9.f) Staff Report-digital documents-CrabtreesSCANDIA
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January 21, 2014
To: City Council
From: Colleen Firkus, Treasurer & Brenda Eklund, Deputy Clerk
Re: Digital Document Storage
Agenda Item #:
Background:
Storing documents digitally has been suggested by the Council in the past in discussing storage
space needs. Storage space is limited at City Hall and access to past documents can be
challenging. Council has approved an allocation of $12,500 for Electronic Data Storage in the
2014 Capital Improvements Fund budget.
Issue: Should the city proceed with digitizing its documents and which vendor should the staff
use to implement the process?
Proposal Details:
Crabtree Companies sells and supports a digital Enterprise Content Management solution created
by Laserfiche. The solution includes a Server to control access to the repository and database,
Web Access, a Workflow module for automating and optimizing work processes, and an
Advanced Audit Trail that allows monitoring and provides reports on Laserfiche activities. Value
is experienced by improving efficiency in search, retrieval and filing documents, saving money
and time, and making it easier to comply with regulations, and providing employee/customer
convenience. Since the city no longer has to pay sales tax, their original proposal has been
reduced to $12,114.69. This includes a scanner, installation and training. In addition we would
like to purchase a module from Banyon for $595 that will allow us to print a bar code on all
checks which will allow automatic coding/filing of all payments into the document storage
system and save hours of data entering to set up indexes. Crabtree made a presentation to the
Council last April.
We also checked with another company that sells Docuware along with Toshiba copier
equipment. They were able to offer software similar to Laserfiche at a significantly reduced cost
by bundling it with leasing a new copy machine. But upon further research we discovered it was
not an apples -to -apples comparison and to have the Banyon auto -indexing we would need the
upgraded version for a total cost of $13,377. Part of that cost is also buying out the remaining
lease of our current copier contract. Also, there is only one other city that I found using
Docuware as most cities use Laserfiche. Brenda, Judi and Colleen had a virtual meeting with
both companies and reviewed both software packages. We prefer Crabtree Companies as the
Laserfiche software appears to be superior to Docuware, they have significantly more experience
with cities and an impressive support system. Toshiba's main focus is their equipment, not their
software.
Fiscal Impact:
Pricing quotes & comparisons attached. Total cost for Crabtrees with Banyon auto -indexing
module is $12,709.69.
Options:
1) Approve purchase of Crabtree Laserfiche system and Banyon Module for $12,709.69.
2) Continue with current processes and storage practices.
Recommendation:
Option 1