SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration

SAMIS – A
Collaboration of
Florida Special
Taxing Districts

Patricia K. Gehant, M.A.
The Children’s Service’s Council’s in Florida have been
collaborating on the use of a grants management SaaS
software solution since 2001 which offers both
transparencies of operations and accountably for $1.7
billion in public funds. This paper describes the product, the
successes, and the leadership strategies employed during
JWB Children’s Service’s
Council of Pinellas County the 10 years of operation.

14155 58th Street N,
Clearwater, Florida33760

727-742-5144
Mentor – Jennifer Fisch, CCIO, Children’s Board of
Hillsborough County.

6/20/2011
Page 37

SAMIS-A Software Collaboration

Table of Contents
Project Summary........................................................................................................................................... 3
The Partners .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Realized Advantages ............................................................................................................................. 4
SaaS or Cloud ........................................................................................................................................ 5
The Motivation ...................................................................................................................................... 5
The Role of Leadership in a Collaboration .................................................................................................... 5
The Collaborative Business Model ................................................................................................................ 7
Why a Collaborative is Successful? ............................................................................................................... 8
What is SAMIS? .............................................................................................................................................. 9
The History of SAMIS .............................................................................................................................. 11
Reason for SAMIS .................................................................................................................................... 12
The Operational Structure ...................................................................................................................... 14
The Fee Structure .................................................................................................................................... 16
Fee Model ........................................................................................................................................... 18
The Funding Formula .............................................................................................................................. 19
The SAMIS Environment ......................................................................................................................... 19
Definitions of Cloud vs. SaaS solution .................................................................................................... 20
SaaS Defined ....................................................................................................................................... 21
Cloud Defined ..................................................................................................................................... 21
SAMIS as a Cloud and SaaS Defined .................................................................................................... 21
Delivering Quality Service to the Customer ................................................................................................ 22
Enhancement Team Process ................................................................................................................... 22
The Enhancement Review Process ......................................................................................................... 23
SDLC Framework ..................................................................................................................................... 25
Collaborative Technology ....................................................................................................................... 25
The Partner Commitment to Accountability............................................................................................... 26
Implementation of New Partners ........................................................................................................... 27
Future Projects of the Collaborative ........................................................................................................... 27
Business Intelligence ............................................................................................................................... 27
Online Learning ....................................................................................................................................... 28
SAMIS Operations at the State Level ...................................................................................................... 28

Innovation is born from collaboration! Page 1


Expansion of Partnerships....................................................................................................................... 28
Attachment 1 – SAMIS Organizational Chart .............................................................................................. 30
Attachment 2 – SAMIS Feature List ............................................................................................................ 33
Attachment 3 – SAMIS Analysis of Costs Over the Life of Collaborative .......................................................... 35
Attachment 4 – Team Learning Scenario .................................................................................................... 38
Attachment 5 – SAMIS Business Intelligence Proposed Structure and Governance .................................. 40



Project Summary – The goal of
the paper is to describe how seven
SAMIS – Collaboration of Special Districts
Children’s Services Council (CSC’s), special
taxing districts in Florida, and one county Throughout the report the reader will find examples of
government, shared the cost of how innovation was born from collaboration and how
developing a custom software application technology, if effectively implemented, will expand
that resulted in increased accountability knowledge with a high return on investment.
of over $1.7 billion dollars in public funds,
and demonstrated the effectiveness of
the services delivered to over 800,000 children and adults in Florida. Decision makers have access to
county specific and real time information, are able to make informed decisions based on the data,
impacting the quality of life of children and families by using the SAMIS Grants Management
Application. The counties participating in this collaborative represent approximately 48% of the State
population.

The paper will discuss the organizational and operational structure, the ability to replicate the project,
and the leadership style required to manage a collaborative. The SAMIS Collaborative has operated since
2001 and has added new members over the years. This success was not without challenges for which
the leadership negotiated changes in the operational structure. Today, the Collaborative continues to
negotiate with potential new partners from around the State.

This paper outlines how a collaborative was formed and structured to take advantage of shared
knowledge and reduce the overall cost of development and ongoing operations. The
paper will also address the following factors:
SAMIS, a
collaboration of
• The history and description of the SAMIS Software Collaboration governmental
• The evolution and decision making process of the collaborative operations agencies, can be
• The participant benefits and challenges with the partnership replicated in other
• The underlying technology that supports the collaborative model counties in Florida.

The replication of this model in other counties statewide is possible and the paper will discuss the
various operational changes undertaken in response to the evolving needs of the partners and lessons
learned for others considering a similar solution.

The SAMIS Collaborative leadership is currently evaluating the feasibility of operating through the
Florida Children’s Services Council, the state association of CSC’s, rather than through the Juvenile
Welfare Board of Pinellas with the goal of expanding the opportunities to other entities for additional
revenue. See Attachment 1.



Throughout the report the reader will find examples of how innovation was born from collaboration and
how technology, if effectively implemented, expands knowledge and action with a high return on
investment.

The Partners - The collaborative is managed by the SAMIS Management Committee consisting of a
representative from each participating CSCs: Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Children’s
Services Councils of Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin, The Children’s Commission of Jacksonville and
the newest members (2010/11) The Children’s Trust of Miami and the Children’s Board of
Hillsborough. Pending membership includes St. Lucie CSC’s. Palm Beach County Department of
Community Services has joined the collaborative as a partner of the Children’s Services Council of Palm
Beach County.
SAMIS is an example of how
Future customers that can benefit include county and city innovation was born from
governments, and community funding organizations that collaboration and how technology, if
distribute funds to community organizations and require effectively implemented, expands
accountability for their expended funds, such as local United knowledge and action with a high
Ways. Community programs currently utilizing SAMIS return on investment.
include: child care providers, mental health counseling and
residential programs, recreational, tutoring, and/or family therapy providers, etc.

Realized Advantages - The model has been continuously refined over the last 10 years of operation in
response to the partner’s needs and lessons learned. Below is a list of the realized advantages.

– Provides a transparent and timely process of accountability for public funds
– Answers the question - Did the CSC/Agency make a difference in the individuals
served by the program funded with tax dollars?
– Low cost to users - No added software or infrastructure for CSC or funded agencies
– Provides a high level of business continuity, security, and user access
– ROI is continuous from start of participation
– High rate of user satisfaction
– Leadership that supports the ideals of collaboration



The SAMIS software suite provides a cost effective solution for the collection and analysis of information
from community service providers with various level of technology resources. The cost of operation is
shared among the eight members at a rate that is far less than anyone CSC can operate a comparable
network. The host CSC, JWB, benefited from shared costs of operations including such standard costs as
internet service, data center occupancy, security, redundancy, network costs and shared database staff,
and the cost of IT leadership.

SaaS or Cloud - SAMIS operates as a hybrid Cloud solution and also as a SaaS for other pending customers.
Gartner defines the Cloud as a business function through the internet (email, storage, etc.) and a SaaS as
the delivery of a custom application that uses a single set of code that is shared across many users
(SalesForce.com, Google Apps, etc.) 1

What makes SAMIS stand apart is the collaborative management approach that responds to IT
leadership hesitancy to move into a business model that moves resources outside the walls of IT control.
SAMIS business model addresses the fear “If I cannot see it, how can I manage it?” IT leadership has
input into the operations and software change process.

