MISAC 2023 Annual Conference

Date:Tuesday, September 26
Time:9:45 to 10:40 a.m.

Overview

This session addresses Best Practices in ongoing support and management of enterprise applications systems such as ERP, People Management, Utility Billing, Community Development, Maintenance and Asset Management, CAD/RMS, etc. Most agency’s software applications are highly underutilized, resulting in loss of productivity due to manual processes, limited reporting, inefficient workarounds, and inefficient or unnecessary reconciliations. Learn a practical approach to assessing, prioritizing, and implementing continuous improvements including the following:

• Departmental vs. IT roles and responsibilities
• Module and functional-area teams
• Ongoing assessment, process reviews, and improvements
• Application support specialists

We will discuss how to maximize the ongoing utilization and longevity of your ERP and other enterprise application software. Application Management Best Practices are the key to high utilization and is the responsibility of the departmental users as much as it is the responsibility of your IT organization.

Significant improvements can free up thousands of unnecessary labor hours per year across the organization.

• Lean how to organize and effectively utilize stakeholder groups by module or functional are ongoing after go-live
• Learn basic assessment strategies the agency can periodically conduct to identify system gaps and needs to support the users
• Learn key skills needed by IT and/or business application support specialists

Speakers

Speaker: David Krout, CPA (inactive), Managing Partner Client First Consulting

Bio: David Krout has 25 years of experience assisting local governments with a broad scope of information technology needs. He specializes in working with organizations to identify their strategic, organizational, application, and functional requirements to determine which system and/or specific applications are a proper fit for both the agency and the vendor.

Mr. Krout’s unique and diversified background in business management, accounting, and management consulting has given him the ability to collaborate with C-level executives and department staff from a practical, business-management perspective to maximize their technology utilization.
Having also worked for a leading local government enterprise software provider, Mr. Krout brings a unique understanding of consulting, client representation, and vendor relationships to the collaboration between the agency and software vendors.

Career Highlights:

• Project lead with over 100 local government agencies agencies throughout the United States
• Served on the National Committee for Information Technology for the Institute of Management Accountants
• Former President, Institute of Management Accountants, Inland Empire Chapter
• Featured speaker for the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (CSMFO), Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC), and Texas Association of Government Information Technology Managers

Speaker: Doug Kappel, Enterprise Applications Manager, City of Carlsbad, CA

Bio: With over thirty years of experience in information technology, Doug has a passion for public service and for finding ways to use technology to improve how business gets done. Doug currently leads the Enterprise Application Team for Information Technology department of the City of Carlsbad which is focused on making IT happen.

His team supports the City of Carlsbad’s enterprise application portfolio and is responsible for the city’s web site and database environment.

Prior to working for the City of Carlsbad, Doug was a Systems Administrator with the San Diego and Imperial Valley Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross where he still currently volunteers as a Government Liaison/Agency Representative with the Disaster Relief program.

In addition to being an information technology professional, Doug also has over 30 years of service with the United States Navy both as an active-duty service member and as navy reservist. He is currently a Commander and is serving in a reserve unit that supports theater anti-submarine warfare.

Doug holds a bachelor’s degree in computer and information sciences from Regis University, an associate degree in computer and information sciences from San Diego Miramar College and is currently pursuing a master’s in emergency and disaster management and homeland security at American Military University.