Request for Committee Action

2018-01078 - Contract with TerminalFour, Inc. (TerminalFour) to provide and implement a Web Content Management System (WCMS)

2020-01096 - Contract amendment with TerminalFour, Inc. for support and maintenance of the City’s Web Content Management System

An RFP was issued in 2018 to acquire and implement a new Web Content Management System (“WCMS”) to manage the City’s website and content across numerous City departments.  The City executed Contract C-44154 with TerminalFour, Inc. (“TerminalFour”) to purchase the new WCMS along with implementation services. 

The City launched the first wave of website content on the new TerminalFour platform in June of 2020.  The new platform provides a more efficient user experience, handles website traffic more effectively, provides enhanced security, provides better content organization, and allows City staff the ability to maintain content in an efficient manner.  The first wave of transitions included the home page, main department pages, issues page, search, and 311 Help Button.

Additional pages are transitioning to the new website in successive waves, with a priority on public safety, voter information, street sweeping, and snow emergency content. Now that the core functionality of the new website platform is live, the Information Technology (“IT”) department is seeking to add additional services to complete additional items, including:

1. CityTalk CMS Hosting – As CityTalk, the city’s employee intranet, will be migrated to TerminalFour from the old Oracle environment, a new hosting instance will be needed.  The City’s intranet will be configured with unique security measures for employee access and permissions for editors which cannot be configured on the existing TerminalFour instance hosting the public website.  The move of CityTalk from the old Oracle environment to TerminalFour will provide a stable and modern website environment with enhanced safety features to secure City employee communications.
2. CMS Hosting upgrade – As remaining web content was migrated to TerminalFour from the City’s unstable Oracle environment; IT chose to move this content to the existing stage environment as a cost saving measure.  The stage environment was not equipped to handle all of the editorial and public traffic; as such, an upgrade is needed to ensure stability of all www2 content hosted in this environment.  This upgrade is still a net cost savings as opposed to utilizing an additional environment.
3. Business Portal Site – As the City continues to migrate and transform all content to the TerminalFour environment for stability and continuity of City web communications, the web site https://business.minneapolismn.gov/, which is a stand-alone site, needs to be brought into alignment with current web standards and security protocols of the TerminalFour environment.  Engaging TerminalFour in these migration activities will ensure this content is migrated within the calendar year so our business public is provided access to the tools needed during this time of uncertainty.

These aforementioned items are in support of the overall strategy for the new WCMS, which entails a website that: 

• Is designed and organized to help users find both critical and day-to-day information they seek, and meet the needs of residents, business owners, and visitors;
• Supports the Americans with Disabilities Act;
• Is aligned with the City’s needs and vision for a new website that is inclusive, vibrant, modern, and welcoming; and
• Allows users the ability to update information more efficiently with consistent and clear content across departments.

IT therefore requests to increase the Contract by the amount of $268,102 for a new not-to-exceed total of $1,979,143.