HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 1990.08.09 - 18217. MISCELLANEQUS RESOLUTION #90187 • • August 9, 1990
BY: FINANCE COMMITTEE, DR. G. WILLIAM CADDELL, CHAIRPERSON
IN RE: DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET- BUDGET DIVISION REQUEST FOR
ADVANCE OFFICE SYSTEM (AOS)
TO THE OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS an Advance Office System has been recommended by the
Department of Computer Services and approved by the Computer Users
Advisory Council (CUAC) for the Budget Division; and
WHEREAS this system provides features that would help to increase
staff efficiency, eliminate a Summer Help position, improve presentations
through the use of graphs, integrate with other County Departments through
standardized software and enhance scheduling and note keeping; and
WHEREAS the reduction of one (1) Summer Help position will be
recognized during the 1991 Budget Amendment process.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of
Commissioners approves the system for the Budget Division and authorizes
the following amendments to the 1990/1991 Bienneial Budget to be funded
from the Designated Fund Balance (account #1-10100-492-040):
General Fund
Revenue
1990 1991
3-10100-909-01-00-9901 Prior Year Balance $13,746 548
Expenditures
4-10100-122-01-00-6360 Computer Services- Operations $ 376 $1,128
4-10100-122-01-00-6640 Equipment Rental (193) (580)
4-10100-122-01-00-8615 Operating Transfer Out 13,563 -0-
Subtotal $13,746 548
Total $ 0 $ 0
Computer Services Fund
Revenues
3-63600-181-01-00-2037 Budgeted Departments
3-63600-181-01-00-8101 Operating Transfer In
Subtotal
Expenditures
4-63600-184-01-00-3304 Depreciation
4-63600-184-01-00-3342 Equipment Repairs & Maint.
Subtotal
$ 376 $ 1,128
13,563 -0-
$13,939 $ 1,128
$ 96 $ 288
280 840
$ 376 $1,128
1-63600-455-01 Revenue Over (Under) Expenses $ 13,563 $ -0-
$ -0- $ -0- Total
OFFICE AUTOMATION REQUEST
JULY 24, 1990
#2 MANAGEMENT & BUDGET
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Department of Management and Budget
BUDGET DIVISION
REQUEST FOR ADVANCE OFFICE SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
To increase computer efficiency within the Budget Division, an Advance
Office System (AOS) is requested. This system would have a strong positive
impact on the word processing, spreadsheet, and graphics functions of the
staff. The system provides additional features that would benefit the office.
Following is narrative detailing the enhancements this system would have and
the monetary as well as non—monetary benefits that would result.
WORD PROCESSING
There are approximately 10 megabytes of word processing data stored on
floppy disks in the division. This includes documents such as fiscal notes,
resolutions, memorandums/letters, and reports. This is generated from a staff
of 12 full—time employees on one word processor, an ITT personal computer.
This does not include documents that are sent to the Word Processing Unit such
as Finance Committee summaries and variance analysis sheets that could be done
within the Budget Division if the office system is available.
Current Practices: Basically, there are four steps involved in preparing a _-
final, presentable document:
1) The document is drafted by the Financial Analyst using paper and
pencil.
2) The draft is given to clerical support staff to type on a word
processor.
3) A typed copy is returned to the author for proofreading and
corrections.
4) The corrected final copy is produced by the clerical staff from
the word processor.
Business Problem: There are three major problems associated with the
current word processing practice:
1) Inefficient use of staff time due to a duplication of effort.
2) A bottleneck created by having only one word processor available.
Also some analysts use the Future System Spreadsheet program as a word
processor because of the bottleneck problem. This is a very
inefficient use of this ,mainframe program.
Paper waste.
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Proposed Application: Using AOS, the first three steps of the current
process would be collapsed into one step for a total of two steps as follows:
1) Documents would be drafted and redrafted directly on a terminal by the
Financial Analyst.
2) Technical support staff would access the document on the
terminal and put the document in presentable form, i.e. correct
spelling and grammar, set margins, insert tabs, ensure consistency of
format, etc.
