City’s IT needs and priorities, IT and business trends, departmental needs
and priorities, and projects that were currently in progress.
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A Prioritization Workshop that provided a “pre-staged” view of projects over a timeline which included:
FY 2025 (by quarters) for projects in progress and projects planned for the remainder of the year.
FY 2026 (in half-year intervals) for planned projects.
FY 2027 (one interval) for planned projects.
FY 2028 (one interval) for planned projects.
FY 2029 (one interval) for planned projects.
FY 2030 (one interval) for planned projects.
4.3 Project Portfolio
The Project Portfolio provided the foundation for the development of the ITSP. The portfolio included projects that were:
Presently in progress.
Planned, but not yet in progress.
Identified as future needs through interviews and on-line survey.
Identified by SDI as recommendations outlined in the IT Assessment Report.
New projects that were added by the City’s department heads during the Prioritization Workshop.
An abridged version of the updated Project Portfolio is provided in Appendix and provides key attributes for each project including:
Project Type: S = Strategic (Project that will consume City resources and be scheduled over the life of the IT Strategic Plan).
T = Tactical (One-time project directly related to an existing budgeted item).
Project Name: The common name of the project.
Project Sponsor: The Department within the City that requested the project.
Status: The status of the project, including:
Interview = The project was identified by departments during SDI interviews.
In Progress = The project is being actively worked on.
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On Hold = The project is on-hold at this time.
SDI Recommendation = The project was identified based on a recommendation in the IT Assessment Report.
City Addition = The project was added during the Prioritization Workshop or by ITD for planned infrastructure activity.
Project Description: A short explanation of the project’s scope and objectives.
4.4 Prioritization Workshop
This section of the IT Strategic Plan provides:
A discussion of the methodology used to develop the Project Schedule, the Gantt Chart, and the Estimated Cost per Fiscal Year for
the projects in the plan. The project schedule and cost per fiscal year provide the City with the information to make informed
decisions regarding the implementation of the directions and recommendations identified through the activities and deliverables
produced for the City.
A review of the Gantt Chart and the Estimated Cost per Fiscal Year over the timeline of the plan.
Pre-Staged “Blue Wall” Project Roadmap
Using the Project Portfolio as the source, Figure 4.2, Pre-Staged “Blue Wall” represents a digitized version of the project roadmap as it
appeared at the start of the project prioritization workshop that was held in the Arroyo Grande Council Chambers on October 7, 2025. As
depicted in Figure 4.2, SDI arranged the forty-one projects into broad categories including:
Fifteen projects were in progress during the second quarter (October through December) of FY 2025.
Six projects that had been tentatively planned to commence during the remainder of FY 2025.
Twenty projects that SDI proposed could be completed in the remaining years of the ITSP (FY 2026, FY 2027, FY 2028, and FY 2029)
and subject to review by the participants in the workshop.
Fourteen projects that are considered tactical and will be completed by ITD as resources (funding and personnel) become available
were placed in a “Parking Lot” to be scheduled at a later date.
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Figure 4.2 - Pre-Staged “Blue Wall" Project Roadmap (Source: SDI)
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Completed “Blue Wall” Project Roadmap
The participants reviewed each of the proposed strategic
projects, and then added, removed, and consolidated projects
as needed. Attendees were then taken through a voting
exercise in which each of the participants was given six
adhesive dots to place on the projects that they felt were most
important to the City. As depicted in Figure 4.3, Workshop
Participants at the Blue Wall, this activity provided an
opportunity for them to informally discuss the projects and
collaborate regarding their importance. Following the voting
exercise, SDI worked with the participants to revise the
proposed ITSP timeline.
Figure 4.3 – Workshop Participants at the “Blue Wall” (Source: SDI)
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Figure 4.4, Project Roadmap at the End of the Workshop depicts the final project roadmap at the end of the workshop and illustrates the
input received from the participants.
