Technology Services

Financial Benefits: 

• From 2004 to 2007, the City saved $3 million dollars in software licensing costs.
• The technology budget for the City has been reduced by $1 million dollars (from 2007-2010).
• By pooling cell phone costs, the City has saved $177,000 in the first year (2009).
• The Information Technology Investment Committee (ITIC), which is comprised of executives from eleven City agencies, approves and oversees all major financial investments in technology, citywide.
• All centralized asset management teams tracks equipment on a larger scale, allowing for the redistribution of unused devices.  It also give the City better leverage by purchasing equipment bought in bulk.

Benefits to Constituents:

• The redesigned Denvergov.org allows for easy access to information about Denver, and the services that the City provides.
• The IT security program was created to ensure that the information collected citywide meets industry security standards.  This means that the credit card information that is collected when someone plays a fine, as well as the personal information that is retained by a department, will be safe from theft or misuse.
• The City is now agile enough to take on large short-term technology projects without increasing operating costs.  This includes the security infrastructure that was needed to host the Democratic National Convention, as well as the creation of 47 vote centers for the 2008 election.
• The upgraded technology supporting 911 is more secure and reliable.  Non-emergency calls are better routed to 311, preventing interference for true emergencies.
  

Benefit to the City:

• The 12,000 City employees now have a dedicated intranet site (DOT) for information sharing.  The site offers a way to deliver information about benefits, requesting services, and provides forms to employees located all over town.
• The risk of a large scale technical failure is minimized by having a centrally maintained infrastructure.
• New facilities, like those being built for the Denver Bond Project, are now built with specified technical design standards, so that they meet the needs of the building users, with little to no retrofitting.
• The centralized IT staff is better trained, is working within industry standards, has more mentoring opportunities and works with more up to date technology.
• The Project Management Office (PMO) offers the technical expertise to oversee large scale implementations that rely on a technological infrastructure.  Projects are coming in on time and on budget with improved accountability and transparency.
• Technology Services can buy, build and use the same technology for multiple groups.  Since 2007, TS has delivered ten new enterprise class systems including unified video surveillance systems and a document management platform that agencies are continually being added on to.  This reduces the amount of expensive and time consuming "one off" requests.
  
  Consolidating the City and County of Denver's IT functions has yielded financial savings, as well as benefits to residents, businesses, fellow agencies, and staff.  Consolidation has allowed the City to assess what the total cost of technology is citywide.  It has given the City the purchasing power that comes with pooling resources.  They can now predict the costs of technology over time, including that of replacements and infrastructure upgrades.  Technology Services is now able to institute industry best practices (including ITIL and PMI) for both technical compliance and project management.  Because of Technology Services, the City and County of Denver is more agile and efficient in meeting the needs of stakeholders.