Agenda - 01-20-2000 - 9d - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Support line has been staffed by temporary employees and to a lesser extent by regular IS staff members as backup. Current IS Support staff consists of three full-time positions, and one temporary staff position at 30 hours per week, to provide daily operations and user support for the County mainframe, 400 user PCs, 160 printers, nine network servers, Internet and Intranet technology platforms and all a-mail services. These staff resources also support the planning and most of the installation work related to the IT Plan. The support staffing of the Orange County IS Department can be compared with other support operations, using a standard measure common in the computer industry. This measure is the number of PCs and printers divided by the number of dedicated support staff. For Orange County this ratio is 320, with current staffing resources. Other organizations reporting recently provide a comparison as shown in the table below. Organization PClPrinters Supported Per Staff Position Oran e Coun 320 Cha el Hill-Carrboro Ci Schools 429 Wake Coun MIS 250 Oran a Coun Schools 235 ITNC Cha el Hill Administrative Com utin 62 This IS Support outsource contract would improve this performance ratio from 320 to 230, resulting in better, more responsive resolution of user calls for assistance. Benefits of this IS Support Contract -Costs Offset and Customer Service Combining all available work hours of current IS staff resources shows 430 hours of work required beyond the hours available. To supplement this staff, a contractor has been used in the past to assist with IT Plan PC and printer installation, amounting to 208 hours at $75 per hour, a total of $15,600. The contract proposed here for IS Support phone services will free up full time and temporary staff resources, at a much lower hourly rate than the installation contractor rate, and make it unnecessary to use these annual installation contract resources, a savings of $15,600. The IT Committee, at its December meeting, reviewed the approach to this IS Support help desk outsourcing and supports it. The advantage of this contract support is that full IS Support Center coverage can be assured, continuity of operations can be sustained, and superior, regularly available technical expertise will be available to callers. Resources freed by this outsourcing can be applied to improved customer support and ongoing, more effective implementation of IT Plan initiatives. FISCAL IMPACT: The FY 1999-2000 budget includes operating funds to cover the cost of this contract; $15,600 in costs is offset by this contract by eliminating the need for additional outside installation support. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve this contract and authorize the Chair to sign it.