Many Logos customers have made the decision to migrate from the AS/400 system to the browser-based technology of Logos.NET which was developed by New World Systems from the ground up as a completely integrated Microsoft solution. As a unified suite of software, Logos.NET integrates with applications like Excel and Outlook to reduce data entry while offering tools for paperless reporting.
Livonia, Michigan, a 20-year New World Systems customer, made the decision to migrate to Logos.NET when they started questioning if the AS/400 system fit the future needs of the 100,000 population city.
“It was difficult for new users to learn the software,” said Information Systems Director Dan Putman. “It works and is very reliable, but we are looking for alternatives to allow the city to more easily bring new users on board.”
Getting Council Approval
There are many preparation steps once the decision to migrate to Logos.NET software is made. One of the first and most important is getting council approval.
“It’s hard to get non-users excited about financial software,” said Putman. “Getting council approval was a series of efforts starting with figuring out where process improvements and cost savings would to be.”
New World Systems’ review of current processes and opportunities for improvement helped Putman and a team of other city employees make those savings clear for city council.
“It was important to show we were going to improve the city through this migration,” he said. “Department heads came forward during the council meeting to give personal testimonials about what they saw as being process improvements for their departments. That was beneficial because it was another group, other than just IS, speaking on behalf of the product.”
Buy-In from End Users
Upper level managers were brought into the migration decision early in the process. The New World Systems business process review helped show potential cost and time savings as well as a more adaptable learning curve for new employees.
Now that the city has embarked on the migration and employees are currently going through training, all levels of end users are getting exposure to the Logos.NET product. Logos.NET eSuite offers employees, citizens, vendors and businesses 24-hour access to information via the Internet/Intranet with self-service capabilities and access to public records, the ability to submit license and permit applications, the ability to view and verify payment balances and the ability to check employment application status.
eSuite opens a secure line of communication allowing increased productivity and reduced departmental workload. That piece of the Logos.NET suite generates a lot of excitement for city employees.
“Like all government units these days, we’re trying to do more with less,” said Putman. “Any time we can shift workloads back to the end user, the citizens in this case, it makes our job easier as city employees and allows us to concentrate efforts in other areas.”
Preparing for Change and Improving Processes
The City of Livonia uses an outside project manager, which Putman says helps everyone stay on top of the small details that are difficult to track. With only five IS employees, they needed one person solely dedicated to the migration project.
“It’s making sure we have a good understanding up front of the goals and what’s expected,” said Putman. “It’s an understanding that goes in both directions about what we are going to do and when.”
Putman and his team are looking forward to workflow improvements offered by the new system, replacing a long process of paper passing and collecting signatures. In addition, they anticipate improvements in payroll and self service for employees and citizens with eSuite. A new document imaging system will also be used in conjunction with the Logos.NET software.
“It will eliminate a lot of paper moving that has always occurred here at the city,” said Putman. “We will ultimately get to a point where we are a paperless system, which will be a savings for the city.”
Balancing Two Systems
The decision to migrate leaves a local government balancing two systems – continuing day-to-day work on the current software and preparing for the new.
“We need to be sensitive to timeframes and adjust schedules,” said Putman. “Just throwing training or other implementation activities on top of employees can crush any opportunity for success.”
Project managers and key players from New World Systems and the city have status meetings every two weeks to talk about project impact on city employees. The city has 90 fewer employees than it did five years ago, which Putman says is another issue in finding time for training, but also another reason they’re looking foward to the benefits of the new software.
“In the end, the system is going to be so much easier for everyone to use, which is significant savings in both time and money,” said Putman. “Employees are excited by that concept and willing to put in the effort to make it happen.”
