To: Board of Supervisors of the County of Sonoma, Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Water Agency, Board of Commissioners of the Community Development Commission, and Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Resources Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Christina Cramer, 707-565-2988, Ric Giardina, 707-565-3145
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Learning Management System Contract Correction and Amendment
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Approve the corrected end date for the initial 3-year term of the Saba Cloud Subscription Services Agreement to be January 31, 2022 instead of January 31, 2021;
B) Authorize an increase to the maximum agreement authority amount from $476,316 for the intended initial 3-year term under the earlier board item to $792,702 which covers that initial 3-year term plus the optional two 1-year extensions under the delegated authority of the Director of Human Resources;
C) Authorize the Director of Human Resources to approve the 1st amendment to the Saba Cloud Subscription Services Agreement to obtain an additional 900 user licenses and to obtain connector technology.
end
Executive Summary:
The Learning Management System (LMS) is a cloud-based software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of training and development programs. The LMS provides the County with the ability to deliver and track training to its workforce and to appropriate non-workforce individuals such as volunteers, seasonal poll workers, and members of some 90+ County commissions.
The LMS was successfully implemented in July 2019. COVID and shelter-in-place have created a situation in which the way training is delivered has changed. In-person training is not currently a safe option. This has occurred at the same time that the need to train employees on new workplace rules, practices, and protocols has increased significantly. The LMS has proven to be an essential and timely resource, allowing the County to provide training to County staff remotely and immediately.
The maximum agreement amount represents an increase of $316,386 above the original authority of $476,316 approved by the Board on January 29, 2019 for the initial 3 years of the agreement. However, the end date for the contract was incorrectly stated in the Board item, resulting in approval for a 2-year agreement. The majority of the total $316,386 increase is due to the intent to exercise the option to renew years 4 and 5 of the agreement now under the delegated authority previously given to the Human Resources Director. Other elements that make up the balance of the increase include the need for expanded licensing, additional costs incurred during implementation, and a connector to integrate a county-supported Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) such as Zoom or WebEx into the LMS.
Costs incurred during fiscal year 20/21 will be absorbed within existing appropriations. New on-going costs will be included in Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Internal Service Fund rates beginning in fiscal year 21/22.
Discussion:
The first request included in this board item is to correct the end date for the initial Saba contract. The contract with Saba authorized by the Board on January 29, 2019 was intended to be for a period of three years starting on February 1, 2019. The budget numbers presented were for three years. The end of the three-year contract signed with Saba is January 31, 2022. However, the January 29, 2019 Board item incorrectly listed the term end date as January 31, 2021, which is only two years. This Board item corrects the end date of the initial three-year contract with Saba to January 31, 2022.
The second request included in this Board item is for the Board to approve an increase to the maximum agreement authority that can be paid to Saba from $476,316 to $792,702 which is an additional $316,386 that could be paid to Saba over 5 years. The January 29, 2019 Board item authorized $476,316 for the initial 3-year term and authorized the Director of Human Resources to extend the agreement for up to two, one-year terms provided the annual on-going costs do not increase by more than 10% each year. The requested increase to the maximum authority provides the needed amount to continue the system and allow for the Director of Human Resources to exercise the optional agreement extensions. This board item requests additional authority of $316,386. The $316,386 includes:
• $260,568 ($124,080 for year 4, and $136,488 for year 5) to cover licensing for the optional years 4 and 5 amounts not included in the original Board item in 2019;
• $10,018 for costs paid to Saba for an additional week of support during system implementation to allow for adequate testing prior to the system going live.
• $45,800 for technological improvements including an additional 900 user licenses (500 “external” licenses and 400 “internal” County employee licenses) and to obtain connector technology.
The third request included in this Board item is for the Board to approve the purchase of an additional 900 user licenses and obtain connector technology for several reasons that are detailed herein. Assuming the Board approves this request, the cost to cover the additional licenses and the connector technology are included in the maximum authority requested in this item as explained in the second request above.
The LMS was launched in July 2019 and has been in continual County-wide use since that time. Since the launch, more than 770 unique class offerings have been accessible. Approximately, 3,900 employees have used the LMS to date. Most recently, the LMS was used to remotely train 325 Poll Workers and 50 Inspectors in preparation for the November 3, 2020 Presidential election during COVID.
