Principles for Technology Procurement CalACT, Newport Beach April 2018 Thomas Craig General Manager

We make transit easier to use. People want to understand public transportation.  We use the web to make it simple.

WHAT IS TRANSIT TECHNOLOGY? For the purposes of this presentation, transit technology is any hardware, software, or data that performs automated functions or supports those functions, and isn’t a vehicle.

WHAT IS TRANSIT TECHNOLOGY? “Hardware”—physical technology that does things “Software”—non-physical technology that does things “Data”—non-physical technology that hardware and software use to do things Data is “my expertise”

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Maintenance Support Ease of Use Standards Modularity

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Maintenance Buses take maintenance. So does hardware. So does software. So does data. Don’t avoid it—plan for it and set aside time. Maintenance is both an agency activity and a contractor activity. Define those roles.

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Support Maintenance is nearly impossible without support. Who will provide the support? How will they be reached? When are they available? What is the guaranteed response time?

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Ease of Use Build staff time into your budget—and count it as an expense when comparing system costs. Understanding staff time requirements requires research— don’t trust claims. Get a demo and see it work—Use it. If you can’t use it, it probably doesn’t work or even exist.

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Standards Standardized data serves as a connection point between systems Exports/APIs from a system are useless if they’re in a useless format What warranties are given about integration? Standards stick around, and support usable life of technology

CRITICAL CONCEPTS Modularity Modularity means technologies that are interchangeable. This is distinct from the ”all-in-one” approach. All-in-one means all your eggs in one basket. Find experts in their field who work with other teams routinely Define the roles and build internal documentation of who does what, how pieces connect.

NON-CRITICAL CONCEPTS Useful Life All technology is outdated or obsolete in 2-3 years. Procuring a system for 10 without building in plans to advance means procuring 7 years of worthless technology. Plan on change, and pick a system that can change. Leave adequate contractual flexibility. Sometimes the technology and you grow together, sometimes you grow apart. (~3 year max, 1 year extensions, with some exceptions for core tools that *won’t* change)

NON-CRITICAL CONCEPTS Off-the-Shelf Transit isn’t cookie cutter. Neither is technology. The more modular and shorter term contract you get, the more off-the-shelf is reasonable. Off-the-shelf isn’t bad, it just isn’t necessary Though… If you’re being offered something that is Off-the-shelf and all-in-one, that almost certainly is bad

AFFIRMATIONS Fail Fast If you’re going to fail, better now than later Be willing to give things a shot Test them out Let tests fail if that’s what they’re going to do Give vendors chances—but make sure they show effort

Talk with other agencies AFFIRMATIONS Talk with other agencies Don’t copy and paste RFPs Do look at many other RFPs Do call references Don’t sell your vendors to other agencies (even if you have to sell them to the public)

Have industry partners you can trust AFFIRMATIONS Have industry partners you can trust This means people you can talk to and are accountable A mix of vendors, consultants, peers, and government officials Be willing to pay people Be OK asking them how they’re paid If they won’t be blunt with you, don’t listen to them

Find Tech-Savvy Sales and Support People AFFIRMATIONS Find Tech-Savvy Sales and Support People They should understand tech (at least a little bit) They should be able to answer a lot of your questions, in detail They shouldn’t be able to answer all your questions in detail Ask about who supports before you buy

AFFIRMATIONS Distrust Buzz Words STATE OF THE ART SYNERGY BIG DATA What are some you’ve heard? SYNERGY BIG DATA State of the art Big data Off the shelf All in one

When has tech procurement failed you? EXAMPLES When has tech procurement failed you? if no one volunteers Give the example of (not naming agency) They asked detailed questions I gave honest answers, that barely suited their needs They had an aggressive deadline They were high pressure I worked nights and weekends for them, and asked them to do difficult things too Their management didn’t understand the details of what was being done on the ground A few months later, they found a system that delivered the core request they had.

Principles for Technology Procurement Thomas Craig General Manager thomas@trilliumtransit.com 503-567-8422 ext. 4