Figure 4.4 – “Blue Wall” at the End of the Workshop (Source:
SDI)
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Following the Workshop, SDI mapped the projects from the “Blue Wall” into an electronic format using MS Visio so that the City could modify
the plan and further spread some of the projects over time to accommodate resource and funding constraints. Working with the
Administrative Services Director and the ITD Manager, the projects were reviewed and timelines refined. Figure 4.5, “Blue Wall” Project
Roadmap Following Review with the City, depicts the final plan. The primary results of this review were:
Projects that were previously noted as being in progress but that had been subsequently completed were noted and moved to a
separate area at the right of the diagram.
Projects were consolidated, particularly, three projects related to reviews of the City’s ERP application were combined into a single
project (the NEOGOV post-implementation review and the Tyler HRM Post Implementation review were combined with the Tyler
EERP Post-Implementation Review).
Projects were spread over the timeline, particularly projects that are not yet funded, were moved further out on the timeline.
Projects that are specific to ITD were separated out at the bottom of the diagram.
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Figure 4.5 - “Blue Wall" Project Roadmap Following Review with the City (Source: City of Arroyo Grande and SDI)
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Gantt Chart and Cost Per Fiscal Year
Based on the completed “Blue Wall,” SDI developed:
The Gantt Charts are provided in Figure 4.6, Gantt Chart, Page 1 , and Figure 4.7, Gantt Chart Page 2 .
The estimated costs per fiscal year and the total program cost for the IT Strategic Plan, which are provided in Figure 4.8, Cost Per
Fiscal Year, Page 1, and Figure 4.9, Cost Per Fiscal Year, Page 2.
Gantt Chart
The Gantt Chart provides a more granular view of the project roadmap including information for each of the projects, work planned, and the
number of concurrent projects in each time period. The following information is provided for each project:
Nbr: This is the number of the project which is carried forward from the ITSP Project Portfolio. Projects that were added during the
prioritization workshop show “add” in this field.
Project Name.
Project Sponsor(s): The City departments most closely associated with the project. Please note that projects that benefit the City
as a whole are classified as “City-wide.”
Project Status:
In Progress.
Planned: The project was identified during an interview with department stakeholders.
SDI Recommendation: The project was developed by SDI to remediate a finding identified in the IT Assessment Report.
Votes : Identifies the number of votes that the projects received from the participants in the workshop.
Notes: Additional information about the project.
Project Schedule: The fiscal year in which the project has been scheduled including FY 2026 for projects that are either currently
in progress or planned for completion this fiscal year, FY 2027, FY 2028, FY 2029, and FY 2030. Projects that the participants were
not prepared to prioritize during the workshop are listed in the “Parking Lot.” The timeline is shown in quarters for FY 2026, in six-
month increments for FY 2027, and then annually for FYs 2028, 2029, and 2030.
Number of Concurrent Projects: Provides a total of the number of projects scheduled for each time period (provided as the last
row on Figure 10).
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Figure 4.6, Gantt Chart, Page 1 (Source: SDI)
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Figure 4.7 - Gantt Chart, Page 2 (Source: SDI)
Cost Per Fiscal Year
Please note that Figure 4.8, Cost per Fiscal Year, Page 1, and Figure 4.9, Cost per Fiscal Year, Page 2, provide a breakdown of the estimated
cost per Fiscal Year for the projects in the ITSP. The cost model is based on the following assumptions:
Project cost is based on an average of the low and high estimated costs (in $000’s) provided in the ITSP Project Portfolio and is
labelled as “Mid-Range” Cost.
The full cost for a project is allocated in the Fiscal Year in which the project begins.
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Except for projects that have annual recurring costs (such as for the annual refreshment of the City’s IT infrastructure or for services
contracts), the cost for a project is assumed to be fully incurred in the FY in which the project commences even if the project’s
duration spans FYs.
Costs are not provided for projects that are in progress since these have already been budgeted or for projects that the City proposes
to complete using existing funds.
The costs for the maintenance of existing business and operational applications and/or application services are also not included.
Figures 4.8 and 4.9 provide:
Reference information for each project including the name of the project, the sponsor, the project’s status, the number of votes that
the project was awarded by the participants during the prioritization workshop and notes that provide additional information
regarding how the cost for the project was allocated.
