REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Agreements with N. Harris Computer Corporation for the NorthStar CIS Utility Billing System
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Deliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and Infrastructure
BACKGROUND
The City's utility billing system is NorthStar Customer Information System (NorthStar CIS) from N. Harris Computer Corporation (Harris) which was implemented through a highly competitive process in 1998 and is a citywide, integrated online system consisting of a complex set of hardware, firmware, and software. It is the backbone of the customer billing system with ten user applications operating on the platform to enable seamless integration between meter reading, service orders, meter data management, generation of utility bills, collection of various payment channels, customer service delivery channels including a call center and on-line self-service web portal, while enabling the turn on/off of utility services and many other service related activities.
In September 2017, City Council authorized staff to execute an agreement with Harris to upgrade the NorthStar CIS system from version 6.3 to version 6.4. Once the upgrade is complete, the utility billing system is considered up to date enabling interfaces with various new technologies including advanced Application Programming Interfaces (API) required with modern banking platforms and the Core Automation Rules Engine Platform enabling new electronic business processes.
The current agreement expires on December 7, 2020.
DISCUSSION
The NorthStar CIS is mission critical to the City's customer billing operations. The software upgrade to version 6.4 and purge was completed in April 2019. The software upgrade included updated technology that was required to be in place prior to the Core Automation Platform Rules Engine process being enabled in the live/production environment. Best practices called for 3-6 month software/user stabilization period prior to the Core Autom...
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