City of Buffalo Expands Relationship with Infor Public Sector to Create Enterprise-Wide Approach to Government Operations

September 09, 2009

Infor Public Sector today announced the City of Buffalo, the second largest city in the state of New York, will expand its relationship with Infor Public Sector, deploying and integrating additional software to deliver an enterprise-wide solution for data mining, reporting and cross departmental collaboration. With its new approach, Buffalo will aggregate citizen and business requests for services and business transactions across the enterprise, and offer multiple channels of secured access to back-office functions including Web portal, kiosk, front counter, telephone, and email.

"The City of Buffalo needs a single integrated system that will provide organization-wide visibility and management," said Lou Petrucci, chief building inspector, City of Buffalo. "The expanded use of the Hansen 8 suite will enable us to streamline our business process flows, enhance agency-wide interdepartmental communication, centralize unique billing, and automate our process of inventory and work management systems."

The city has expanded its existing deployment of Hansen community development and regulation (CDR) software from Infor Public Sector with the addition of new modules including CDR Billing, Business License and Trade License, and is in the process of implementing Building Permits, Code Enforcement and DynamicPORTAL, which will enable citizens and contractors to file for and check the status of building permits online 24/7.

New operational efficiencies will be realized through the rollout of Asset Management, Work Order Management, and Inventory and Fleet management software for the Buffalo Fire Department. The Hansen 8 Asset Management solution will enable the City to track and maintain assets as well as evaluate each associated cost. By adding asset management for fleet, facility, water, hydrants and inventory, the Buffalo Fire Department will be able to utilize asset indexes to make accurate decisions regarding inspections, preventative maintenance work activities, and rehabilitation materials and methods. Fleet maintenance and asset information can be accessed by all users, enabling the city to utilize forecasting strategies for effective preservation and optimization of equipment.

"By integrating the asset management solution, we will better manage our fire department's assets and fleet by consolidating maintenance and repair information into a single database for quick access," added Petrucci.

The addition of the Hansen 8 CDR Billing, Business License and Trade License solutions will enable centralized billing for all functions of the Economic Development, Permit & Inspection Services department, including license renewals, rental registrations and demolition activities. This will allow the City of Buffalo to respond to complex and fast-changing billing requirements with the speed and flexibility required to minimize operational costs and improve citizen satisfaction. Additionally, moving to a fully automated system will help the City reduce manual errors associated with its current paper system and provide greater efficiency in inventory and work management.

"Working with a single system and vendor, rather than juggling multiple vendors and loosely-coupled solutions, provides significant benefits to governments and municipalities," said Bob Benstead, vice president, strategic planning, Infor Public Sector. "The Hansen 8 enterprise approach consolidates business processes into a single, seamlessly integrated system, which enables governments to increase interdepartmental communication and visibility, improving workflow and collaboration."