REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 7, 2024
FROM
MICHAEL BOWERS, Director, Human Resources Department
LYNN FYHRLUND, Chief Information Officer, Innovation and Technology Department
SUBJECT
Title
Proposal with Gartner, Inc. for Consulting Services for the Human Capital Management System
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Authorize the County to participate in County of Ventura Contract No. 7914, as amended, which provides subscription-based information technology research and advisory services, was approved on March 12, 2019, and is in effect through April 30, 2025.
2. Approve Proposal with Gartner, Inc., subject to the contract in Recommendation No. 1, to provide consulting services for the replacement of the County’s existing Employee Management and Compensation System to a new Human Capital Management System, in an amount not to exceed $1,800,000, plus optional services, beginning May 7, 2024 through April 30, 2025.
3. Authorize the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector to post necessary budget adjustments for the Human Capital Management System Project to the 2023-24 budget as detailed in the Financial Impact section (Four votes required).
(Presenter: Michael Bowers, Director, 387-8304)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Human Resources Department (HR) is requesting to fund the total not to exceed cost of $1,800,000 from the Human Capital Management System General Fund Reserve.
HR requests the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector post the following adjustments to the 2023-24 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets:
|
Fund/Fund Center |
Commitment Item |
Description |
Action |
Amount |
|
1000 |
37008768 |
Fund Balance-Assigned-Human Capital Management Replacement System Reserve |
Decrease |
$1,800,000 |
|
7200001000 |
52002400 |
Professional & Specialized Services |
Increase |
$1,800,000 |
The cost for the proposed scope of work, Phases 1, 2, and 3a (as detailed in the proposal referenced in Recommendation No. 2 [Proposal]) is a fixed amount. The cost of optional services is dependent on the department’s needs that may include services such as ongoing implementation oversight, assess readiness and risks for key milestones, review and assess vendor deliverables, accelerate business transformation, and research and advisory services. HR will return to the Board of Supervisors (Board) for approval of additional services beyond the current scope, as necessary.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The County implemented its current Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle) PeopleSoft payroll and benefits system, known as the Employee Management and Compensation System (EMACS), approximately 20 years ago. As of June 15, 2015, Oracle discontinued providing program updates, security fixes, and regulatory changes on outdated versions of the system. Further, Oracle stopped providing tax updates to entities after December 31, 2017. As a result, the County required a full system upgrade to the present version of EMACS to maintain compliance with regulatory and taxing agencies.
On October 8, 2018, the County successfully launched the upgraded version of EMACS. The upgraded version is now capable of receiving tax updates and includes features and enhancements such as: functionality to access EMACS from multiple devices such as laptops, iPads, smartphones, and desktop computers; digitization of forms; improvements in employee self-service features; and increased manager accountability of employee time entry.
Regardless of system updates that have been implemented, a full replacement of EMACS is necessary due to the age of the system, which has caused limitations in managing and enhancing the system as needed and has required extensive resources to implement ongoing updates. Approval of the proposed Contract will allow Gartner, Inc. (Gartner) to provide consulting services to HR for a Human Capital Management (HCM) solution for the replacement of EMACS. Gartner is an industry leader in offering comprehensive technology research and advisory services, including government-specific analysis. Gartner will support HR with HCM strategy development, readiness assessment, and preparation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) as outlined in the Proposal.
PROCUREMENT
On November 27, 2018, the General Services Agency (GSA) of Ventura County (Ventura) released RFP No. 5962 for Information Technology Research and Advisory Services via Ventura’s GSA Procurement website. Ventura, working in cooperation with the California County Information Services Directors Association (CCISDA), sought competitive proposals from qualified vendors to provide subscription-based information technology research and advisory services. Ventura received two proposals which were evaluated by a multi-jurisdictional team comprised of members from both CCISDA and Ventura.
Gartner’s proposal to the County for the human capital management solution replacement was provided under the provisions of Ventura Contract No. 7914 and incorporates its terms by reference. The Purchasing Department concurs with the competitive selection of Gartner for consulting services for the EMACS replacement.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Bonnie Uphold, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 384-5455) on April 15, 2024; Purchasing (Christina Reddix, Supervising Buyer, 387-2098) on April 11, 2024; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (Vanessa Doyle, Deputy Chief Controller, 382-3195) on April 11, 2024; Risk Management (Gregory Ustaszewski, Staff Analyst, 386-9008) on April 16, 2024; Finance (Elias Duenas, 387-4052, and Abigail Grant, 387-4603, Administrative Analysts) on April 16, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on April 22, 2024.