Budget Message / Highlights - Metropolitan Water Reclamation ...

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
2009 BUDGET
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
2009 BUDGET NARRATIVE (continued)
• Main network core has been upgraded using the latest technology from Cisco. This upgrade provides increased
throughput, higher speeds, and more reliability for future network utilizations such as video conferencing.
• Proactively evaluate and recommend available/emerging technologies for applicability to the District operations,
performance management, and sustainability plan.
• Implemented the One-Step Trade program for Treasury;
• Performed BPT migration;
• Phone system upgrade at the Main Office Building was completed. This upgrade provides full system redundancy for
all three critical systems within the phone switch;
• Accomplished major upgrade of Scale system – Oracle and Fault tolerance.
• Promote increased use of technology to improve efficiency of business processes and sustainable practices.
• Three additional conference rooms at the District
VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS
were equipped with audio-video conferencing
2008
functionality. This addresses challenges the
District is facing with higher fuel costs by allowing
meetings across the District without forcing
District staff to drive to a central location;
• Perform SAP Upgrade ERP 6.0;
• Implemented enterprise Geospatial Information
System (GIS) infrastructure;
• Developed and implemented enterprise Internetbased
Privately Owned Treatment Works
Administration and Compliance System (IPACS).
• Provide for the development and professional
enrichment of ITD staff.
Remaining
Facilities
Stickney
MOB
McMillan
Pavilion
Remaining Facilities are to receive video communication capability at Egan, North Side, Calumet,
Kirie, Lockport, LASMA, Fulton County, Mainstream, Racine, and North Side Data Center.
• Implementation of smartphone technology. We are now able to provide secure access to email and files, while
District staff is not at a computer, through the use of a District issued cellular phone;
• Deployed thin-clients for use in all District facilities;
• Provided Engineering-Construction with mobile computing capabilities and hardware.
The Department’s goals and initiatives for 2009 include the following:
1. Acquire and implement cost justified technologies that support business functions to effectively manage the District
growth and sustainable development.
The ITSP challenges the District to deliver solid strategic responses, and the District has elected to respond by: streamlining
workflows, reducing and eliminating paper-based processes; initiating an integrated and unified approach to performing the
services it provides to the community; seamlessly integrating the District’s entire business environment, both internally and
externally, and driving an enterprise focus to the way the District performs key functions such as asset management,
performance management, business/operations analysis and reporting, records and document management, and sustainable
development. It has produced a project portfolio aligned with business goals and objectives of the departments. The IT
Strategic Planning Committee (ITSPC) will reconsider its charter and focus on the information technology components of
enterprise processes. These organizational vehicles will enable ITD to more effectively elicit District business needs and
priorities. ITD will expand web/portal architecture and commence projects that are dependent on this architecture besides
employee self-service (ESS), such as business intelligence/business warehouse (BI/BW). ITD will continue to improve
Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Data Replication systems supporting our end user application.
2. Maximize customer service and satisfaction among all departments by providing high quality, responsive service.
ITD has reorganized its management structure to better align functions, tasks and duties. ITD recognizes that the
organizational structure can still be improved and will continue to review it in 2009. ITD will continue to incorporate
strategies of the ITSP through 2012. ITD will continue to improve the District’s e-mail services and spam filtering.
Eliminating unnecessary tasks, workflows and reducing paper documents are aspects of identified projects that are focused on
satisfying the customer and providing the tools to maximize efficiency.
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