North Bay council has delayed a decision on an $809,459 software upgrade after some councillors argued they should first see the city's upcoming digital modernization strategy.
Instead of approving the contract Tuesday, council voted to send the proposal to committee for further discussion before making a final decision.
The proposal would move the city's NaviLine financial software from the city's own servers to a cloud-based system.
NaviLine has been used by the city in different forms since 1999 to support its financial operations. According to the staff report, moving the software to the cloud would reduce reliance on aging computer servers while improving reliability, security and backup systems.
The referral came after Councillor Jamie Lowery argued council should wait until consulting firm Perry Group presents its digital strategy before approving the project.
"I'm a little bit concerned … because this purchase is ahead of the report from the Perry Group, which is charged with the responsibility of making recommendations," Lowery told council before successfully moving to refer the report to committee.
Deputy Mayor Maggie Horsfield said the upgrade would reduce the risks associated with the city's aging computer system.
"The current on-premises environment relies on aging server hardware, creating increased risk related to service continuity, support availability and future maintenance," Horsfield told council.
"Moving to a vendor-hosted cloud environment will improve system resilience, availability, redundancy, disaster recovery capability and ongoing platform support."
She said the move would also reduce the need for specialized in-house support, allowing staff to focus on cybersecurity and improving service.
After the meeting, Lowery said council should have the consultant's recommendations before making such a large investment.
"We're going to recommend spending close to a million dollars, yet the overall strategy has yet to be brought to council or approved," he said. "So, what happens if it doesn't fit in with the strategy?"
Horsfield said after the meeting that the proposed cloud migration aligns with the city's upcoming Digital and Customer Services Strategy, which is being prepared by Perry Group.
"The choice to move towards the cloud migration and hosting system is a step towards modernization, which is a recommendation coming through the digital modernization and customer service strategy," she said.
Delaying the decision until after Perry Group presents its recommendations, Horsfield said, would push the project closer to the municipal election and delay work that should continue regardless of the election calendar.
"We have been in contact with the vendor and do not anticipate that the referral of the award of the contract to committee will result in any financial impacts at this time," city communications officer Gord Young wrote in an email after the meeting.
According to the staff report, funding for the migration and first-year hosting costs is available through the city's 2026 capital budget, while future software and hosting costs would come from the Information Systems operating budget.
The report will now go to committee before returning to council for a final decision.
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