The estimated costs for the project in $000’s (low, high, and mid-range), please note that the estimated mid-range cost is used to
determine the cost per FY. Additionally:
An estimated low-end cost of $0 indicates that the project can be potentially completed by City staff without external
assistance.
Costs for projects that are either in-progress or that for which funds have already been allocated are shown as “N/A.”
Costs that cannot be estimated at this time are shown as “TBD.” This is typically a result of either the scope and objectives of
the project not being well-defined at this time or the completion of the project being dependent on a competitive
procurement.
The estimated cost for the project by Fiscal Year (FY 2027, FY 2028, FY 2029, and FY 2030). Projects that have annually recurring
costs will have costs in multiple fiscal years.
The estimated total cost per fiscal year and the estimated total program cost for the IT Strategic Plan (provided at the bottom of
Figure 4.9).
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Figure 4.8 - Cost per Fiscal Year, Page 1 (Source: SDI)
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Figure 4.9 - Cost per Fiscal Year, Page 2 (Source: SDI)
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5.0 Conclusion
5.1 Overview
The ITSP provides recommendations and directions that will enable the City to more effectively respond to new and/or changed
requirements and to maximize the return/value for its investments in information technology; however, the realization of these benefits is
dependent on the implementation of changes in how the City governs information technology and plans for the use of IT resources. The
recommendations for the City include that:
The City should establish an enterprise process for IT governance.
ITD should adopt practices and procedures to enable it to better manage and allocate IT resources and to manage projects.
5.2 Enterprise IT Governance
Since 2000, information technology has become central to the ability of governments to provide services and information to their internal
users and to the communities they serve. Yet despite this, many government entities have struggled to implement and sustain effective
approaches to IT governance and realize both a higher total cost of ownership for information technology as well as reductions in the value
that they receive for their investments in IT as IT spending becomes less aligned with business objectives. In the absence of enterprise IT
governance, IT strategic plans quickly become less relevant, leaving organizations no better prepared to effectively deliver IT services than
they were prior to the development of the plan. This can result in the diversion of resources from long-term infrastructure projects, additional
costs, delays, false starts, the adoption of applications and systems that seem promising at first but that are dead-ends and create
disagreement among departments as to the allocation of resources.
Enterprise IT Governance is a strategic process in which, using the ITSP as the foundation, the City’s executive team can continuously align
IT directions and priorities with its overall strategic plan and priorities. IT Governance needs to consider:
The City’s long-term directions and priorities as well as immediate priorities identified by the City Council.
Departmental priorities, and changes in departmental priorities, which can result in project requests. New projects and/or changes
to existing projects are generally communicated to IT Governance and through a Project Charter which defines the scope and
objectives of the project, its alignment with the City’s direction and priorities, the resource requirements, the funding sources, and
the potential impact on other projects and/or existing business and operational applications.
The status of current projects and the availability of user and IT resources.
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Funding and changes in funding.
That the City’s priorities will likely change over the course of the ITSP and some of the projects may become of greater interest and
importance to the City and this could result in their being moved up in the plan.
The decisions of the City’s IT Governance organization are generally embodied in:
Updates to the IT Strategic Plan.
Approving project charters which are provided by the initiating department as well as to ITD.
Decisions regarding project priorities and the allocation/reallocation of user and IT resources. Since the City’s internal resources
are finite, IT Governance will likely need to have ITD make recommendations as to which projects or portions of projects are best
handled by internal staff and which can be best handled by external resources such as staff supplementation firms and/or firms
providing managed services.
IT Governance should be the responsibility of the City’s executive team (the City Manager, Administrative Services Director, ITD Manager,
and Department Heads) and be handled as a recurring agenda item for a regularly scheduled meeting of the City’s executive team. In order
to facilitate this, the City should:
Develop a project charter for IT Governance that defines the roles and responsibilities of the participants and a sample agenda.
Conduct a preliminary IT Governance meeting with the objective of reviewing the status of the ITSP and the next steps involved in
implementation.
Develop formal plans for all projects that are currently in progress to obtain a more complete and current understanding of user and
ITD resource commitments.
