Memorandum 17-043 Harbor Software Replacement

Memorandum 17-043

TO:                         MAYOR ZAK AND HOMER CITY COUNCIL  

FROM:                  BRYAN HAWKINS, PORT AND HARBOR DIRECTOR

DATE:                    MARCH 8, 2017

SUBJECT:           REPLACEMENT OF THE EXISTING PORT AND HARBOR MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

BACKGROUND:  The current Marina software in use at the Port and Harbor was put into place in approximately 1997.  It was developed by a single programmer who has since passed away.  The program was used by many harbors in Alaska and ours was customized for our moorage billing.  The system has been bought and sold many times since her death.  Through these changes of ownership, the records of the exact customizations have been lost. The current owners are phasing it out and are no longer supporting it or making updates.  The Port and Harbor has tried to solve issues with our Marina software in house and with the current owners of the software to no avail.  For Example:  statement size, billing processing and printing time, moorage rate calculation change, inability to scale up to the current number of accounts serviced, limited report parameters, limited account management, limited characters for charges, payments and notes, and utility integration.

In 2011 Port and Harbor began researching new software.  We interviewed other harbors and asked around at conferences.  In 2011, a software vendor made an onsite visit to Homer harbor’s office to demo his program and look at our current program. It was determined this “off the shelf” software could not be customized and thus certain automation would not be possible.  The single programmer issue for this vendor was also of concern. 

In 2014 Port and Harbor began exploring the possibility of customizing and extending some general purpose customer relationship management (CRM) software.  Demos were developed from two firms with extensive CRM experience.  Both proved unworkable due to the complexity of the accounting necessary in our work flows.

In 2016 Port and Harbor determined they needed professional help in defining our “requirements” for a replacement application and to streamline the bidding process.  Two firms were contacted.  An Anchorage firm was awarded the task.  The Request for Proposals document and Business Requirements are now ready for solicitation. 

Port and Harbor manages revenue streams in 32 separate categories that generated more than $4.3M in revenue last year.   Accurate and readable billing software is absolutely necessary. 

RECOMMENDATION:  Approve Ordinance 17-14 to appropriate $150,000 from Port and Harbor Reserves to provide a replacement of the existing Port and Harbor management software.