IT Governance Business Case
Background
Four departments are pilot testing Trimble Unity Construct to handle the City's capital improvement projects (CIPs): Environmental & Street Services (ESS), General Services (GS), Water Management (WM), and Transportation. This covers 544 active projects with $733M in funded work (July FY26).
The pilot unifies construction project management across departments. It is replacing the old Excel-based systems each department built themselves. A managed services admin will set up shared Standard Operating Procedures for all.
Before the pilot, departments used various tools:
• ESS: spreadsheets, legacy proprietary system (PDRX)
• GS and Transportation: systems hosted by consultants, spreadsheets
• WM: spreadsheets, Microsoft Project, and sometimes Procore
Current Business Problem
Without continued funding, teams will return to legacy tools. This system has security issues, low efficiency and lower data quality.
Current Pain Points
- Reversion to fragmented legacy tools without continued funding
- Duplicated work: migration of mid-project eBuilder data back to legacy tools
- Re-adoption friction in transitioning back to old tools
- Loss of shared standards across departments
- Manual, infrequent uploads to financial system
- Lack of portfolio-level visibility
- Risk of errors, delays, and security issues on $733M in projects
- Lack of integration with full asset lifecycle management
Future State Benefits
- Continued uniform processes across departments
- No duplicated work: no re-entry of mid-project eBuilder data
- No re-adoption friction, no transitioning back
- Shared standards across departments
- Automated, daily updates to financial system
- Portfolio-level reporting / dashboards
- Minimal errors, delays, or security issues on $733M in projects
- Smooth integration with Cityworks asset lifecycle management
Strategic Alignment
Analysis and Recommended Solution
Solution Analysis
• Post-Pilot Risk: Trimble Unity Construct pilot scheduled to run for 1 year only; without Year 2 funding, departments lose unified CIP project management platform
• Alternative Options:
• Return to legacy tools – immediate option with no new procurement; reintroduces fragmentation, cybersecurity and data quality risks, and manual processes on $733M in projects
• Oracle Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) – already purchased, but not configured; requires 6-12 months of configuration to adapt for construction needs. Not clear if departments have capacity for configuration; vendor implementation may be needed (ROM estimate $400k800k).
• Value of continued funding:
• Supports current pilot momentum
• Avoids risk of configuration delays
• Expanded capacity for maintaining process standards
Requested Solution: Fund continued use of Trimble Unity Construct
Description
Extend the pilot of Trimble Unity Construct with 1 full time Managed Services admin
Pros
• Supports current pilot momentum
• Standardized workflows across departments
• Centralized reporting
• Fast time-to-value
Cons
• Requires sync with Oracle ERP & regular reconciliation
• Does not optimize significant Oracle investment
• Limited Citywide resource & capacity planning
• Limited Citywide standards for governance & reporting
TS Architecture Review
The recommended solution meets the architecture requirements of the City of Durham.
Cybersecurity Review
The recommended solution meets the cybersecurity requirements of City of Durham.
Recommended Solution - Project Financial Estimate
Risk Identification
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
• Risk: Two cost systems / no SSOT for construction financials
• Mitigation: regular sync & reconciliation
Contingency Risk (Costs)
• N/A
Our ask
We are asking the IT Governance Steering Committee to approve the business case to fund the continued use of Trimble Unity Construct to unify construction project management across GS, ESS, WM & Transportation. If approved, the business case will be scored, ranked, and submitted to the City Manager for final approval.