Allocate resources for the development of Project Charters; even at a very basic level, for any projects that are planned to begin
during FY 2026, so that the City can plan for the resources needed for these projects or to reschedule them as needed.
Review the ITD sponsored projects and identify components of them that can be quickly implemented.
5.3 Resources
The ITSP projects were initially prioritized based on criteria such as business value, level of risk, estimated difficulty, and cost. As a result of
the Prioritization Workshop, some projects were deleted while others were combined into single projects. All of the projects were prioritized
with consideration given to the resources (both human and capital) available to the City to implement and manage the associated projects.
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The ITSP strives to set reasonable expectations as to when the projects will be initiated and completed. However, a project’s eventual start
date will be driven based on factors that cannot be predicted at this time including funding, budget approval, and contingencies. While the
intent of the ITSP is to support the City’s budgeting process by providing direction and input necessary to justify expenditures; it is not meant
to include detailed specifications, requirements, or recommended vendor solutions. The ITSP assumes City staff will follow appropriate
planning and procurement processes for each project that include activities such as detailed requirements analysis, formal evaluation and
selection, and implementation methods.
As projects are initiated, staff resources will need to be allocated. The City may find it necessary to supplement existing resources with
consultants, temporary personnel, and other vendor staff. This will be particularly important during the development of operational plans
such as the Business Resilience Strategy, Cybersecurity Plan, and GIS Roadmap or complex IT infrastructure projects such as the VM cluster
replacement or network redesign, any of which may require both current City personal and supplemental staff for testing and
implementation.
5.4 Closing Thought
Historically, organizations have developed IT strategic plans which allowed them to leverage activities for a period of time, often for as much
as five years, since information technology, user requirements, and public expectations were relatively constant. In recent years, the rapid
evolution of information technology, particularly the maturation of cloud-based services, increased public expectations for access to
information and services, and changes in user requirements have meant that the shelf life of an IT strategic plan is limited. Rather than
serving as a long-term roadmap, IT strategic plans now serve more as a baseline against which organizations assess the impact of change,
reset priorities, and re-allocate resources.
SDI believes an organization should view the IT strategic plan not as an event, but rather as a process. Most organizations, however, treat IT
strategic planning as an event since the need to plan is not engrained in organizational culture in the same way as budgeting is, for example.
Policy makers and managers have learned that budgets must be continually tracked, verified, and updated in the course of a fiscal year;
then successively refined in outer years. Organizations that place a premium on managing their total cost of ownership for information
technology and obtaining the highest possible return for their investments in IT have found that they must have the same continuing
commitment to IT strategic planning as they do to budgeting.
Although the value of the effective use of information technology is well documented and accepted, the ability of an organization to realize
greater value for its investments in information technology depends, to a large degree, on its ability to ensure the alignment of information
technology plans and priorities with the organization’s long-term business goals. In the absence of a formal IT governance structure and a
strategic vision for the use and funding of information technology, this alignment can be difficult to achieve and maintain. As a result,
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municipalities that develop IT Strategic Plans but then fail to support them with IT Governance find that the plans quickly lose relevance.
Industry research has consistently shown that organizations without effective processes for IT Governance incur higher total costs of
ownership for IT and realize less value for those investments.
While the creation of this IT Strategic Plan for the City represents the culmination of one step in the planning process, it also marks the
beginning of the next step – one through which the City’s executive management team must work together to create an environment that
supports the IT Strategic Plan. ITD will need to work closely with the executive team and staff as they begin a journey to create an
organizational sense of purpose that goes much deeper than any vision statement, mission statement, or plan can communicate.
Support of the IT Strategic Plan will need to come in terms of priorities, dollars, policies, and practices. Change has become a constant
factor, and the successful implementation of the IT Strategic Plan may mean making compromises, and it will mean exercising patience,
taking a City-wide perspective, and maintaining a continued focus on revising the plan as events take place. Finally, it will take cooperation,
communication, and flexibility to adapt to changing needs, expectations, information technologies, and resources.
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6.0 Appendix - ITSP Project Portfolio (Alphabetical by Sponsor)
Type Name Sponsor Status Description
S Business License Application
Evaluation AS Interview Investigate the feasibility of moving Business License processing from CitizenServe to Tyler
EERP or replace it with stand-alone application (e.g., HdL).