The Motivation for the development of the product arose out of efforts by JWB to solve a common
problem shared by all the CSC’s – the production of timely and accurate data that reflected the true
impact of CSC funds on the community. The genesis of the formation of the Collaborative was the need
of other CSC’s to meet the same objective responsibly with public funds.

The Role of Leadership in a Collaboration
SAMIS was originally not based on a model used by others
and in 2001 there were no standards for operating a
SaaS by one governmental entity (JWB) for four
other entities. SAMIS Collaborative development
was an example of an adaptive leadership challenge Did we make a difference in the lives
(Heifetz, 2002). SAMIS required experimenting and of children and families?
developing new ways to standardize a business
process across multiple governmental entities and
to design an effective operational model.

Each participating CSC arrived to the SAMIS
collaborative from a CSC with a well-established
system with defined structures, patterns of
interrelationship along with individually held set of
beliefs reflecting both their organizations and local

1
Gartner Presentation



communities. The success of a new initiative was dependent upon the ability of the individuals to
appreciate and understand the dynamics necessary to form a learning community that was able to
efficiently deliver results, learn, innovate, and to conform to a new shared set of norms and behaviors.

The successful establishment of a new system of thinking must be future oriented. SAMIS has had
consistent leadership over the ten years of operation in both the Operational staff as well as the core
through leaders from the original five partners. It is this group that has perpetuated the original purpose
through all phases of change. It is also this group that has to maintain an open mind and accept a
plurality of voices to collaborate on new ideas that identified opportunities that lead to innovation.

Between 2001 and 2010 the members of the team remained stable, building positive relationships,
establishing patterns of behavior and SAMIS system structures that would provide the desired
outcomes. The SAMIS Management Group (SMG) became the team that designed the operations of the
Collaborative. Each member brought individual learning experiences and past knowledge to the
conversation in an environment with team norms of acceptable creative tension, trust, inquiry, and
ability to transition from the current reality to the future desired reality.2

The main behavioral change that is necessary for successful participation in a collaborative partnership,
such as SAMIS, is the ability to share control over all aspects of the operations. According to Heifetz
and Linsky (Heifetz, 2002, p. 13) “without learning new ways – changing attitudes, values, and behaviors
– people cannot make the adaptive leap necessary to thrive in a new environment.” The SMG exhibited
the adaptive skills when new members joined the team after 10 years of operations.

The new partners that joined the Collaborative in 2010 entered initially viewing SAMIS as a technical
solution and accepted the structure and behavioral
patterns that currently existed. Members were Successful Teams …..
oriented to the current SAMIS structures and patterns –
• Build trust to enable collaboration and
fee structures, enhancement process, help desk learning
support, infrastructure operations, etc. However, since • Accept levels of creative tension
• Visualize
all partners have an equal voice in the conversation, • Inquire
regardless of length of membership, the pool of • Transition from current state to future
experience and knowledge of the new partners has
expanded the pool of new ideas as well as the process of establishing new relationships that support the
principles of successful teams.

Over the 10 years of the partnership, leadership has proposed several new operational strategies to
meet the customer where they are at that point in time. To maintain a healthy adaptive team,
leadership must support a community of learning where all members feel comfortable offering ideas
and fully participating in the discussions and decisions. The success of a collaborative is the healthy
discussion of ideas and meeting the needs of all members. The learning community is best emphasized
in the ability of the SAMIS leadership to adapt to change.

2
Module II, Understanding the Enterprise, Florida Institute of Government, October, 25, 2011



The Collaborative Business Model
SAMIS operates as a business collaborative with a defined decision making structure. The model has
been designed to provide all partners equal access to the application and equal input into defined
management decisions. The model was developed based on the conversational leadership style and
concept of learning organizations. Peter Senge, the Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at
MIT Sloan School of Management, posts that as the world
around us becomes more complex and dynamic, work must The team that became great didn’t
become more “learningful” and that it is no longer sufficient
start off great – it learned how to
to have one person learning for the organization. 3 SAMIS
produce extraordinary results.
Collaborative was designed to benefit from the shared
(Senge, 1990, revised 2006)p. 29
learning experiences of all the members to respond to an
increasingly complex world. Learning organizations are
possible because we are all learners and it is our nature to learn.4

The SAMIS Collaborative has demonstrated the application of the principles of the learning organization
through the business operational and governance changes implemented to accommodate the changing
technology and needs of the partners throughout the 10 years of operations. Below is a summary of the
key changes negotiated by the partners.

1. 2007 - Created the Operations Manager and Fiscal Agent roles to distribute the cost of the effort
and to increase accountability by separating fiscal from operational functions.

2. 2007 - Modified the enhancement process from one cycle per year with all partners agreeing to
the change to implementing multiple release cycles a year and providing a process for individual
CSC changes.

3. 2008 - Established, as a of FY 09-10, a SAMIS Base Version, requiring agreement of all partners
to any changes to the Base, thus reducing the impact of changes on individual Counties or
agencies. The same code base is maintained but the functionality is not activated. However,
the functionality can be made available at a later date.

4. 2008 - Changed the fee structure from all partners pay a share of all Group enhancements
regardless of usage, to two fee groups for enhancement – Program/Fiscal and Measurable
Objectives (MO) – billed based on usage. MO enhancements have traditionally been the highest
cost features and have traditionally pull funds from either Fiscal or Program enhancements.
Since not by all CSCs use MOs, it was decided to change the fee structure to accommodate this
business process.

3
(Senge, 1990, revised 2006) p. 28
4
(Senge, 1990, revised 2006) p. 29



5. 2009 - The Hardware fee, previously a separate fee assessed annually, will now be taken from
the SAMIS Reserve Fund rather than directly billed to the CSCs. This was implemented to
address the changing economic conditions.

6. 2010 - The Licensing fee was eliminated for new members and an Implementation fee was
developed. New partners are assessed $50,000 for implementation and enhancements costs.
However, members entering the Collaborative after 2005 do not have rights to the reserve fund
generated by past Licensing fees should the collaborative dissolve. All participating partners
benefit from the use of the reserve fund and the hardware purchased.

7. 2010 - The contract was revised to allow partners to leave the Collaborative and still have access
to the software with limitations on resale or profiting.

8. 2010 - The formula for distributing the costs was revised for FY 10-11 to remove the county
population as a factor in determining portion of the fees.

9. 2011 – A new business model is being proposed which includes the Operating Agent being transferred
to the Florida Children’s Services Council, (the state level association of the CSC’s) from the
CSC level with management being moved to another CSC due to a change in priorities at the CSC level.

Why a Collaborative is Successful?
Why is Collaborative Successful?
The SAMIS Collaborative has been successful because a 1. Shared mission – all partners need
core value has been to engage the collective the services and cannot afford to
intelligence to solve problems. As the SAMIS create or purchase independently
Enhancement Flow chart demonstrates, conversation 2. Long term stability in CSC
takes place on many levels and in a variety of membership, management and
environments. SAMIS Collaborative members are development staff
encouraged to obtain feedback from constituents in 3. Technology that is flexible and
their SAMIS user communities and peers to create an scalable
4. Infrastructure that supports the
opportunity to connect and discover new information,
process
that can lead to innovation.
5. High Return of Investment (ROI)

The benefits of collaboration are dependent on the
reason two or more groups come together. The SAMIS



partners founded the collaborative to meet a specific set of goals outlined below.