Benefits: The proposed application will eliminate the three major probems
identified and result in the following direct benefits:
1) One processing step can be eliminated (processing with paper and
pencil) resulting in personnel savings. Therefore, the summer student
position can be deleted beginning with 1991. This amounts to $2,744
annually.
2) Since the AOS provides word processing capabilities to every terminal,
the bottleneck created by having only one word processor is
eliminated. This improvement would prove extremely beneficial during
committee agenda preparation and meeting mailing deadlines. The ITT
personal computer used for word processing would no longer be needed
and would offset the cost of the AOS by $1,296 annually.
3) Since the document can be viewed directly on any terminal within the
network, there is no need to print the document until a final hard
copy is ready and needed. This will save a minimum of two pieces of
paper per document - the paper that was written on and the typed
draft.
These benefits can be derived with minimum effort and training of the
Budget Division staff. Nearly all of the staff is proficient with the
keyboard, therefore, data will be entered quickly with a small learning curve.
SPREADSHEET
Current Practices: The Budget Division uses Future System (FS) which is a
powerful spreadsheet program and is available on the mainframe. Through FS the
division prepares schedules for Board resolutions, fiscal notes, quarterly
forecasts, ad hoc financial analysis, pro forma statements, and numerous work
sheets. The division has approximately 600 models using approximately 38
megabytes of memory. Of these 600 models, about 25% are for the Board of
Commissioners, 35% are worksheets for divisional use, and 40% are for use with
other departments.
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Business Problems: Many, but not all,'of these spreadsheets are simple and
would be better suited to a system less complex than FS and requiring less
computer memory.
Proposed Application: Available on the AOS is Lotus 1-2-3-, a standard user- .
friendly' spreadsheet program which could be used to prepare routine schedules and
reports. However, the division will need to access the mainframe for FS files,
accounting records, and personnel records. Therefore, the current equipment
(terminals and printers) in the division cannot be entirely replaced until an
interface exists between the mainframe and the AOS. Currently, the division is
supported by 11 terminals and 3 printers. It is proposed that one of the dot
matrix printers be retained for mainframe screen and FS printing. The other two
printers could support the AOS. A laser printer is needed for graphs and letter
quality output. Other divisions having only mainframe applications could inherit
our existing equipment. While the AOS is being phased in, the division needs 5
of the existing terminals and should begin with 11 terminals on the AOS
expandable to 13 terminals.
Benefits: Lotus 1-2-3 software on the AOS will provide three significant
benefits:
1) The division would reduce the amount of memory currently used in the
mainframe for FS files by approximately 20 megabytes.
2) The usage of the mainframe CPU will be reduced, freeing it for more
complex tasks.
3) Through the use of Lotus, efficiency can increase because Lotus is
easier to use for less complicated spreadsheets, and the ease of file
transfers/copying will encourage data sharing among analysts.
GRAPHICS
Current Practices & Business Problem:
The division has no direct graphic capability. Any graphs are created
through resources from other divisions, hand drawn, or individually programmed on
FS.
Proposed Application: Lotus 1-2-3 can convert spreadsheets into graphs such
as line graphs, bar charts, and pie charts, which would receive wide use. Graphs
could be used in the categorial budget book on approximately 80 pages, included
in annual and quarterly reports to the Board, used for presentation of Budget
material, and used in various reports to outside agencies.
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FUTURE APPLICATION
The AOS would expand options for future computer application requests
within the Division.
Downloading of Accounting Files Into Lotus: Although we are able,
currently, to download into Future System, downloading into Lotus is desirable
in order to convert numerical information from the accounting files into
graphs.
Additional Software: One central processor would make it economical to add
software as needed for use by the whole Division. Particularly, a statistical
program is desired for multiple regression analysis, allowing the development
and testing of equations to determine whether economic variables are related to
a specific outcome. Likewise, flow-chart or critical-path programs would aid
in process analysis.
Integration with Other Departments: One objective of computerization is to
eliminate duplicate processing through integration. This is not limited to the
confines of any single department or division. With the AOS and standardized
software, there are many possibilities for integration between departments.
Many departments already have or will have access to Lotus and Wordperfect
software, which are contained in the AOS.
Two examples follow of how the Budget Division could integrate with other
departments achieving County-wide efficiencies thus eliminating duplication of
effort.