S Grant Management
Application AS City Added Implement the Grantwell application for improved city-wide grant tracking and management.
S IT Cost Allocation Process AS City Deleted Create a cost-allocation process for charging IT costs back to departments and define a
charge-back basis.
S Utility Billing Application AS Interview Implement the Tyler Utility Billing application (acquired with Tyler EERP software).
S Cashiering Application
Consolidation AS-Finance Interview Implement a standard, city-wide cashiering system to replace several separate collection
processes used currently. Standardizing the cashiering system will eliminate multiple credit
card payment processors and provide more timely and accurate financial accounting.
S Post Implementation Review –
Tyler EERP AS-Finance Interview
Conduct a post implementation review of Tyler EERP for AS-Finance to validate system usage
and determine if additional features and functionality can be leveraged to receive a higher
return on investment (ROI). This review may identify opportunities to improve business
processes, further automate transactions, implement other application modules, identify
opportunities for advanced training, and identify benefits through increased integration with
other systems. In addition, they allow for the opportunity to apply "lessons-learned" to other
software implementations in the future.
S Annual Infrastructure
Maintenance AS/ITD SDI
Recommendation This project includes the routine replacement and refreshment of IT hardware, servers,
storage, communications equipment, computers, and peripheral devices.
S Application Portfolio AS/ITD SDI
Recommendation
Create an application portfolio (inventory) to effectively manage application descriptions and
sponsors, version upgrades, vendor services, license counts, maintenance costs, product
obsolescence, and replacement cycles.
S AS/ITD Asset Refreshment
Plan AS/ITD SDI
Recommendation
Provide for the development and implementation of a comprehensive IT Asset Management /
Refreshment process to better govern the City’s IT assets (including servers, switches, and
routers as well as user equipment including desktops, notebooks and other mobile devices,
scanners, and printers).
S AS/ITD Service Catalog and SLA
Agreements AS/ITD SDI
Recommendation
Create an AS/ITD Service Catalog to inform users of the services provided by AS/ITD, expected
resolution timeframes, and technology responsibilities of user departments. Perform review
of existing AS/ITD support services agreement and issue an RFP for a new agreement with
detailed service levels, support options, enforcement or penalty provisions for services not
provided, guaranteed level of system performance as relates to downtime or uptime, level of
customer support, and software licenses or hardware provided and associated fees.
T Backup Internet Service AS/ITD Completed Configure the Starlink Internet service as backup for the City Hall Internet.
T Firewall Replacement AS/ITD Interview The Palo Alto network perimeter firewalls have reached an end of life and need to be
replaced/upgraded.
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T Police Internet Connection AS/ITD
SDI
Recommendation
(In Progress)
Est. Comp. Nov
2025
Investigate feasibility of moving the Police primary Charter Internet connection from coaxial
to fiber optic similar to the City Hall Charter Internet.
T Update IT Polices AS/ITD City Added Create new or update existing IT policies to meet current technical environment and City
requirements.
T VMWare Cluster Replacement AS/ITD
In-Progress
Est. Comp. July
2027
The current VMWare virtual environment and the supporting hardware and storage system
are scheduled for replacement. Research the feasibility of changing the virtual server
management system from VMware to another platform as well as the local storage system.
S Council Chamber Technology
Upgrades City Manager Interview There is the need for additional wireless capabilities and dedicated devices at the dais that
allow council members to directly view presentations at their seated location. Additionally,
the physical Council Chamber infrastructure may need to be remodeled.
S Access Control System City-wide Interview Acquire a city-wide keyless access control system. The system would standardize the existing
systems used in City Hall, Recreation, and Police Department and provide the Public Works
Corp. Yard with the needed automated access control.
T Adobe License Expansion City-wide Completed Evaluate the expansion of Adobe license availability for city-wide use.
S AI Governance City-wide City Added Develop formal governance structure for use of AI within the City including polices, steering
committee, software acquisition, and data management criteria.