1. Stabilized costs due to unspent funds being rolled forward and used by the group
2. Reduced costs of group enhancements
3. Reduced costs of combined operations
4. Reduced costs of hardware and software purchases
5. Reduced infrastructure cost to the end user
6. Reduced support costs
7. Share synergy of ideas and functionality

The original team of partners recognized the potential of a joint venture that would provide both benefit
and efficiency of operation. The team came together because of the trust that existed between the
individuals and that trust was respected throughout all changes. A system must make changes to remain
relevant; the leadership group had that vision.

What is SAMIS? - SAMIS is a web based grants management suite that allows community
organizations to report to local governmental agencies how public funds have been expended. The data
collected includes client level demographics, outcomes, and agency specific financial information. The
SAMIS software application is delivered through a private Cloud/SaaS configuration to over 2,800 users
in 785 locations in Florida. The cost of utilizing SAMIS by special taxing districts is based on the number
of contracted programs entering data and the amount of contracted funds accounted for in SAMIS. The
access fees are born by the governmental agencies, not user agencies, i.e., access to the application is
provided at no cost to community programs required to
SAMIS by the numbers….
enter data.
In 2011
2,800 users
$300 million managed annually The system currently manages $300 million annually in
$1.7 billion in public funds public funds, with over $1.7 billion since its
785 locations in Florida implementation in 2001. The project is currently
800,000 client records implementing two new partners with one partner
beginning in July5. Negotiations are currently underway
with three additional partners which will increase
utilization to potentially $375 million annually with over 3,400 users at approximately 1,000 locations in
the State.

In general SAMIS offers the Agency user the ability to:

• Transfer client data electronically into SAMIS (EDI)
• Retrieve all data entered - (reverse EDI)
• Create custom queries to meet agency needs

5
Currently in the implementation stage are The Children’s Trust of Miami and the Community Services
Department of Palm Beach County. The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County will start in October 2011.



• Customized Outcomes by the CSC and assigned to the program at the individual and group level
• Paperless Budgeting Process
– Budgeting
– Reimbursement
– Budget amendments
– Electronic transfer of funds
• Workflow accountability in the Budget, Reimbursement
and Budget amendment process
SAMIS Value Proposition –
• Generate CSC specific agency contracts
Provide users timely access to
– Contract with over 120 pages is generated in 5
information with ease of entry and
seconds and includes the approved budget and
retrieval with ability to manage
all custom special contract conditions set forth
quality.
by the CSC.
– Contracts include all measurable outcomes
agreed on between the agency and CSC.
• Offers replicated database services to allow CSCs to pull any data out of the system and conduct
individual analysis outside of SAMIS. This feature is the source of the development of the
Business Intelligence strategy underway at the State level.

• Consolidated Reporting provides real time results from a single screen to all Program and Fiscal reports
generated in SAMIS. This approach provides access to management information without needing detailed
knowledge of or access to all modules in SAMIS. Report consolidation also allows for targeted access to
reports, which protects the database from unauthorized changes and the unauthorized dissemination of
information.

• The Security model provides granularity based on roles in the organization. The SAMIS Operations
team sets up each partner site providing access to the CSC Help Desk Administrator. Each
partner controls access to their site (CSC), setting up permissions by agency, program,
modules, and for reporting groups. The Password security forces the use of strong passwords
and uses current password security standards of a regular reset and a “no sharing” policy.
Only the SAMIS Operations team has access to all partner databases in order to provide
technical support. A SAMIS replication database is made available to a limited number of
staff at each CSC for setting up ODBC connections to pull data from SAMIS to integrate with
other data systems.

• SAMIS has been designed to allow users to view the broadest range of data entered. The
Consolidated Reports Module features an array of reports that are generated based on the
various criteria such as Children’s Services Council (CSC), Agency, Program, Program Site, and
Classifications of Programs; reports are rendered differently based on criteria. The defined
report groups include Budget, Reimbursements, Adjustments, CDG, Attendance, Measurable
Objectives, Workflow, Funding, Waiting List, Group Activity, Position Management and Utility.



User access can be assigned at the report group or individual report level. See Attachment 2
SAMIS Features List.

The History of SAMIS
Five independent taxing authorities formed a data collaborative in
2001 under F.S. 163.62 which allows local governments to
organize a data collaborative for the purpose of sharing
information. F.S. Title XI, Chapter 125.901 was amended to support collaborative research activities by
exempting CSC’s from F.S. 119.07.(1) “Personal identifying information of a child or the parent or guardian
of the child, held by a council on children’s services, juvenile welfare board, or other similar entity
created under this section or by special law, or held by a service provider or researcher under contract
with such entity.”

Over the past ten years of operation, SAMIS has had several business model revisions as the partners grew and
as the team generated new ideas. As a result, the learning community responded to new ideas and changing needs.
Change does not require a threat that must be addressed6. Change can occur in teams that have
created an opportunity to discuss ideas resulting in a better way – even if the current way works! The
revisions in the governance of SAMIS provide insight into the life cycle of a collaborative team, and
which if not addressed, would have ended the SAMIS Collaborative.

There are no published examples of governments collaborating for over 10 years on the delivery of a
software application where all partners have equal input on the design and functionality of the system.
There are examples of government “sharing” resources (storage, internet connectivity, BC/DR,
infrastructure, etc.), but these generally do not include shared decision making, e.g. The Lambda Rail,
which has twelve (12) equity members consisting of public and private universities and colleges in
Florida. The growth and development of SAMIS, includes challenges and successes, evolving the SAMIS
collaborative to its current state.

An increase in access to the internet and technology has lead SAMIS to be innovative in the
accomplishment of common business tasks of governments. SAMIS has been a SaaS solution since its
birth in 2001; when SaaS was defined as an ASP (Application Service Provider). JWB was fortunate to
work with a team of professionals from the various CSC’s that embraced collaboration and helped shape
the design with new ideas and focus. In addition, the process has benefited from the software
development firm, Tribridge that understands the nature and value of collaboration and has been
working with our team throughout the life of the project. The shared vision by the developers and
partners, combined with the consistency of the membership, has been a critical factor in the methodical
enhancement of the application that has led to the current design.

6
(Senge, 1990, revised 2006) p. 423



Reason for SAMIS
Fourteen years ago, JWB became motivated to change after an Information Systems Review was
conducted to determine how to improve the business processes of JWB. The RISC UNIX based server
and “dumb terminals” in use were 10 years old and out of warranty. The data system used was a UNIX
custom application for which no one employed at JWB could find manuals. Documentation was based
on folklore passed down from staff to staff along with hand written notes. The staff was using an array
of desktops, thin clients, and a mix of Microsoft, Uniplex,
and other custom applications based on needs at the time.
Eventually the Unix custom application was moth balled SAMIS is built with public funds
unofficially and 146 Excel spreadsheets were used to and our developer shares the
generate contract performance data. Some staff refused to same respect for the tax payer;
use any technology at all because it was “too complicated.” we build what we need to be
effective, efficient, and
economical.
In FY 97-98, at the time of the study, JWB distributed $42
million to community programs with all financial and
performance information gathered in paper format. The
requests for reimbursements were hand delivered to
existing staff and consisted of 1-2” thick paper support documentation. Two JWB Fiscal staff took about
2 weeks to audit the documentation, request clarifications, submit for payment, and then an additional
1 - 2 weeks to process the payment in the accounting system, depending on questions, timely re-
submission, and corrections. Checks were either mailed to the program or as many would do, drive over
to pick it up to meet their payroll. To assist providers, JWB had a practice of providing a cash advance
that allowed cash strapped agencies to request up to 1/10th of their annual allocation at the start of the fiscal
year to provide cash flow until the first reimbursement was received at the end of
October or mid-November.