Example 1: Many resolutions, fiscal notes, and committee reports
originate in the Budget Division. If the documents are amended in
committee, either they must be entirely retyped at the Board of
Commissioners Office or corrected in the Budget Division and
delivered to the Board of Commissioners. Then, the documents are
once again retyped for the Board of Commissioners minutes by the .
Clerk's office. The County Clerk and Board of Commissioners
currently have Wordperfect software as the first step in
eliminating this duplication of effort. Installing the ADS in the
Budget Division will further streamline the process.
Example 2: One of the goals within the Budget Division is to
share budget preparation data on the computer with all
departments. Lotus would help facilitate this goal by providing
data to departments in a user-friendly format. (Downloading from
the mainframe into Lotus, as previously mentioned, would be
required to achieve this goal,as.well as others.)
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Benefits: The tremendous benefit of this feature is the utility in
displaying numerical information in a form that people quickly grasp.
Displaying a $300 million budget through graphs, rather than numbers, would
significantly enhance the presentation and provide policy makers and the public
with the "big picture".
INTEGRATION OF AOS WITH CURRENT AND FUTURE APPLICATIONS
CURRENT APPLICATION
Current Practice: There are primarily three separate computing resources
widely used in the Division:
1) an ITT personal computer used for word processing,
2) FS for spreadsheets, and
3) active accounting files available through the mainframe.
Business Problem: The only integration between these three resources
occurs between the accounting files and FS. This integration is possible when
Computer Services writes a program to access "snapshot" information from the
accounting files to load that information into FS for data manipulation. There
is no integration between the spreadsheet and word processing applications.
Therefore, a spreadsheet built on FS must be attached as an appendix to,
retyped into, or cut and pasted into the document.
Proposed Solution: The AOS would provide the link between spreadsheet and
word processing capabilities as well as provide numerous side benefits. Access
to Future System is requested to continue, however, for multiple-sheet and more
complex spreadsheets.
Benefits:
1) Spreadsheets and graphics can be incorporated into written documents
with ease, thereby resulting in more effective document presentation
that is produced more efficiently.
2) The scheduling and intra-office memo capabilities will ease
coordination efforts within the Division. This feature is extremely
useful since analysts are often out of the office . Important
messages and appointments would be noticed immediately upon their
return to the office.
3) The built in calculator will save equipment rental costs of $548
annually.
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SUMMARY OF BENEFITS
- Increased staff efficiency
- Financial benefit by eliminating summer position
- Improved presentations through graphs and integration
- Similar business & County standards for office automation
- Enhanced scheduling & note keeping
- Annual savings of over $2,000 per year
Annual Cost Savings Analysis
Savings Annual Savings
Summer Help Position $ 2,744
ITT Computer 1,296
Calculators 548
Comm. Terminals (11 Current) 11,880
Total Annual Savings $ 16,468
Additional Costs Annual Costs
Processor 2,700
Comm. Terminals (13 New) 10,764
Admin. Support 840
Total Additional Costs $ 14,304
Net Annual Savings $ 2,164
Notes
1) Above costs are incremental only. Costs for
telephone lines and Misc. Admin. are assumed to
continue at current levels.
2) It is assumed the current terminals will be replaced
with terminals that function on the AOS and mainframe.
3) Computer terminal costs also includes charge for
teleprocessing availability on each terminal.
4) Administrative Support for AOS does not include the
cost for support of Lotus software which is
undetermined at this time.
Prepared by Budget Division
June 28, 1990
RESOLUTION # 90 187 August 9, 1990
Moved by Caddell supported by Jensen the resolution be adopted.
AYES: Jensen, Johnson. R. Kuhn, Law. McConnell, McCulloch, McPherson,
Moffitt, Olsen, Pappageorge, Pernick, Rewold, Skarritt, Wolf, Aaron, Caddell, Chester,
Crake, Ferrens, Gosling, Huntoon. (21)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted therefor, the resolution was adopted.
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND
I, Lynn D. Allen, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing
resolution is a true and accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County
Board of Commissioners on August 9, 1990
with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the County
of Oakland at Pontiac, Michigan this 9th day) August 191.4_
Lynk 6. Allen, County