S Application Training City-wide SDI
Recommendation
Provide formal on-going training to ensure that users maintain sufficient competency levels in
the use of business applications (i.e., Tyler EERP, Laserfiche, NEOGOV, etc.) and productivity
tools such as O365. The project would create a plan to ensure on-going application training is
available to staff that can increase productivity, provide a significant return on the City’s
investment in core business applications, and reduce the level of support from AS/ITD.
S Business Resilience Plan City-wide SDI
Recommendation
Create a Business Continuity Plan (or for the update of any existing plans) including the
development of a Business Impact Analysis that identifies mission-critical business /
operational applications, the potential impact on City operations should an application not be
available, and the timeframe in which access to the applications must be restored. This
project would include preparation of a Disaster Recovery Plan that identifies the steps to be
taken to restore mission-critical IT services and applications in the event of a natural or other
disaster.
S Citizen Request Management
Application Consolidation City-wide Interview
The City is using two citizen request tracking systems. The CivicPlus Citizen Request Tracker
CRM Module is used by all departments except for CDD which uses the CitizenServe. This has
led to confusion on the part of the public land extra work for City staff. This project would
evaluate the applications and determine the best fit for the City's overall business needs.
S Cybersecurity Plan City-wide SDI
Recommendation
Develop a plan generally conformant with the requirements of recognized national standards
(such as NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the International Organization
for Standardization (IOS), or the SANS Institute) that identifies the steps to be taken to
prepare for a cyber-security attack, to identify intrusions, to neutralize them, and to identify
and remediate the exposures that led to the intrusions.
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S GIS Roadmap City-wide SDI
Recommendation
Develop a strategy to expand the use of ERSI GIS city-wide and establish a GIS roadmap
including implementation/use recommendations to improve the utilization of GIS as a core
tool to access critical information on a timely basis. The project would catalog existing
geospatial functions and identify their strengths that should be leveraged as well as major
weaknesses that should be addressed to provide better service or interfaces with existing
applications and databases. The project would map existing data, define new data collection
criteria, maintenance requirements, support resources need, licensing considerations, and
software integration specifications. Current City GIS needs include maps to document and
visualize hiking trails, development, and visualization of evacuation maps, Tracking weed
abatement processes, mapping hydrant locations and other Fire related layers of information,
and tree asset management/inventory integration with TreeKeeper software.
S IT Governance City-wide SDI
Recommendation
Define and create a formal IT governance structure to assist in aligning the City's allocation of
IT and user resources with its business objectives. Activities include the creation of a charter
for an IT Governance Committee and any needed sub-committees, member selection,
meeting agendas, and schedule. Establish the oversight structure for the acquisition and
implementation of technology, improve communication about technology projects, provide
for organization-wide input into technology decisions, and establish the process for
prioritization of technology needs.
T Large Document Sharing City-wide Completed
Many city departments share the need to exchange very large documents/files with other
agencies, consultants, and contractors. These files are usually far too large to "exchange"
through an email system. A standardized mechanism for large document sharing needs to be
established that will allow outside entities to securely exchange information.
S Security Camera Plan City-wide Interview
Develop a city-wide plan for the implementation and management of security cameras. This
may include combining Police Traffic cameras and facility cameras (Public Works and Parks)
under a single umbrella (hardware and software standardization). The project would provide a
roadmap for future expansion, support, and monitoring in order to reduce costs and support
requirements.
S SharePoint Implementation City-wide In-Progress
Est. Comp. July
2027
A consultant is working with the CIty to identify document owners, determine the hierarchy of
departments and permissions in each area. This project would provide training for users on
how to effectively use SharePoint, including how to upload documents, how to collaborate on
documents, how to use SharePoint's features, and keep City staff informed about the
SharePoint rollout.
S Bluebeam Application Community
Development Interview Implement the Bluebeam application to help accelerate plan reviews with flexible, intuitive
tools for markups and real-time collaboration.
S Permit Application Evaluation Community
Development Interview Determine whether CDD should replace CitizenServe with a more robust and less expensive
alternative.
T Public Counter – City Hall &
Recreation KIOSK Community
Development City Added Modernize and secure front counter which may require IT support.