Performance data was provided in summary to the Board annually containing
data that was 10-12 months old. Programs reported quarterly by responding to a
series of summary questions that were printed and mailed to each agency by JWB
– 144 program - on continuous feed carbon sheets from a dot matrix printer.
Printouts, some 5-6 feet long, were mailed to each program in November, March,
June and September for a response by the 15th of the following month. Once the
reports arrived at JWB, one secretary spent a week separating the two remaining copies (one for data
entry and one for the record) and entered the data into a custom application on a UNIX operating
system. The secretary ran the quarterly summaries with the results distributed to 5 contract mangers to
review the results with Agencies being called for clarification on any discrepancies discovered by the
contract manager. While there were established norms for the review, not all staff applied the same
rigor to the quarterly review. When the data was “confirmed”, the summary information was entered
onto a MultiPlan spreadsheet (later Excel) for a different analysis. This was repeated each quarter with
the year-end data reviewed by the contract managers.



The year-end program level reports were produced in paper format, which took a minimum of six
months to analyze and then re-confirmed by the Contract Managers who
provided corrections to the data entry clerk. The year-end report – Contract Managers
Performance Analysis – required considerable labor to prepare and would read the reports
publish. The analysis and report preparation, along with any extended each quarter.
analysis, took another 6 months before the Board would see the
preliminary data. Because of this process, funding decisions for the new fiscal year were made based on
10-12 month old data, best case.

JWB decided in September of 1997 to release an RFP to seek assistance in defining technology needs
and determine the best strategy for solving the data analysis lag time. The process resulted in a
recommendation to build a custom application, since there were no products on the market that met
our needs. Between April 1998 and December 2000, JWB implemented SAMIS in over 150 programs.
During this time the kinks were worked out of the application through a series of planned
enhancements for which $ 554,191 was expended.

SAMIS was introduced to other CSC’s in 2001 who inquired on the use of SAMIS and the discussion
began to determine if there could be cost savings if a collaborative was formed. The primary goals of
participation was to increase the information available to the CSC, reduce the time necessary to analyze
and respond to the service trends, and reduce the cost of implementation. In addition, there was also an
early recognition of the potential to share data across CSC’s to determine effective program
models across Counties.

JWB agreed to lead the formation of the Collaboration with five CSC’s in 2001. A key factor in the
decision to form the collaborative was because a solid relationship of trust existed among the five
partners which was developed through the many joint activites of the Florida Children’s Services
Councils, a state association of CSC’s. In addition, the JWB executive leadership believed there was value
added to both JWB and other CSCs around the State through the sharing of ideas and intellectual capital
of staff. As a result of the partnership, the fees from participating counties supported an average of 85%
of the cost of operation of SAMIS for JWB. Concurrently, the partnering CSC’s could not have
implemented a similar system for an amount equal or less than their fees to participate in the
Collaborative. See Attachment 3 for SAMIS Analysis of Costs Over Life of Collaborative.

The chart below provides a summary of the total investment in SAMIS by each partner since October
2001.



Total Contribution By CSC
(includes hardware and capital fees
now funded through SAMIS reserve fund)
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000 Pinellas
$40,000
$20,000 Broward
$0
FY 01-02 FY 02-03 FY 03-04 FY 04-05 FY 05-06 FY 06-07 FY07-08 FY08-09 FY 09-10 FY 10-11 Duval
Pinellas $101,510 $98,627 $108,212 $96,171 $87,720 $91,720 $85,968 $65,254 $37,590 $32,799 Martin
Broward $109,265 $119,105 $127,610 $117,978 $127,469 $133,282 $131,835 $99,727 $59,699 $46,385 PalmBeach
Duval $70,276 $69,920 $76,981 $75,048 $66,682 $69,723 $71,101 $53,969 $24,892 $21,434 Miami
Martin $17,132 $15,925 $19,357 $19,767 $20,453 $21,386 $25,162 $19,099 $11,723 $15,560
PalmBeach $101,404 $101,013 $112,254 $119,947 $115,614 $120,887 $101,407 $76,973 $35,335 $54,370
Miami $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $68,433

The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County will begin participating in the SAMIS in July 2011.

The Operational Structure
SAMIS is currently organized under F.S. 163.62 which allows local governmental entities to share
research data (SAMIS and others) without the confidentiality concerns of a public records request. In
addition, F.S.125.901(a)(11) also protects confidentiality by stipulating that client identifying information
cannot be distributed. The operational structure of the collaborative has changed over the past three
years as the needs and desires of the partners have changed. The relationship of the members is set
forth in the three-year contract that is amended annually to reflect any changes in the fees. The elements of
the collaborative management arrangement are summarized below.



1. The governing boards of each of the participating CSCs approve the three year contract outlining
the partnership, which is amended annually to include the current year’s annual fee assessment.

Approves Contract CSC Boards

SAMIS
Approves Budget Management
Committee (SMC)

Recommends SAMIS
Management
Budget Group (SMG)

Enhancement Infrastructure County Level
Teams Team Partner

2. The SAMIS Management Committee (SMC), which consists of the Executive Directors of the
each participating CSC, approves the annual budget submitted by the SAMIS Management
Group (SMG). This budget is the basis for determining the funds required to operate and modify
or enhance the application. The annual budget is the basis upon which the fee distribution rates
are calculated.

3. The SMG consists of two members from each participating CSC (a lead and an alternate) that
recommends an annual budget to the SMC. This group also decides on the priorities for group
enhancements.

4. The agreement allows a CSC to bring in a local funding partner (i.e., a County, United Way, other
local entities that distribute dollars in the community) to operate through the CSC. Palm
Beach Community Services Department, a division of Palm Beach County is a current partner
and operates through the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.

5. The SMG identifies and approves enhancements to the application. The SMG typically expands
participation to SMEs when discussing enhancements or special projects such as an infrastructure review
and design. For example, fiscal staff attends when enhancements to the Fiscal module are
discussed, or research staff participates in Outcome/Performance Measures, and IT staff
participates when discussing the infrastructure design.
6. Each CSC can enter into an agreement with the software developer for CSC specific
enhancements for which the individual CSC Boards must approve. The enhancement cannot
change the functionality of the base SAMIS code.



7. The collaborative contract provides for the segregation of operations and fiscal administration
providing checks and balances. Currently, JWB provides the daily operations management by
providing the network access & management along with Help Desk support to each of the
CSCs' help desk staff. Palm Beach County CSC is the Fiscal agent billing the partners for assessed
fee and contract management with the developer agency.

