Florida City Shares its Best Tech Deployment How-To Ideas
1. Implementation and Change Management
Online services are the new standard in industries from retail to the public sector. It’s not “if” but “when” local governments will innovate community planning and building. Agencies with strong change management and data migration strategies experience a smoother implementation. With a large-scale, thirty-year new housing construction project in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida’s big plan, they recognized the need to approach development with a modern perspective.
Located in north Palm Beach County, the vibrant city of Palm Beach Gardens lives up to its original “garden city” roots as a family-friendly place to live and thrive with a healthy business environment. Residents enjoy the lifestyle that the Sunshine State is known for, with average sunny temperatures and tropical surroundings. Many “snowbirds” have visited Palm Beach Gardens and decided to stay, which is not surprising given this city’s booming growth.
Palm Beach Gardens implemented Tyler Technologies’ Enterprise Permitting & Licensing software for online services, GIS data integration, and mobile functionality. They learned during implementation and shared their best tips for a smooth deployment. These tips will help navigate several complex implementation challenges including planning for deployment and resources to support the project, change management to gain internal and external buy-in, migrating previously collected data to your new platform, and creating processes to fit new functionality.
2. Start With the Right People in Place
Proactive change management, a deep department knowledge pool, and strong IT support are crucial for any software launch. Implementation project leaders had a positive attitude toward change, which helped ease the transition to online technology. Palm Beach Gardens’ leaders involved all agencies and departments, including IT, in decision-making for their specific operational insight and need assessment.
David Crump, project software manager for the City of Palm Beach Gardens, explained it this way: “Having the right background knowledge is key to understanding project requirements and asking the right questions.” Crump recommended subject matter experts examine daily processes, departmental data, and functionality to anticipate data integration needs.
It’s nice that you can build a new process as we move into a technological world, but just because you worked this way before doesn’t mean you keep working that way.
Niki Spencer
Senior Business Analyst for the City of Palm Beach Gardens
3. Plan Your Data Migration with IT Resources and Data Experts
Municipalities are like fingerprints — no two are the same. This uniqueness is especially true for city code and other information as a city migrates to a new software system. Data migration is integral to the implementation process, so anticipating IT and various resource needs helps you stay on track. Crump described challenges in formatting parcel information for a GIS integration.
The county’s stacked condo parcels required the collaboration of Palm Beach Gardens’ GIS Department, IT team, Tyler specialists, neighboring agencies, and Esri® expertise to format their address data properly.
Preparation before deploying a new software system can position your municipality for success. Moving from Google Earth to Esri GIS-based geographical data is a prime example of data planning. Crump highlighted one such project. “We were using Google Earth instead of ArcGIS servers and maps. Google Earth data was another project we needed to complete before the Enterprise Permitting & Licensing implementation.”
4. Embrace Innovation and a New Approach to Old Processes
Project leaders who embrace change led the Enterprise Permitting & Licensing implementation with open minds and helped create new processes, problem-solve, and educate new users. Niki Spencer, senior business analyst for the City of Palm Beach Gardens, emphasized the importance of looking at your processes and asking questions. “It’s nice that you can build a new process as we move into a technological world; just because you worked this way before doesn’t mean you keep working that way.”
Online civic planning and development are a reality for city leaders who want to meet the demand for convenience, digital connections, and immediate information. Successful innovation requires the right public sector enterprise platform, a change oriented mindset, and proactive planning. Deploying new technology is counterintuitive if the processes stay the same. That’s why Palm Beach Gardens chose project leaders who saw the value of innovation and new ways of doing things.