1-RFI-25-0113.pdf

City of Olathe Procurement Division PO Box 768 Olathe, KS 66051-0768 913-971-9005

November 13, 2025

The City of Olathe requests information from vendors for a suite of utility software applications.

Responses must be received online at Bonfire no later than:

December 12, 2025 at 5:00PM (CST)

Submit questions about this RFI to Bonfire no later than December 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM (CST)

CITY OF OLATHE

Shari Pine, CPPO, CPPB, CPM Interim Procurement Manager https://olatheks.bonfirehub.com/ https://olatheks.bonfirehub.com/

OLATHE, KS

RFI 25-0113

Suite of Utility Software Applications

INTENT

The City of Olathe is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to gather insights from qualified vendors regarding a suite of utility software applications. This RFI serves to explore solutions both for individual application needs and an integrated suite of applications that currently support our water, sewer, storm water, trash, recycling, and yard waste utilities. Currently, the city is using a suite of products through Harris Computers that includes: NorthStar Utilities Solution, SmartWorks, mCare, Customer Connect, and Executive Information System (EIS).

The City of Olathe currently serves ~50,000 customers providing all utility variations related to trash, recycling, yard waste, water, stormwater, and sewer services for both residential and commercial addresses. We provide our customers with a single bill for applicable services.

Notice: This is not a Request for Proposals or an Invitation for Bids. This request does not bind the City to solicit bids or proposals in the future. No award will be made based on the results of this process. Any procurement by the City will be the subject of a separate process and subject to budget approval. If the City does elect to solicit bids or proposals in the future, the information submitted pursuant to this Request for Information does not give any vendor any advantage in any future solicitations. Vendors may be contacted during evaluation to discuss their responses to this request, which may include interviews including presenting and answering questions before an Evaluation Committee.

RFI Response Options Respondents are welcome to submit proposals for either the entire suite of applications or individual applications within the suite. We encourage participation tailored to each vendor's specific expertise and capabilities. The types of acceptable RFI responses include:

1. Comprehensive Suite Response:

• Vendors who can address the entire suite are invited to provide a holistic solution integrating all specified applications.

2. Individual Application Response:

• Vendors with expertise in specific applications may submit responses focused on those particular segments, addressing the requirements detailed for each application.

3. Multiple Application Response:

• Vendors with expertise in multiple applications may submit responses focused on more than one segment, addressing the requirements detailed for each segment separately.

In your response, please be sure to identify which existing product you will potentially replace. Additionally, we would like to understand high-level financial impact related to the implementation and annual support costs. We acknowledge that these figures are preliminary and will not be used for contract negotiation purposes.

RFI Application Descriptions Following is a brief description of our current applications and the broad functionality being provided today:

1. Customer Account/Utility Billing Management System

Customer Information System (CIS) tailored for medium to large-sized municipalities to effectively manage consolidated residential and commercial customer accounts across multiple utilities, including sewer, water, and trash services that utilize an integration with external utilities, to build billing for customers that do not utilize 100% of Olathe services.

Our current customer base consists of approximately 50,000 accounts. Consequently, we receive over 600 calls, chats and emails a day to assist our customers with all things account related.

2. Meter Data Management System

Meter Data Management (MDM) and analytics system for municipal water utility accounts. This application is key for receiving data from our utility meters so we can properly bill our customer base for their usage.

This system must work with our current metering devices, Ally and Sensus.

Currently, we have 48,235 meters installed across the city serving both residential and commercial addresses.

3. Field Utility Work Order System

Work Order Management system to streamline the management of utility field work orders and enhance operational efficiencies while improving communication across multiple stakeholders through the capture of key data and field conditions through narrative, field values, and pictures.

Currently, we process approximately 700 work orders daily . This encompasses all utilities.

4. Customer Portal System Customer interface system which empowers our customers with self-service capabilities for a variety of City services. The desired solution should prioritize consistent and intuitive customer experience. While utility self-service is the primary focus of this RFI, solutions offering expanded functionality to other city services are encouraged. We are particularly interested in applications facilitating streamlined interactions, enhanced communication, and improved service delivery across all city departments. Utility self-service options would include account and billing management, service order requests and tracking, and other FAQ items.

Our current portal serves approximately 75% of our customer base. We continue to see this number grow as our community continues to expand and web based functionalities are being the standard.

5. Reporting & Analytics A user-friendly, customizable reporting and analytics platform that can package our archive and real-time data to provide insights, bolstering data-driven decision-making allowing for informed, efficient utility management. Robust analytics should assist the city in analysis of industry trends, support fee adjustment decisions, and identify service gaps, enabling informed strategic planning.

Additional Requirements:

• Solutions are expected to streamline utility management, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve operational efficiency. Consideration should also be given to scalability and adaptability to future technological advancements.

• Integration: All solutions should support seamless integration with existing municipal systems and third-party applications for enhanced utility operations.

• Security: Ensure the protection of customer data in accordance with applicable regulations and industry standards. Be sure to highlight the type of security your proposed solution requires for the user login and password. This could include internal authentication or external authentication via LDAP, ActiveDirectory, AzureAD, or other.

• Postproduction Support: Ensure seamless operation and continuous improvement by establishing a comprehensive post-production support framework that delivers effective maintenance, timely updates, and responsive issue resolution, ensuring high availability and satisfaction for all users. Please highlight a typical Application Management Services (AMS) plan to maintain success past implementation.

• System Access: Not required but desired is Role-based Access Control (RBAC) as well as Single Sign On for a customizable user-friendly experience for users.

PRIMARY CONTACT

Shari Pine, CPPO, CPPB, CPM – spine@olatheks.org or 913-971-9005 No communication regarding this RFI should be directed to any other City official or employee.

No oral response by any employee, consultant or agent of the City will be binding to the City or shall in any way constitute a commitment by the City Olathe. Questions about this RFP shall be submitted through www.negometrix.com

SPECIAL PROVISIONS

The information and comments provided by Respondents will be used to help develop dialogue regarding the eventual solicitation for similar services. After the RFI’s are reviewed, those individuals or companies that the City would like to encourage into developing a relationship with, will be invited to the Request for Proposals process.

The submittal of a response to this RFI does not guarantee use of the information provided. The City is not responsible for any expenses incurred in preparing and submitting your RFI materials.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

Responses to the RFI become the exclusive property of the City of Olathe and are subject to the Kansas Public Records Act and Kansas Sunshine Ordinance. Those elements in each submittal which are trade secrets or otherwise exempt by law from disclosure and which are prominently marked as “Trade Secret,” “Confidential,” or “Proprietary,” will be exempt from disclosure. However, the City shall not in any way be liable or responsible for the disclosure of any records including, without limitation, those so marked if disclosure is deemed to be required by law or by an order of the Court. Respondents who indiscriminately identify all or most of their submittal as exempt from disclosure without justification may be deemed non-responsive.

mailto:spine@olatheks.org