Historical Perspective and Department of Emergency Management LMS Expansion
A post-disaster review of the October 2017 fires recommended the County commit 1% of annual staff time (or 20 hours per year) to emergency preparedness training and disaster training. The Board of Supervisors, by Resolution No.18-0332 on August 14, 2018, directed staff to develop, support, and maintain an effective training program as part of an overall Disaster Preparedness Program. To accomplish this directive, Human Resources identified the need for an LMS to assist in this critical effort.
In collaboration with the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), HR-Workforce Development has successfully brought the following national emergency management courses into the LMS that can be accessed by or assigned to County employees:
• Incident Command System 100
• Incident Command System 200
• Incident Command System 700
• Incident Command System 800
• PIO Awareness Course
• PIO-Social Media in Emergency Management
• CAL OES SEMS - Standardized Emergency Management System
Additionally, DEM is developing the following courses, which will become available in the LMS when development is completed:
• EOC Specific Training - Finance & Administration Section (DEC 2020)
• EOC Specific Training - Operations Section (DEC 2020)
• Disaster Service Worker - Who and what is a DSW (End of JAN 2021)
• EOC Specific Training - Planning Section (JAN 2021)
• EOC Specific Training - Logistics Section (JAN 2021)
• EOC Orientation and Review (FEB 2021)
• Web EOC Training (End of JAN 2021)
At present, all County employees have access to the LMS; however, the system is not yet fully accessible by non-employees. Access by non-employees is essential for the LMS to operate as a key element of the County’s Disaster Preparedness Program because a key element of that program is for the County to become a regional resource for emergency preparedness trainings which will include non-County employees.
Unfortunately, due to a series of back-to-back emergencies since the acquisition of the LMS, DEM has been unable to collaborate with HR-Workforce Development to design and complete the expansion into full usage by DEM. Accordingly, the implementation of the disaster training program has been delayed. HR-Workforce Development and DEM staff plan to complete implementation of this essential Disaster Preparedness Program element by the end of 2021.
LMS Expansion Costs and Cost Recovery.
While the initial authorization to implement the LMS was in direct support of the Board's mandated emergency preparedness and disaster training program, the LMS has proven an essential and timely resource during the COVID pandemic, providing remote training to County staff and non-employees such as for the aforementioned 2020 election Poll Workers.
In the age of COVID the LMS has become a critical resource and is the primary method by which training of almost every type is provided to County employees. The LMS also has the capability to be expanded to include County partners in the form of other government agencies and individuals in service to the County such as volunteers and commission members. The County must ensure this system’s functionality and capabilities are maximized in order to fully support employee development, compliance training, preparedness efforts, and equity educational programs.
During the FY 2019/20 budget development process, Human Resources worked with the County Administrator’s Office (CAO) to consider various cost recovery options to fund the on-going LMS support costs not already within the existing budget. Options included incorporation into the existing HRIS internal services rate, establishing a separate internal service fund, or including the cost recovery through the Countywide Cost Plan. These options were vetted in conjunction with the CAO's Internal Services Working Group. The decision was made to incorporate cost recovery into the existing enterprise software internal services rate for HRIS starting in FY 20/21.
Implementation Authorization Overrun
During the implementation, staff determined that an additional week was needed to successfully test and launch the LMS. The additional week required a change to the scope of work, and caused the implementation authorized for the contract with SABA to be exceeded by $10,018.
Expanded Licensing and Improvement Costs Identified
HR-Workforce Development staff has identified the need for additional licenses and one technological improvement, each of which is deemed necessary at this point in time. Accordingly, the increased authorization for the contract with Saba includes the following enhancements:
Saba Software Improvements:
External Licenses500 additional external (non-employee) Saba end user licenses (500 x $11 per such license): $0 for FY 20/21, then $4,400 ongoing starting in FY 21/22. The agreement with the LMS vendor, Saba Software, already provides the County with 500 free external licenses. These free licenses are being used as “theatre seat” licenses in that the County has the ability to give an individual who is not a County employee access to the LMS to take one or more trainings during a specific period of time and then, thereafter, reassign that license to another individual. This system gives the County maximum flexibility and reduces the cost of training externals when continuous access to training is not required. This was the process used to train 325 Poll Workers and 50 Inspector in preparation for the November 3, 2020 presidential election.
