SR 04-10-2018 3F
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 10, 2018
Agenda Item: 3.F
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Joseph Cevetello, Chief Information Officer, Information Services Department
Subject: Software Subscription Agreement for Learning Content Management System
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award RFP #136 to Cornerstone OnDemand, a California -based company, for
the purchase and implementation of a centralized training portal solution,
Cornerstone Learning Suite Solution.
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with
Cornerstone OnDemand for software subscription, implementation services , and
the purchase of training content and professional services as needed, in an
amount not to exceed $ $839,065 (including $15,024 contingency), over a five-
year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
3. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
section of this report.
Executive Summary
All City Departments provide regular staff training, including staff development, safety,
regulatory (harassment prevention, drivers’ safety, OSHA, etc.), and peer -to-peer
knowledge transfer. Whether formal or informal, each Department currently manages
and tracks curriculum in different ways. The City has never implemented a centralized
system or process to gauge the effectiveness of such offerings. The purchase and
implementation of a Learning Management and Content System (LMS) would bridge
this gap. It would foster a more comprehensive approach to staff development,
fostering learning communities, promoting staff career paths, providing educational
opportunities in various media to more effectively meet staff needs and help them stay
current, informed and engaged and support succession planning. Staff recommends
executing a five-year contract with a company based in Santa Monica, Cornerstone
OnDemand (Cornerstone), for the purchase, training and implementation of their
Learning Suite Solution.
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Cornerstone's system is a web-based, feature-rich, collaborative, user-friendly software
environment that supports and enhances instructor-led, virtual, and self-paced training.
This city-wide portal will enable training, while also capturing data on training
performance to achieve insight into City training offerings. The system would be used to
administer, document, track, report, schedule, house and deliver training to City staff.
In addition, staff is requesting funds to purchase as-needed training content through
Cornerstone, as they resell third-party training content at discounted rates. The cost of
this purchase, including licensing, training, implementation services, and 10%
contingency is an amount not to exceed $439,065, with the additional amount not to
exceed $400,000 ($80,000 annually) for optional as-needed training content and
professional services for a 5-year grand total not to exceed $839,065. Funding for the
original purchase of this system has been earmarked in the Total Workplace budget.
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Discussion
As the motto for Santa Monica Institute states, we are “The City that Learns.” Santa
Monica strives to be a tech-savvy, service-oriented organization with a Governance
framework that promises our customers a government that is transparent and
trustworthy. To support this customer-service focus, training and education must
continue to be a central focus that helps to keep the workforce on top of the knowledge
and skills they need to perform with excellence.
Staff with a broad set of relevant skills find greater satisfaction from their jobsas they
feel more valuable and can utilize a wider skillset. Poorly trained employees have lower
levels of engagement, motivation and productivity. While some City staff have always
had regulatory, credentialing and legal training requirements, it was only recently that
the City formalized staff development course offerings and automated student
registration across the organization by means of the Santa Monica Institute (SMI).
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Since 2014, ISD has been providing online computer training via both web-based
content providers and through in-house developed training videos. In 2017, ISD
implemented a formalized IT training program and expanded its offerings to include
mandatory cyber security awareness training and other in-person and online business
software trainings to support city staff in acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary to
be a more technology- and business-literate organization.
The Big Blue Bus, Fire Department, Risk Management, Human Resources and Library
each continue to manage their respective training mandates and offerings via disparate
systems.
While these Departments all have training in common, there is no central training portal
to manage, track, measure effectiveness or promote collaboration among learners,
which hinders the cooperative approach that makes our individual and collective
business units function efficiently. The purchase and implementation of the Learning
Management and Content System (LMS) software from Cornerstone would bridge this
gap by enhancing enterprise-wide employee development and compliance training, by
creating standardized scheduling, learning communities and implementing one familiar
City-wide portal.
Cornerstone’s web-based, collaborative, user-friendly software environment supports
and enhances instructor-led, virtual, and self-paced training. The system includes
authoring tools for online training, and comprehensive reporting, tracking, and analysis
by employee, job class, and department. This system would be a single landing place
for staff training whether it be Instructor-led or external training curriculum from other
training content providers. Simple built-in reporting will provide real time visibility into
the City’s compliance requirements by organizational unit and employee, available to
management and individual employees. It will also assist in retaining and promoting
talented workers, through motivational learning opportunities and comprehensive
transcript maintenance.
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As Departments currently have no formalized system to track and provide existing
training, the migration to this LMS will be provide much-needed functionality in the data-
driven paradigm the City has created.
Vendor/Consultant Selection
In February 2017, ISD issued an Request for Information (RFI) to learn about the
different options available in terms LMS product offerings. The results of the RFI
informed the development of a Request for Proposals (RFP), which was issued on
September 28, 2017. ISD also partnered with various City departments, including Big
Blue Bus, Fire Department, Human Resources, Santa Monica Library, and Finance in
developing the RFP to ensure that the product selected could meet the City’s collective
training needs.
