Agency MNIT

Contractor Berry Dunn McNeil & Parker, LLC

SWIFT Contract Number 171643

Project Name IT Funding Model Evaluation

Project Number (if applicable) {Empty}

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: The Office of the Legislative Auditor conducted an audit in 2018 of MMB business systems that all state agencies use to manage day-to-day activities such as accounting, budgeting, procurement, and human resources The audit was conducted in response to questions about fiscal oversight of the state's shared business systems. The audit found that The Department of Management and Budget does not have a comprehensive funding plan for its shared business systems.
The Office of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) and Department of Management and Budget contracted for an outside vendor to review and assess the current model for funding the State of Minnesota's enterprise IT systems. The contract also included the need for: an evaluation of the current and future enterprise system needs, identifying developing technologies that may address these needs, and financial strategies to adequately fund the state's enterprise systems on a longer-term basis (for the next 10 to 20 years).

Project Duration

Start Date Fri, 01/24/2020 - 00:00

Original end date Wed, 06/30/2021 - 00:00

Actual end date Wed, 06/30/2021 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) {Empty}

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $140000

Amendments {Empty}

Contract total $140000

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? State

Is this a sole source contract? No

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) {Empty}

Evaluator Name Laurie Hansen / Matt Peterson

Evaluator Email Address laurie.m.hansen@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness The Berry Dunn team set expectations up front regarding timelines for the project. They set expectations of work required by the State and set forth a timeline and process. This helped the state team to gather information and return it to Berry Dunn on a defined schedule. The State team, responsible for the oversight of the deliverables for this work, was engaged in the overall State of Minnesota COVID-19 response which affected the timeline and completion date. The Berry Dunn team was reasonable and adaptive in working around the State's need to coordinate COVID-19 activities.

Evaluate the contractor's quality The contract prescribed the following deliverables:
· Recommendations for sustainable funding that will ensure the ability to maintain our current systems as well as fund our roadmap of upcoming projects
· Guidance on current industry standards and best practices regarding IT funding and assessments of new services or technologies that may be available to deliver enterprise resource planning services.
· Inform MMB and MNIT of upcoming trends and practices and insight into how to remain flexible to adapt to these trends quickly while maintaining a level of high quality in our IT systems.
· Identify gaps in current strategies and practices and provide impactful changes to how we currently approach IT funding.

BerryDunn provided a final report that aligned with the deliverables. They engaged with the State regularly during the project. We agreed to project scope, data collection methods and objectives prior to the start of the project. Berry Dunn held working sessions with the State to understand and obtain the State's input on challenges, constraints and complexity of maintaining the State's ERP systems. They considered our feedback to ensure that the report was understandable and in plain language.

Evaluate the contractor's cost The cost for the work completed was appropriate.

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance Berry Dunn provided a secure repository for the State to upload files for this project which aided in collaboration and convenience. This repository worked for most files, but one rather large file was sent via another method. One cumbersome activity was scheduling meetings between the State and Berry Dunn teams, but we were able to work through it using emails to find open meeting times.
Berry Dunn was very flexible regarding the project timeline due to the delay's caused by the State team's availability due to their work with the enterprise-wide COVID-19 response.
Berry Dunn always responded timely to any questions or concerns.
Berry Dunn team was easy to work with and explained complex information in an understandable way.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? Yes

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): None

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 4 - satisfied