8. The Director of SAMIS, a staff member of the Operations Agent, JWB, manages all
activities of the collaborative including SMG meetings, enhancement process, implementation
of new partners, solicitation of new partners, and interfaces with the developer and therefore approves
all invoices. JWB, the Operating Agent, requests reimbursement from Palm Beach CSC, the fiscal
agent, for allowable expenses based on the approved operations budget.

9. The current operating budget includes the cost of .80 FTE in FY 10-11 (.50 SAMIS Systems
Administrator and .30 help desk support). The staffing pattern will change as of October 1, 2011
increasing to 2 FTE’s to support the expanded number of partners and the implementation of
Business Intelligence and the move of the Operating Agent to the State level.

10. JWB and the Collaborative share a network infrastructure including bandwidth, security
features and storage in order to create economies of scale. These costs are reflected in
the budget. SAMIS supports between 20 – 40% of the cost of shared network resources.

The Fee Structure
The SAMIS partners sign a three year agreement, with the fees
updated annually through an amendment. SAMIS fees are The formula for assessing fees is the
assessed to each partner based on a formula that is agreed to in percent of each partner’s share of
April of each fiscal year. The formula was designed to measure the total of:
the impact a partner will have on network resources, i.e. the
• The amount of public funds
more funds to distribute, the greater the number of programs
managed in SAMIS
and users entering data, thus the need to consume a greater
• The number of programs
share of the network resources. In 2012 a storage fee will be
entering budgets
included in the fee structure to allow partners to maintain
• The number of programs
multiple databases and data older than 10 years. Community-
entering client data
based agency users are provided access to SAMIS for free with
all fees being assessed at the participating CSC level.

The fee schedule consists of three parts – Operations, Enhancements (Fiscal and Program/client level
demographics), Performance Measures Enhancements, and a Hardware/Software Replacement fee. The
hardware fee is assessed annually based with unexpended funds rolling over to the reserve fund and
made available for future use. Below is a description of each fee type.



• Implementation fees have replaced the practice of charging a licensing fee, and began
in FY 10-11. The fee is assessed to all new partners and supports the set-up costs and
provides for the customization of SAMIS to meet the unique needs of the new collaborative
partner. The fee includes operating staff travel and time to train and assist in the new
implementation. New partners have 12 months to complete the “new implementation.”
Any unused funds roll over to the fund balance of the SAMIS Collaborative that enables
operational enhancements for all partners. Customization needs that exceed the original agreement
are paid for by the partner.

• On-going operation fees are assessed annually to partners based on “system impact”; ad
valorem tax revenue collection and the number of programs funded annually. Smaller CSC’s
are able to participate in SAMIS at a considerably reduced cost. All partners participate at a
fraction of what it would cost to independently operate. There are three classifications of
fees:

– Enhancements – Modifications made to SAMIS that are agreed upon by all
members. The amount budgeted is based on discretionary funds available to the
CSC’s and is determine in April for the upcoming fiscal year. CSCs are only billed if
enhancements are undertaken. In addition, a recent change in the model created
three classes of Enhancement fees – Program/Fiscal, Performance Measures, and
Partner Specific.

Operations – The cost to support SAMIS from the PEAK 10 data center, the
infrastructure costs, and staffing for technical assistance and training to partners
and users. The in-kind infrastructure support has been important to maintain a
low cost of operations. The new business model will continue to negotiate a level of
in-kind support from members to maintain the cost effectiveness of the model.

– Hardware/Software replacement – These fees are to support the continuous improvement
of the infrastructure to providing a secure, efficient, user-friendly experience. The
funds unexpended rollover to the next fiscal year to support a fluctuation in capital
expenditures and provide stabilized fees assessed to each of the CSCs.



Fee Model

Implementation Annual Fees
• Enhancements • Operating
• Set up activities • Enhancement
• Hardware/Software Replacement

Metered Rate
Funds Distributed in SAMIS
# Program Budgets
# Program entering client
Reserve Fund data 09-10

The reserve fund had grown substantially as a result of the original cost structure of license fees and
cost savings over the first eight years of operation, which has provided an opportunity to cut back on
expenditures as CSC revenues declined. The SAMIS partners decided for FY 10-11 and beyond to fund
the Hardware fees from the reserve fund therefore reducing the overall cost of operation. The reserve
fund has been designated for capital expenditures only.

While traditional SaaS fees are assessed based on a per-user, per month utilization basis, the SAMIS
customer base would not allow for the acceptance of this model. The community agencies that enter
the required CSC data have a high rate of turnover in staff and despite efforts to educate users to NOT
share user accounts, there is both sharing along with an average of 15-20% of the accounts inactive. The
per-user metrics would therefore be skewed. The CSC is the actual client of the SAMIS Collaborative so
the fees are assessed based on metrics that relate to the use or impact a CSC has on the system
resources.

The impact on the operating cost is the amount of storage required for the database(s) and the number of
potential support calls incurred annually. It was decided at the onset of the project to select pre-defined
indicators that would reflect growth and impact on the operations.



The Funding Formula
The SAMIS formula, or Base Rate, considers the impact the partner will have on the system or load. The
variables include:

1. The total funds allocated to programs
2. The number of programs entering Budgets
3. The number of Programs entering into CDG (client level demographics)

The formula is used to determine the portion each CSC partner will be assessed for:

• Enhancements
o Program/Fiscal
o Performance Measures
o Partner Specific
• Operations
• Hardware Replacement
See the formula break down in attachment.

The SAMIS Environment
The SAMIS network is located at PEAK 10, a fortified data center in Tampa, providing 24/7 access to
users with a guaranteed uptime of 99.9%. SAMIS was moved to a data center from the JWB offices in
2005 following a series of hurricanes in 2004 that required the turn down of the network to protect it
from storm damage. SAMIS was moved at the same time the JWB network moved allowing for considerable
cost savings all around.

The network consists of three separate environments – Production, Training and Testing – one a single
domain that currently contains 16 separate SQL Server 2008 databases across the 7 partners. The web
servers are virtualized using VMware and Hyper V Server 2008 R2 on physical hosts with a single physical
SQL 2008 server with multiple NAS storage devices attached to it. The web application is written in .NET
using IIS 6.

All users have access to all three environments that provide opportunities for training and testing
scenarios and report generation. Each environment has identical features and functions to ease the
transition between the sites with the training site being available year round to provide localized
training to users.

CSC level users have access to a replicated environment and can choose to set up an ODBC connection
from other reporting applications, e.g. Crystal, SQL Reporting, Targit, etc., that at allows for the custom
analysis of their data. In this environment, tables are read-only but allow the user to extract SAMIS data
to their network for customized reporting.



All users are provided access to a library of Microsoft Access queries to create custom analysis at the
community or agency level. MS Access is generally a more affordable tool for community based
organizations than Crystal or other enterprise level applications. In addition to this, there are numerous
standard reports available in the SAMIS application that allows users to run the reports with filters for a
customized view of the data.

Definitions of Cloud vs. SaaS solution
SAMIS operates as a SaaS model, using Cloud technology to provide reliable access using a single set of code.
SAMIS resources are delivered to the user from PEAK 10 Data Center sharing rack space with the Juvenile
Welfare Board. It is the co-location with JWB that reduces the cost of operation for both JWB and SAMIS
with both entities receiving the benefits of 99.9% availability at a reduced cost for both.

