Business Challenge

The key requirements included:

• Tie systems together loosely and others tightly
• Error reduction (including reducing redundant data entry and manual data transfer)
• Support for industry standards
• Ability to make changes incrementally
• Business Process and Workflow Automation
• Scalability at no extra cost
• Provide OnLine Information Access and services to its citizens

Driving the enterprise at the City of Canton is a heterogeneous collection of platforms, systems and applications. These include, Windows, Linux, and Unix servers, Database Servers, Mail Servers, File and Print Servers, as well as, Applications servers abound. The City also has Department level applications for Police Records Management, Fire Records Management, Financials (General Ledger, Accounts Payable & Receivable), Cash Receipting, Utility Billing, Real Property and Personal Property Taxes, Business Licenses, Building and Planning and Zoning records Management (Inspections, Permits, etc.), and Geographic Information Systems.

Canton understands that as a local government it is a broad-based service organization. An important function of the city's IT department is to enable decision makers make timely and informed decisions and provide service to its citizens responsibly and quickly. The only way that they could do that effectively is by providing real time access to accurate, complete, and up-to-date information to both the Government as well as citizens. This required integration of heterogeneous platforms and applications.

Being able to loosely couple their key data-centric systems in a service model was a major challenge. All kinds of data that is important in its own right, was to be given a new meaning by relating to data in other systems. The other business problem was the need to spend too much time on plumbing rather than improving the business logic. Serving 73,000 people with accurate information in real time isn't easy. It needed to find ways to meet the increasing demands of its citizens for speed, service and responsiveness, all at a reduced cost. The ability to provide manageable access to all the information can be more useful that some data relations.