SAMA poised to be on cutting edge of North American mass appraisal and assessment profession with SPAN project
"CGI has been exceptionally good and very proactive in terms of project management. They ensure that key people (on the project) are satisfied with performance levels. "
Irwin Blank, Managing Director, Technical Standards and Policy Division
The Client
The chance to join Systems Design, Inc. (SDI) and Govern Software in a partnership project to manage the development and implementation of a new integrated assessment information (CAMA) system in Saskatchewan was something CGI could not pass up…and so far the results have been highly rewarding for all stakeholders concerned…
The Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) is the recognized leader and authority in property assessment in Saskatchewan and is the service provider of choice for Saskatchewan's local governments. SAMA develops the province's assessment policies, standards and procedures for approximately 820 jurisdictions with a combined total of one million properties and provides full assessment services to over 800 municipalities.
The Challenge
When SAMA issued a Request for Proposal in November 2001 for the development of a new generation Property Assessment Network, SDI, along with Govern Software, invited CGI to join them in submitting the winning proposal. Govern brought the highly configurable commercial application software technology in Govern application for Windows™, SDI, as prime contractor, brought the assessment practice knowledge and would ensure expertise in system integration while CGI brought the local presence to ensure project management and system hosting from its Regina data center. According to Irwin Blank, SAMA's Managing Director, Technical Standards and Policy Division, the SDI team came closest to producing a workable prototype of the full system in Phase I of the multi-phase project. Another important consideration for SAMA was that project management be ensured by a local provider. "CGI has a good reputation and local presence in Regina. They are known for quality control and good business sense."
Under the three-year system migration contract, entitled the Saskatchewan Property Assessment Network (SPAN) project, the team (SDI, Govern Software and CGI), beginning in May 2002, would work with SAMA to develop and implement a (CAMA) system to support assessment valuation, administrative and governance functions for all real property in Saskatchewan. Using Govern Software's Mass Appraisal Module, SPAN would be a fully integrated and flexible information system with a more robust, accessible database. And the team had barely a year to complete a working prototype.
The challenges were considerable. There was the sheer volume involved—some 1 million properties for the entire province—making it one of the largest such projects in North America. Moreover, the system had to be able to execute a new way of doing appraisals so that it could connect with land titles data and accommodate different valuation criteria and hundreds of assessment models for residential, commercial and industrial properties. The SDI team not only had to jointly lay out the design with SAMA, but plan the complex steps to prepare the prototypes as they converted from 30-year-old technology to a relational database framework.
The Strategy
To ensure success, the project was divided into five stages to address issues such as project scope, fit analysis, platform design and installation, data conversion, integration of prototypes, training, testing and acceptance. From the management perspective, CGI had its work cut out for it. Using CGI's standard methodology, the CGI team brought a disciplined management framework to the project, ensuring the production of regular project updates, monthly management meetings, reporting, action items and an overall project plan.
Of considerable importance was CGI's insistence on regular communication between organizations to ensure a good working relationship. "CGI has been exceptionally good and very proactive. They ensure that key people (on the project) are satisfied with performance levels. They have good strategies and methodologies which have give us a lot of confidence, “ commented Blank.
The Technology
- SPAN system hosted on high-performance hardware running Windows/SQL Server and Webserver software
- Supports 150 personnel in SAMA's central office and seven regional offices in Saskatchewan
- Govern for Windows™ for Integrated Assessment Information System--an enterprise-wide, client server and Internet-based technology software solution for local and state governments
The Results
By April 2003, Phase I had been completed on budget, including all deliverables and testing and acceptance of the system prototype. The team has already moved into Phase II which focuses on software and hardware upgrades, additional training on the Govern application, refinement of valuation model prototypes and SAMA business process integration. Commenting on the success of the project to date, Blank feels that the challenges have thus far been well addressed by the SDI team with CGI doing its part to maintain a disciplined management approach. "CGI brought a depth of technical expertise and professionalism, but their real forte or greatest value added was their discipline in project management," he concluded. |
