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IT assessment is NOT a go

December 17th, 2009 bumpkin Leave a comment Go to comments

I spoke too soon. Apparently the news article cited in my last post is incorrect. The email from FinCom chairman Rich Pavadore explains. I’m sure his request for comments from IT professionals would extend to anyone with something to add:

This article is NOT TRUE. Eileen got the story wrong. The BOS decided and voted unanimously to move ahead with the assessment based on Selectman Al Rullo’s letter which I attached for your reference. There will be a new RFQ process from the Town Manager, to the 4 companies listed in Al’s report, HUB Technical being one of them. I just spoke with the Town Manager and he confirmed that and HE does not plan on sending out any RFQ until January, (i.e. after the holidays).
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To be clear, I told the Town Manager that the Finance Committee should be involved with the bid process, because my fear is that there may be some confusion or difference of opinion between the Board of Selectmen’s RFQ and what the Finance Committee originally recommended as an IT assessment. The Finance Committee has requested this type of assessment in the past and the resultant report ended up being a watered down version that did not provide the information that we needed. From the last pages of Al’s report in his recommendations and RFQ section, I am not exactly clear on what is being asked of the vendors and how it compares to our original request. It is a bit confusing to me. The feedback from the vendors may also have questions since the RFQ that the BOS approved was not written or put together by an IT professional and Al (to my knowledge) does not have an IT background. This is the reason the Finance Committee first went to a public certified IT firm and had them provide the statement of work that describes what they can do for us, based on our IT concerns.
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I am also not sure we want an outside company to write a 3 year plan for our town nor do I believe they would take that on as a task in the assessment. This request is in the present RFQ and sounds to me more like an internal document that we would provide to the consultant to work with. I want input from the companies as we move forward in the bid process to hear what THEY think we need to accomplish, so that we get the information that WE need from the assessment. From this information, we will be better informed to agree on a statement of work and contract. The key to a good assessment is to work with the vendors to develop the Statement of work so we are all on the same page. If we don’t work together to get the best and most useful information, the town will end up with an intangible and useless report that says everything is fine and tells us nothing. This process is how we ended up with Hub Technical as a potential vendor in the first place.
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I would welcome your comments as an IT/engineer on Al’s RFQ and if it makes sense as compared to what the FINCOM has requested. Any feedback to me is always welcome so that I can make the most informed decisions as we discuss the RFQ. There is not so much of a rush to get this assessment done as there is to get it right. I think a proper assessment will give the town a wealth of information on how our IT structure is run, possibly provide us some information on where we can improve, and if some of the recommendations are implemented, will provide us with a potential annual savings that will cover its cost in the first year.
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Thank You,
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Rich Pavadore

My first instinct is just what I said in my Gazette column – that the BOS and TM are wasting time trying to alter what a perfectly good proposal by FinCom. That said I will read Al’s proposal more carefully and provide the FinCom chairman with anything useful. I will gladly pass on any feedback anyone else has if you do not have Mr. Pavadore’s email web site address.

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