The definition of a Cloud and SaaS solution or strategy varies slightly based on the sources. Gartner and
Foresters provide a definition that are mostly vendor agnostic. However, vendors are flooding the
internet with free “Download Now” White papers that define SaaS and Cloud to heighten
awareness for their product solution offered in the cloud or delivered as a SaaS. Microsoft, Dell,
Sun, Brocade, HP, etc. are all distributing White papers that extoll the virtues of Cloud and applications
that use the vendor’s solution.

Gartner defines the Cloud as a business function through the internet (email, storage, etc.) and a SaaS as
the delivery of a custom application that uses a single set of code that is shared across many users
(SalesForce.com, Google Apps, etc.) 7 From a management and staff perspective, I would add to the
definition that with the cloud solution, the customer can maintain some
management, monitoring and upgrade decisions, while with a SaaS the
customer is a subscriber to a service and has no management
responsibilities. Gartner defines the Cloud as
a business function through

SAMIS initially began as a single tenant web based application deliver to the internet (email, storage,
community programs funded by the JWB. SAMIS was initially designed etc.) and a SaaS as the
for agility and expansion in Pinellas County. However, the first delivery of a custom
opportunity was presented in 2001 when five other CSC’s requested to
application that uses a single
participate to create a multi-tenant application to other Children’s
Services Councils in Florida arose. The Collaborative has grown along with set of code that is shared
technological advancements that have made development affordable. across many users

SaaS and Cloud are definitions that can be applied to a growing number (SalesForce.com, Google
of business processes and evolving technology. SAMIS has been managed Apps, etc.) 1
as both a Cloud solution and SaaS because of the unique relationship
between the partners.

7
Gartner Presentation



SaaS Defined
SaaS is both a business model and an application delivery model (Software, 2008). SaaS provides the
following benefits to the customer:

1. Use of the application on a pay-as-you-go basis.
2. Offers a subscription based fee structure.
3. Generally a repeatable revenue stream.
4. Eliminates the need to install and run the application on the customer’s hardware.
5. Access to the application is through the Web, which allows anywhere access.
6. Ongoing support and maintenance, and upgrades are provided by the provider.
7. Custom functionality developed for one customer can be offered to all customers.
8. Protection of the intellectual property for the provider.
9. Stronger control of the operational control of the application environment.
10. Typically supports a multi-tenancy model - many unique customers using a single instance of the
code.

SaaS is an emerging and maturing business model with experts suggesting that there are four waves to
the evolutionary model.

Cloud Defined
Gartner defines cloud computing as "a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related
capabilities are provided 'as a service' to customers using Internet technologies".8 Gartner suggests that
there are five attributes that support the definition:

1. Services based – Consumer concerns are abstracted from the
provider concerns through a service interface
2. Scalable and elastic – Services scale on demand to add or remove
resources as needed
3. Shared – Services share a pool of resources to build economies of
scale
4. Metered by Use - Services are tracked with usage metrics to enable multiple payment models.
5. Internet technologies – Services are delivered through use of the internet identifiers, formats
and protocols (Plummer, 2011)

SAMIS as a Cloud and SaaS Defined
SAMIS operates as a private Cloud which restrict use to only similar businesses; in this case Children’s Services
Councils special taxing districts. In addition, one partner is delivering SAMIS as a SaaS since they are a
pay-as-you go and do not have any decision making authority on the management of the Collaborative;
but do participate in the enhancement process. Future SAMIS partners will be delivered the application
as a SaaS solution without any management input with the enhancements defined by the Collaborative
Partners offered as an option.

8
Webinar presented May 5, 2011, Daryl Plummer, Gartner, Cloud Computing Strategies to Optimize Your IT
Initiatives



Delivering Quality Service to the Customer

The ability to continuously deliver a quality internet based software application that addresses the
business needs of the customers requires continual quality review comparing technology innovations to
changing user business processes. The key to ongoing customer satisfaction with the product is the
process used for responding to the need for changes.

The SAMIS application is continually being enhanced in response to user defined needs and diversity of
business processes. The Enhancement process is an ongoing activity of the SAMIS Collaborative that
identifies ideas with the principles of team learning and using the Software Development Life Cycle
(SDLC) process.

Enhancement Team Process
The key to the success of any software application is the ability to provide the user a positive experience
including both ease of use and relevance of feedback and to manage the speed of technological
changes with a return on investment. The SMG have been challenged over the years with balancing
function over form and assuring the effective use of tax dollars.

The system structures that regulate the process have changed overtime to improve the effectiveness of
the team and to reduce the cost of design and development. Many changes revolved around
communication to ensure that all partners are satisfied with the final product. The Enhancement process
is an excellent example of communities of learning that produces quality change. The Flow Chart in
Attachment 4 describes the use of the conversational leadership style which allows for both group (all
partners) and individual (one partner) to process the pending enhancement or system change. The
process in place provides for understanding, acceptance and fidelity to the decision.

The process allows for group discussions where all partners
Collaboration generates ideas;
identify software enhancements that will improve the
efficiency of their processes at the CSC as well as at the ideas generate opportunity;
community agency locations. These discussions include key opportunity generates
stake holders, the developer and the SAMIS innovation; innovation generates
management team. Two of the most important factors in success! PKG
successfully processing enhancement are the quality of the
established relationships and the threshold for creative tension. The ability to translate the existing state of
the software to the desired future state while maintaining the quality, is the final success factor.
The Shared Learning approach to leading the enhancement process provides synergy of the
shared experiences. The SAMIS Enhancement Team practices the four core goals of team
learning:

• Finding innovative approaches to problems by identifying joint solutions
• Increasing efficiency over time by reducing the cycle time for enhancement decision
making



• Acquiring new skills and understanding best practices in data management and
collection
• The ability to change norms and procedures over ten years and continue to successfully
operate a collaborative

While there have been modifications to the review process over the years, the leadership style
has embraced the core values of learning team principles, which include:

• All partners are equal regardless of tax revenues or fees paid.
• Creating a meeting that encourages input for all members and an environment where
members are free to give an opinion without fear of reprisal.
• Conduct two face-to-face meetings per year allowing for relationship building. Every meeting
will start with a “catch up” discussion of what notable activities have happened since our
last meeting.
• Inquiry is encouraged.
• Open and respectful conversation is expected from all.
• Shared learning improves the operations and
functioning of the software
A good leader will hear and
The enhancement process has been successful over the past 10 react to the needs of the
years due to the longevity of the membership representing the
team as they move through
partners, the SAMIS Operations leadership, and the developer team.
each enhancement process
The historical knowledge provides continuity for why things were
and work with the team to
done and at the same time creating a trusting environment open to
hearing new ideas from newer members of the process. There is make changes.
always the potential, with a group process, for the creation of
“stew” (just a mass of food) when the menu calls for “shish-kabob”
(nice structured array). The SAMIS Collaboration Enhancement
process has been successful in creating a software application that
improves the business process for almost 800 programs in Florida while increasing the accountability of
public funds.

Parameters for prioritizing the request are established in advance of the meetings. The Enhancement
process provides for three levels of activities – Independent, Team, and Vendor processing. The
Collaborative leadership must nurture and encourage full participation in each level or interaction.

