DRA User’s Group

Technology Committee Meeting [Summary]

August 29th

Rolling Prairie Library System

 

Present:  Pat Burg - ISM, Paul Johnson – RPLS, Tammy Schnell – LLCC, Shelley Koehler – SPL, Tim Schnabel – RPLS, Steve Craven – DPL, Junie Longbons – DPL; Ann Adkesson - Barclay PL/Warrensburg, Tim Childers – Lincoln Library, Chet Brandt - IECIC, Eileen Curry – Windsor, Harry Gaylord – Ill Supreme Ct. Library

 

 

Five Request for Quotes (RFQs) were reviewed by the Committee for recommendation.  They were from five consultants:

Joseph Ford and Associates, Inc.

Documentors

RMG Consultants, Inc.

Information Systems Consultants, Inc. (Richard W. Boss)

Dr. Edwin M. Cortez

 

Pat Burg asked Paul Johnson to start the discussion with his reaction to the Quotes.  He said that two of the companies had contacted him already: Ford and RMG (McGee).  Both had templates for an RFP and both had detailed task lists of the proposed project.  He thought these two had the most detail and information.  It was pointed out that Ford’s proposal was a lot more than we had anticipated, and RMG’s quote was $16,500.

 

The Committee all discussed the five quotes and agreed that Ford’s quote was the most detailed, and provided the most information.  The cost, however; was prohibitive. 

It was agreed that the most attractive quote was RMG’s.  The group asked Paul to call several references, including one out of Illinois.  The group also asked Paul to call RMG to see if they were willing to adjust portions of the task list to reflect flexibility in a site visit; contract language in the RFP template; five year cost estimate; and provide a list of vendors.  Paul said he would do those things and report back to the group before the next meeting.  The Committee wanted early notification of these things, especially the recommendations from other clients.

 

Paul outlined the process for approving the consultant which included:  present recommendation to the Users Group Governing Board (Sept. 12th )– including the $1,500 increase; Approval by RPLS Board (Sept. 17th) ; and RPLS lawyer review.

 

The next Technology Committee meeting was tentatively set for September 19th at 9:30 at RPLS.  Since the Governing Board was to meet on September 12th, Pat wanted to know if there could be a consensus in time for her to make a recommendation of the Committee’s choice to the Board.  It was agreed that Paul would notify us early of his findings, in case there was a problem.

 

Ann Adkesson mentioned that it would be a good idea to give other committees an opportunity to send a member to our discussions to increase their representation.  The Committee discussed this at length.  Pat asked the Committee if she should present the idea to the Board on September 12th.  The Committee agreed that if other committees wanted to be included in the RFP process, they could send one representative.  Pat agreed to recommend this to the Board.