T Fire Training Room
Upgrades/Backup EOC Fire City Added Upgrade the Training Room at Fire Station 1 to enhance functionality for in-house meetings,
training sessions,
and external agency events, providing a modern, flexible, and user-friendly environment.
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T Fire Training Room Upgrades Fire Deleted
(Duplicate) Relocation of Fire training room may require one-time IT support.
S Post Implementation Review -
Tyler HRM HR SDI
Recommendation Conduct a post-implementation review of the deployment of Tyler HRM application including
payroll, PAFs, and benefit administration.
S Post Implementation Review -
NEOGOV HR SDI
Recommendation
Conduct a post implementation review of NEOGOV to validate system usage and determine if
additional features and functionality can be leveraged to receive a higher return on
investment (ROI). This review may identify opportunities to improve business processes,
implement additional modules of the product, and identify opportunities for advanced
training.
S Tyler EERP Performance Mgt.
Module Implementation HR Interview Opportunity to modernize the performance evaluation function. Personnel action forms are
not fully automated as staff are printing, routing, and signing physical forms.
S Agenda Management System
Update Leg and Info
Services Interview Significant updates are planned for the Escribe Agenda Management system that will result in
changes in how the application currently operates. The updates will be deployed in a
staggered schedule.
S CivicPlus NextRequest CPRA
Management System Leg and Info
Services
In-Progress
Est. Comp. Jan
2026
The CivicPlus NextRequest system manages citizen FOIA requests for public information. The
planned implementation start is Fall 2025. Integration with LaserFiche is included.
S Digital Bulletin Board Leg and Info
Services Interview CIP project to replace the current manual public notice bulletin board with a modern digital
bulletin board. City Leg and Info Services staff are coordinating with Public Works and AS/ITD.
S LaserFiche Cloud Migration Leg and Info
Services Interview Move the LaserFiche application from an on-premises installation to the Cloud.
T Laserfiche IT Support &
Administration Leg and Info
Services City Added Provide technical support, system maintenance, and administrative management for the
City’s Laserfiche enterprise content management system, ensuring reliable document access,
user support, and efficient digital workflows.
S
LaserFiche Records
Management Retention
Module
Leg and Info
Services Interview Implement the LaserFiche Records Retention Module.
S Post Implementation Review –
Laserfiche Leg and Info
Services SDI
Recommendation
Conduct a post implementation review of Laserfiche to validate system usage and determine
if additional features and functionality can be leveraged to receive a higher return on
investment (ROI). This review may identify opportunities to improve business processes,
identify opportunities for advanced training, and identify benefits through increased
integration with other City installed applications.
S Records Auto Classification
Software Leg and Info
Services City Added Implementation of an automated document classification application (i.e., RecordPoint,
Valora, or Gimmal).
S Web Site Refresh Leg and Info
Services
In-Progress
Est. Comp. Nov
2025 Refresh the City's CivicPlus Website which is scheduled to go live in October.
S AI Report Generation Police City Added The Police Department is planning to implement AI software to transcribe reports currently
produced manually. This time-saving migration may require support from IT.
S Body and In-Car Camera
software to Cloud Police Completed Migrate the current on premises installation of Safe Fleet COBAN software to the cloud-based
solution.
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T Drone 1st Responder Police City Added Expanded use of drone technology within the Police Department may require IT support.
T Expand Pre-emptive Devices
on Traffic Signals Police City Added Expand the technology throughout the City for stopping traffic signals for emergency (fire)
engines.
S LPR Camera Expansion Police In-Progress
Est. Comp Mar
2026
There are two fixed location LPR (License Plate Reader) Motorola cameras in service that are
obsolete. Move from 2 LPR cameras to 10 on a new, modern technology platform.
S MDC Replacement Police City Added Install new MDCs in patrol fleet as new vehicles are acquired.
S Police Training Tracking
Software Police Completed Police are seeking a new training management application and have considered NEOGOV,
Frontline and others. The features list includes professional standards, user of force, pursuits,
and citizen complaints.
S RMS Upgrade Police Interview This project was identified as a CIP project for FY2028 and will coincide with the San Luis
Obispo Sherriff's department RMS application upgrade or replacement.