The RFP was posted on the City’s on-line bidding site, and notices were advertised in
the Santa Monica Daily Press in accordance with City Charter and Municipal Code
provisions. Fifty vendors downloaded the bid and 12 bids were received. Bids were
evaluated based on the criteria in SMMC 2.24.072, including t he proposed software
solution, price, references, previous experience, value added-breadth of service,
presentation/demonstration of proposed solution, and compliance with City
specifications. Cornerstone OnDemand’s product features and user interface best align
with the City’s IT needs in terms of an up-to-date, feature-rich, easy to use solution.
Cornerstone has vast experience working with municipalities, including City of Los
Angeles, Ventura County Fire Department, and Contra Costa County. The 19 year-old
company, headquartered in Santa Monica, provides solutions in use by over 35 million
people in 192 countries, and in 43 languages.
Cornerstone received praise from their references for their feature -rich product,
implementation approach, comprehensive knowledge transfer and training approach,
and customer service and support. In terms of functionality, the Cornerstone solution
has integration with Tyler Munis, the City’s new ERP software currently in
implementation, and their solution provides a built-in scheduling component that will
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enable automated training enrollment. Based on these criteria, Cornerstone is
recommended as the best bidder.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The contract to be awarded to Cornerstone OnDemand for the licensing,
implementation, training services and the purchase of training content is for an amount
not to exceed $839,065. Approval of the contract requires the following budget actions:
1. Release of fund balance in the amount of $165,264 at account 1.380256
2. Appropriation of $165,264 to account SO015814.589000
Training content would be charged to various departments' budgets as applicable.
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Cori Newlander, Technology Training Coordinator
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Oaks Form - Cornerstone
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITI ATIVE NOTICE
NOTICE TO APPLICANTS, BIDDERS, PROPOSERS
AND OTHERS SEEKING DISCRETIONARY PERMITS, CONTRACTS,
OR OTHER BENEFITS FROM THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
Santa Monica’s voters adopted a City Charter amendment commonly known as
the Oaks Initiative. The Oaks Initiative requires the City to provide this notice and
information about the Initiative’s requirements. You may obtain a full copy of the Initiative’s
text from the City Clerk.
This information is required by City Charter Article XXII—Taxpayer Protection. It
prohibits a public off icial from receiving, and a person or entity from conferring, specified
personal benef its or campaign advantages from a person or entity after the official votes,
or otherwise takes official action, to award a “public benefit” to that person or entity. The
prohibition applies within and outside of the geographical boundaries of Santa Monica.
All persons or entities applying or receiving public benefits from the City of Santa
Monica shall provide the names of trustees, directors, partners, and officers, and names
of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation or revenue interest. An exception
exists f or persons serving in those capacities as volunteers, without compensation, for
organizations exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3), (4), or (6), of the
Internal Revenue Code. However, this exception does not apply if the organization is a
political committee or controls political committees. Examples of a “public benefit” include
public contracts to provide goods or services worth more than $25,000 or a land use
approval worth more than $25,000 over a 12-month period.
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the City
compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the name of any
person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit” is sought by an
entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the name of every person
who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has (e) more than a ten percent
interest in the entity. Therefore, if you are seeking a “public benefit” covered by the Oaks
Initiative, you must supply that information on the Oaks Initiative Disclosure Form. This
inf ormation must be updated and supplied every 12 months.
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE DISCLOSURE FORM
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the City
compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the name of any
person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit” is sought by
an entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the name of every
person who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has (e) more than a ten
percent interest in the entity.
Public benefits include:
1.Personal services contracts in excess of $25,000 over any 12-month period;
2.Sale of material, equipment or supplies to the City in excess of $25,000 over a 12-
month period;
3.Purchase, sale or lease of real property to or from the City in excess of $25,000
over a 12- month period;
4.Non-competitive franchise awards with gross revenue of $50,000 or more in any
12-month period;
5.Land use variance, special use permit, or other exception to an established land
use plan, where the decision has a value in excess of $25,000;
6.Tax “abatement, exception, or benefit” of a value in excess of $5,000 in any 12-
month period; or
7.Payment of “cash or specie” of a net value to the recipient of $10,000 in any 12-
month period.
Name(s) of persons or entities receiving public benefit:
Name(s) of trustees, directors, partners, and officers:
Name(s) of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation, or revenue interest:
Prepared by: ____________________________Title: __________________________
Signature: ______________________________________ Date: ________________
Email: ____________________________________ Phone: ____________________
FOR CITY USE ONLY:
Bid/PO/Contract # ____________________________ Permit # ___________________________
REFERENCE:
Agreement No. 10654
(CCS)