The Enhancement Review Process
Visualization is a major component of identifying enhancements along with the provision of detail
design documents provided to all users on the SharePoint Site. White boarding is used during the face to
face meetings when we discuss the enhancements and design the requirements.



The review process currently in use is based on several previous modifications to allow for the
continuous improvement in the efficiency of the process, supports independent processing by each
partner, and effective participatory discussions and inquiry activities.

Each partner is asked to independently rate the enhancements with their team based on need:
• Required for implementation ( the requesting CSC can purchase this with their own
funds, if the group does not select it as a funding priority)
• Must Have = 3
• Nice to have = 1
• Do not need or want = 0

Using the results of the individual ratings, the group discussion focuses on reviewing the items that had
the most interest (Required and Must Have). During the daylong meeting items are removed from the
list because of information provided by other members, including better methods to complete the
business process. One member removed an item from the list because another member offered a no
cost solution. The newest members were able to learn from the challenges of older members of the
team and accept the solutions. The team leader should invite members who have had similar
challenges, to discuss the solutions used to solve the issue; offering a new perspective. With over 100
enhancement ideas posted each year, it is critical to create an environment of trust and communication
to provide an environment where ideas are shared. Only approximately 25% of the enhancements are
funded each year as Group Enhancements.

After the day long discussion, the developers are asked to review the final list and provide high level
design and development cost estimates. In the past, the group would have come together for an onsite
meeting to discuss the remaining enhancements on the list and attempt to create a consensus for
which items to fund. Now the team is asked to individually rank the items remaining on the SharePoint
list from 1 to xx. It is during this process that partners can remove a request from the list because the
cost exceeds the efficiency desired.

The leader then provides an analysis of the funding options of all items on the list to the members
identifying which items fall below the funding line. Partners have several options:

1. Support the ranking and funding strategy.
2. Move an item from above the funding line, to below the funding line.
3. Choose to fund an item independently or with a partner.
4. Negotiate with the team a change in the rankings.

Partners are asked to review and sign off on the design document from the developer stating that
they have read and agreed with the specifications. This document will be used to remediate any
confusion on who meant what during the discussions.

Once the list is approved, the rollout schedule is confirmed, and development begins. The developer
rolls out the code to the SAMIS Test site first, where the Developer and the SAMIS Operations team will
test. All partners are asked to participate in testing as the code is rolled from the SAMIS Test



environment to SAMIS Training and then to the SAMIS Production environment. The developer will make
adjustments as necessary. The SAMIS Operations team works with the developer to identify scope creep
verse “bugs”, and issues that need to be fixed prior to rollout to the production environment. The training
documentation is drafted during the testing phase and completed either before or shortly after a Go
Live date.

SDLC Framework

SDLC is a framework that describes the activities performed at each stage of a software development
project. 9 The SDLC model, used by SAMIS, is a waterfall model which is a sequential design process in
which progress is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of
Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, Production/Implementation and
Maintenance. The waterfall development model originates in the manufacturing and construction
industries: highly structured physical environments in which after-the-fact changes are prohibitively
costly, if not impossible.10

The SAMIS Model is outlined below and is followed for each enhancement resulting in rollout of new
functionality with very few incidents over the life of the project. The SAMIS SDLC model is outlined
below.

SAMIS SDLC
Requirements
High Level Design

Detailed Design

Development
Testing
Training/Documentation

Production
Maintenance

Collaborative Technology
The developer set up read only access to a SAMIS SharePoint site in 2005 to facilitate
communication between all partners. In addition, final requirements documents, dating back
to 2001, are also available and represent the history of the decisionmaking. Members are able to log in
and access the written requirement specifications for all enhancements. Prior to this site, JWB had
to email the materials to all members requiring multiple emails with large attachments. In 2007

9
Waterfall- Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC) condor.depaul.edu/jpetlick/extra/394/sesssion2.ppt
10
Wikipedia, Waterfall Model, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model



a list was added to the site allowing users to communicate enhancement ideas, bugs and fixes.
In 2009 a JWB SharePoint site was established to manage the meeting notes, project
calendar, training requests, implementation activities, and technical support requests to the
SAMIS Help Desk.

To increase learning opportunities webinars are held for the
team to demonstrate what is available on each site and provide
A recent survey of Collaborative
overview of the features and information available on the sites.
members found that:
The goal is to increase member awareness of the history of the
The enhancement process was clearly changes and to gain a perspective on the opportunities of the
communicated – 73% group through continuous learning.
Emails summarizing actions were
clearly written – 63%
The Partner Commitment to Accountability
Conference calls were productive – 82%
SAMIS provides partners the ability to report on the
Coordinator was respectful to the needs expenditure of public funds in real time and account for the
of callers – 92% impact of funds in the community. SAMIS enables the partners
Participants were given an opportunity to analyze how expended funds have improved the lives of
to provide input – 100% children and families within their communities. The system is
designed for easy data entry and retrieval by a wide range of
The environment allowed for all
skilled and non-skilled workers, e.g. social workers, data entry
opinions to be expressed – 92%
clerks, executives. Data integrity is a key objective of the
New ideas were solicited – application which makes an extensive use of field validations,
100% of Participants felt their ideas were
including look-up tables, data-type restrictions, formulas, etc.
heard by all participants – 73%
The integrity in data provides for more accurate data therefore
confidence in fiscal decision making.

The reduced cost of operations provides each participating
partner with more capability than they could have if they
operated independently. JWB expended over $450,000 on
system enhancements in the first three years of sole ownership and $456,000 over the next 10 years as
a member of the SAMIS Collaborative.11 Of the $3.7 million expended on the system since 1998, JWB
only invested $1.2 million. In addition, the co-location of the SAMIS and JWB infrastructures at PEAK 10
data center allows JWB to offset 20-40% of the cost of operation, maintenance and communication
costs.

11
Based on the contracted fees listed in the Three Year Statewide SAMIS Agreement, Base Rate Fee schedule, as
amended annually.



Implementation of New Partners
The Implementation process for new partners is enhanced by the learning that occurred prior to this
point including sharing business processes and roles.

The pre-implementation support model was revised from a demonstration of the application, i.e. jumping
right in, to setting an implementation schedule, followed by classroom training for users to a more
supportive and learning model involving two key learning and discovery opportunities.

• The SANDBOX concept was created to allow interested parties to “play” with SAMIS using a fake
set of records. SAMIS staff then offer online meetings to demonstrate the functionality and
provide insight as to how other partners implemented similar features in SAMIS. In this
environment the new partner can learn the various features using their business practices
rather than being forced to test a system using a set of unfamiliar practices. During this process
the partner is encouraged to ask and try new and old processes to create the correct
environment.
• Once the decision is made to move forward, a BOOT CAMP is held at which point the SAMIS
team, along with the developer, engage with the partner to review critical decision points
related to SAMIS set-up. Partners are invited to discuss their implementation and discuss
lessons learned and strategies to avoid. For example, we will bring in a Ph.D. researcher to
discuss best practices in setting up client level performance measures.

Future Projects of the Collaborative
Business Intelligence
In FY 2011-12, a business intelligence solution will be introduced using SharePoint 2010, as a shared
resource by all partners that will leverage the SAMIS databases and create a state level performance
dashboard. See Attachment 5.