S Video surveillance software Police Interview Replace the Genetec video surveillance software due to the inconsistent video quality
between the interface software and native camera resolution, pixilation issues (cameras are
4K/HD), and poor vendor support.
S AMI Water Meter Public Works City Added (In-
Progress)
Est. Comp. TBD
Installation of an automated water meter infrastructure (AMI) within the City along with
software to replace current manual meter reading processes.
S SCADA Application
Replacement Public Works In-Progress
Est. Comp July
2027
Replacement of the current Lookout SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)
system. This project will include an RFP, vendor selection, and implementation tasks.
S Traffic Data Collection Public Works
City Added (In-
Progress)
Est. Comp Nov
2025
Urban SDK is a platform that leverages geospatial AI and data analytics to support smart city
development, transportation planning, and public safety initiatives. It provides real-time
traffic metrics derived from connected vehicle data, helping cities manage traffic flow, reduce
congestion, and improve road safety.
S Work Order Management
Application (CMMS) Public Works Interview
Procure and implement an industry proven commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Computerized
Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to support Public Works. The scope of the project
would include providing a robust solution capable of tracking and managing asset activities
(work orders), resource scheduling, preventative maintenance work orders, capital
planning/budgeting, reporting, field/mobile access, inventory management, time keeping, etc.
The solution should also be integrated with the Tyler EERP AS-Finance application, GIS, and
mobile technology solutions. The application would streamline work order processing;
increase crew efficiency with access to information while working in the field, improve
tracking and reporting on work order scheduling, costs, staff, equipment, and supplies.
S CityData.AI Implementation
Pilot Project Recreation In-Progress
Est. Comp TBD
Initially provides park visitor patterns for 5 parks back to September 2024. Comparative data
should be available by the end of the year. Future use of the application has not been
determined.
S Recreation Management
Application Replacement Recreation Interview Explore the feasibility of migrating to a more functional and robust Recreation Management
System that can integrate with Tyler EERP.
T Women's Club Technological
Upgrade Recreation Interview The City will take ownership of the Women's Club in 2028. The Facility needs an extensive
technology upgrade.
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Tactical Projects Not Prioritized but will consume IT resources
T Cloudflare Deployment AS/ITD Interview Implement Cloudflare software City-wide to provide an increased level of Internet cyber
security protection when accessing web sites.
T Computer Room Clean-up AS/ITD SDI
Recommendation
General clean-up and maintenance are needed in the computer room racks as there is
equipment powered and interconnected but not used. In addition, a large amount of used IT
equipment, storage containers, and office supplies are stored in the computer room.
T Network Evaluation AS.ITD Interview
The existing network is a flat Layer 2 design. Core routing is handled in the Palo Alto firewalls
(significant overhead). Dedicated core network routers and migration to a Layer 3 network
may better serve the City's network performance and flexibility by moving forward. Core
routing and VLAN management would be removed from the firewalls.
T Training Lab AS/ITD Completed Create an 8-seat training lab for immediate SharePoint and future technology training. The lab
environment can also be used for testing software before deployment.
T Wi-Fi Modernization AS/ID Interview
The HPE Aruba wireless Wi-Fi infrastructure has reached an end-of-life and needs to be
replaced/upgraded. Wi-Fi access (new or improved) is needed at the Public Works facility, city
parks, and Woman's Club. In addition, explore the feasibility of providing free public access
Wi-Fi throughout the City.
T Conference/Meeting Room
Updates (Zoom Room) City-wide Interview
Upgrade the city conference and meeting rooms with standard and upgraded audio-visual
equipment. Identified locations include the City Hall Conference Room, Council Chamber
Conference Room, PW Corp. Yard Meeting Room, and Fire Station 1.
T Fire MDC Tablet Command
Software Upgrade Fire Interview Update Tablet Command software to new version. Tablet Command is the MDC client software
standard for fire vehicle iPads.
T Police Server Room Police Interview The Police Department main computer room does not have a secondary, redundant cooling
system which is a single point of failure for a mission critical environment.
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