During FY 21-22, it will be necessary to supplement these external licenses to meet these requirements:
o As the functionality that the LMS can provide becomes more robust and visible, it is anticipated that more than one department or agency will want to provide concurrent external training. For example, if a different department, such as Emergency Management, wanted or needed to provide training to externals during the few weeks that CRA was providing external Poll Worker and Inspector training in October 2020, these departments’ capacities and “seats” would have been restricted and their training plans would have been more challenging to coordinate, the time period of training would have had to have been lengthened, and staff resources would not be sufficient to quickly/daily administer the system to change out the “seats” to accommodate concurrent trainings.
o Prior to COVID, HR-Workforce Development had MOUs with several other local governmental agencies such as the City of Rohnert Park, Sonoma Clean Power, and the North Marin Water District that allowed the County to provide training to their employees. These MOUs did not include use of the LMS as they were signed prior to the County obtaining the LMS. During FY 21-22, HR plans to renew the MOUs with these agencies; this time, to include access to the LMS. Based on feedback from these agencies, HR Workforce Development anticipates increased interest from other regional agencies to utilize the County’s training resources; indeed, discussions have already commenced with the City of Rohnert Park. As non-County employees, these individuals will require external licenses, which would add to the demand for the same “seats” and further diminish the ability to have concurrent external access to the system and training. These needed external licenses are included in the 900 being requested herein. MOUs with these sister agencies will incorporate fees and costs payable to the County that will offset the costs involved in providing these services.
Internal Licenses
400 additional “internal” (employee) Saba end user licenses (400 x $7 per such license): $0 for FY 20/21, then $2,800 ongoing starting in FY 21/22. When the LMS was implemented, staff anticipated that there would be a gradual ramp-up of users and that not all County employees would need to access the system simultaneously. Staff believed that the 4,450 licenses purchased under the original contract terms would be sufficient to last the County through at least the initial 3-year term of the agreement. However, as a result of the passage of SB1343, the County was required to train all County employees on sexual harassment laws and prevention by December 31, 2020 rather than the training being limited to supervisors and managers. In the pre-COVID planning for the training, staff had expected a portion of the training to be completed in-person. Since in-person training was not possible, the County assigned an on-line training to all County employees, including extra-help simultaneously. That assignment eliminated the anticipated ramp-up and used all the remaining licenses available under the initial contract terms. Staff expects the need for County-wide virtual training to continue. Additional licenses are required to ensure that the County can continue to assign on-line mandatory training and to expand the LMS to include new employees and returning extra help employees as they come on board.
Video Conferencing Connector
Either the Saba WebEx or Zoom Connector: $10,000 (annually starting in FY 20/21). Within Saba, the Connectors allow for set-up of Virtual Classroom Trainings using Zoom or WebEx, and provides single-click access to trainings for students, resulting in a significantly enhanced end user experience. Without the connector, students need to search through emails to locate the link to access their class. This is particularly challenging for external users without access to County networks.
Costs incurred during fiscal year 20/21 will be absorbed within existing appropriations. New on-going costs will be included in HRIS ISF rates beginning in fiscal year 21/22.
Prior Board Actions:
08/14/2018: The Board accepted the staff Emergency Management Program Assessment Report and provided direction to staff regarding implementation of selected action items for restructuring the County’s emergency management organization and developing a robust disaster training program as stated in Resolution No.18-0332.
01/29/2019: The Board authorized the Director of Human Resources to execute a software services agreement with Saba Software, Inc., for the acquisition of an LMS considered critical to support the Board-approved mandated disaster preparedness training for all County employees as disaster service workers. The authorized agreement term was February 1, 2019 to January 31, 2021 with a maximum agreement amount not to exceed $476,316 with authority for the Director of Human Resources to extend the agreement for up to two, one-year terms provided the annual on-going costs do not increase by more than 10% each year. Additionally, a Resolution was adopted adjusting the FY 2018-19 Adopted Budget programming $338,000 from the Disaster Set Aside within the General Fund Reserves for one-time LMS implementation costs. Lastly, a Resolution was adopted amending the amending the 2018-2019 Department Allocation Tables of the Human Resources Department, deleting 1.0 FTE Department Analyst and adding 1.0 FTE Department Information Systems Specialist.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 20-21 Adopted |
FY21-22 Projected |
FY 22-23 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
155,900 |
183,580 |
195,988 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
155,900 |
183,580 |
195,988 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
155,900 |
183,580 |
195,988 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
155,900 |
183,580 |
195,988 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The learning management system is funded by the HRIS Internal Service Fund (51405). The fiscal summary above represents the services and supplies cost of the program which will be absorbed within existing appropriations.
The projected costs for FY 21/22 and FY 22/23 will be financed with the HRIS internal services rate.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
Draft Saba Amendment
Original Subscriptions Services Agreement #2019-02-5636
Saba Order No. 2021-1-59784
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.