Business Intelligence is defined as a set of technologies and processes that allow people at all levels of
the organization to access and analyze data. Without people to interpret the information and act on it,
business intelligence achieves nothing.12

SAMIS has a rich repository of data captured over 12 years that can be exported to any number of
business intelligence solutions and transformed into
information that will lead to innovation. Regardless of
The delivery of data needs to be
the tools selected business intelligence is about the
current and in a format that
creativity in producing data that is valued by the culture
decisions makers can absorb.
of the organization and utilized effectively to make

12
(Howson, 2008) p 1



decisions. The initiative is proposed to operate at the state level with the executive leadership from
each partnership supporting staff efforts to create an effective and agile solution. Technology allows for
each partner to operate an independent BI solution, while creating a data warehouse that will offer the
ability to create insight on a problem when multiple data set are
mashed up.

Business intelligence reveals the performance, operational “Just as the eyes are the
efficiencies, and untapped opportunities.13 The SAMIS Collaborative windows to the soul, business
is a natural environment to develop a BI focus because the business intelligence is a window to
is to provide effective services (Performance), in a manner that the dynamics of a business.
efficiently uses taxes dollars (operational efficiencies), and look for (Howson, 2008)”
new ways of creating a healthy community (untapped
opportunities).

A business intelligence solution will fail if too much focus is on the
technology rather than identifying the outputs and audience correctly. Business intelligence is 80%
planning and 20% doing. The proposed idea for SAMIS BI is to develop “push boards” or dashboards that
push information to audiences based on interest or need. For example, legislators can have delivered
performance metric that reflect their districts, served by a CSC, while your retired neighbor will
have delivered outcomes of local crime prevention programs.

Online Learning
An online training strategy will be refined over the next year to include greater use of webinars
providing generic SAMIS trainings. Partners will be provided access to Citrix Online Go To Meeting, Go To
Training, and Go To Webinar licenses, to offer local training online trainings. The SAMIS operations team
will increase the number of training materials available to the partners in the provision of local training.
Online learning management systems were explored, but the staff resources required to develop courses
exceeded the cost benefit; and training is local.

SAMIS Operations at the State Level
The negotiations are under way to move SAMIS operations to the State level and potentially move the
operations management to the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County CSC. The new arrangement will
elevate the discussion to a higher level allowing for the successful implementation of a business
intelligence strategy.

Expansion of Partnerships
SAMIS is being reviewed by several local funders and community-based organizations that see SAMIS as a
database to provide the needed intelligence to make decisions, request funds, and market the
outcomes of services provided.

13
Howson, Cindi ,”Successful Business Intelligence”, page 1



For more information on this project contact
Patricia K. Gehant, M.A., CCIO
Director of SAMIS Collaborative
727-647-0941
pgehant@jwbpinellas.org
pgehant@gmail.org


SAMIS Organizational Structure
Tuesday, August 09, 2011

FCSC Executive Director of Business
FCSC Chair
Director Technology Solutions

The Children’s Children’s JWB Children's Board
Palm Beach Martin Broward St. Lucie
Trust Commission Office Space Operations
Fiscal Manager
Manager

SAMIS Business
Information Analyst

SAMIS Management Committee –
includes all participating CSC Ex.
Directors

SAMIS Management Groups –
includes a representative from each
participating CSC

The Children’s Children’s
Broward Palm Beach Martin JWB Children's Board St. Lucie
Trust Commission

Enhancement Process – Palm Beach
includes SMG plus subject Community
matter experts. Services Dept.

Prepared by P. Gehant May 17, 2011 Page 1


FCSC Vendor payment

Executive Director

Director of
Monthly invoice Business
Palm Beach CSC
Technology
Solutions
Requests reimbursement

Tribridge
Peak 10
Go To Mtg SAMIS Business
Communications Information
Maintenance Agreement Analysts
Travel

SAMIS Team

SAMIS Staff are
the employees of
the CSC but work
for the FCSC

Requests reimbursement
CSC-
Staffing Agent

Prepared by: Patricia K. Gehant

Page 2

SAMIS Staffing

Pays bills

Palm Beach FCSC
Fiscal Agent SAMIS Operating Agent
Pay SAMIS
Fees

Monthly
Operating
Reimburses

invoice
Requests
payment

SAMIS
Collaborative
Members

Requests Director of
Review/
Approve
Payment Business and
Technology

CSC

Staff are employees
of the CSC as a grant
or enterprise activity. SAMIS Business
Staff to FCSC Information
Analysts

SAMIS Team

Page 2

SAMIS
A Grants Management Suite
SAMIS - A grants management suite that tracks community
programs use of funds distributed by governmental agencies.

SAMIS is ... a software application used by local and special taxing
districts to capture information from agencies that
receive public funds.

…accessed through a private Cloud providing 24/7access List of Partners
from any location with an internet connection.

… a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. located at
PEAK 10 Data Center in Tampa as SSAE 16 certified
facility with ISO 17799 security standards. Additional
benefits of a SaaS include::
• Consistent network access
• Rapid scalability
• Elasticity of storage

... a Collaboration of governments sharing the cost of
operation and system upgrades providing a high return
on investment to the community. Software developed by
Tribridge.

... a Grant Management Suite that collects demographic
.information on how funds are spent by the program.

... is able to record the outcomes of the clients in programs
and report trends and service patterns of the population
served.

... a source of Business Intelligence, and integrates with
other data sources and tools..

Contact:
Patricia K. Gehant, M.A., Director of SAMIS
JWB Children’s Services Council of Pinellas County
14155 58th Street North
Clearwater, Florida 33760
727-547-5678, or 727-647-0491

SAMIS is managed as a Data
Collaboration under Florida State Statute, Results Outcome
Section 163.62, which provides that Outcome Generator
agencies of local governments may establish Outcome Viewer
a collaborative client information system in Outcome Setup
which state, local, and private agencies may Reports
share information.

Members benefit by:
Reducing the time to manage an Fiscal Modules
individual system. Allocations
Budgets
Sharing cost between government Reimbursements
of shared mission. Budget Amendments
Program Units of Service
Stabilization of costs over time. Position Management
Request New Position
Sharing ideas for better results. Slot Reimbursement
Manual Payments
Information is protected from Program Funders Administrative Modules
disclosure under the Public Records Audit Work Papers Service Contract
laws. Budget to Actual User Management
Reports CSC Customization
SAMIS accounts for: • Settings
• Over 1 billion in public funds since Program Modules
• Fields
2001, 350 million managed annually Client Data
Fiscal Customization
Attendance
Group Activities • GL Accounts
• 850 ,000 client records • GL Overages
Group Units of Service
Volunteer Activities • Reimbursement Overages
• 3,500 users • Fiscal Years
Analysis of Outcomes
EDI Imports/Exports CDG Customization
• Providing service in counties Data Cleansing • Client Identifying Fields
representing 48% of state population Quarterly Commentary • Outcome Measures
Results Outcome • Settings
• 1,000 program sites entering data Reports • Fields

Contact:
Patricia K. Gehant, M.A., Director of SAMIS
JWB Children’s Services Council of Pinellas County
14155 58th Street North
Clearwater, Florida 33760
727-547-5678, or 727-647-0491

SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration

SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration

Similar to SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration (20)

SAMIS, a Successful Business Collaboration