The Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) entered into three contracts with Northwoods Counsulting Partners, Inc. in December 2012 for the license, implementation, and support of Northwoods’ document management system, Compass Pilot. The document management system provides functionality for on-line storage, retrieval, and transfer of critical documents required to determine and verify eligibility to all benefit programs administered by EHSD and meet State-mandated case management requirements. The three original agreements (implementation, software support, and software licensing) have been amended several times and the implementation agreement is expired. A separate support contract was entered into in 2014 to acquire additional help-desk services for the weekend to support staff’s processing of a significant increase in applications resulting from implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Amended and Restated Software License and Support Agreement consolidates the terms and conditions of the license and support agreements as amended, incorporates the terms of Contract #19-893 for extended help desk services, and makes changes to license acquisitions, discount rates, and invoicing methodology. The Amended and Restated Software License and Support Agreement provides for support of the software for the annual support period of February 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016, and is necessary to meet contractual obligations for EHSD staff’s continued access to the system to perform critical and daily tasks and to receive basic software support for business continuity. In addition, the Amended and Restated Software License and Support Agreement provides for extended help desk services, licenses for new employees, system enhancements, and consultation services, including services necessary to support other technical initiatives for which Compass Pilot document images, data, and functionality are key components.
Failure to approve the Amended and Restated Software License and Support Agreement will preclude systems access and support, and will disrupt daily operations, processing and review of eligibility, clients’ receipt of benefits, and overall customer service. Not only would document management be negatively impacted but business processes and tasks that are largely driven by the use of Compass Pilot and CalWIN, the system used for the administration of benefits, would be disrupted. System enhancements and services that would improve efficiency and experience in using the system and initiatives dependent upon Compass Pilot data, images, and functionality would be delayed.