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TACOMA, WA, September 16, 2002 - SAP Public Services, Inc., today announced that the city of Tacoma, Washington, known as "America’s #1 Wired City," will become one of the first cities to implement the entire mySAP.com^® suite of e-business solutions, including mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM). The solution will integrate the city’s general government and utility administrative systems, including fire, police, public works, economic development, and other general government functions, as well as power, water, sewer, solid waste, and storm drain utilities.

The city of Tacoma joins the growing number of public sector organizations that have recently chosen SAP for e-government initiatives, including recently announced CRM relationships with the city of San Antonio, Texas and the Florida Department of Revenue.

“As one of the most widely recognized cities in the country for its technology sophistication, the city of Tacoma is extending its IT leadership by embracing CRM and e-government solutions,” said Tom Shirk, president of SAP Public Services. “SAP’s unique expertise in both the government sector and utilities industry will enable the city of Tacoma to offer higher quality services to its customers and constituents and to attain increased efficiency in its operations.”

The comprehensive suite of SAP solutions, being implemented at the city of Tacoma by TUI Consulting, will replace the city’s financial management, human resources, work management, and customer information systems to coordinate department operations, improve overall city management, better manage costs, and expand services to the 195,000 residents of Tacoma and utility customers living just outside the city limits.

The current customer information system holds more than 183,000 customer accounts, processes 1.44 million utility bills annually, and collects $350 million annually for the city’s utility services. mySAP CRM will fundamentally transform the customer services operations of public utilities by shifting from being focused on devices—such as meters—to meeting the needs of customers. With the new system in place, landlords, developers, and others who own multiple properties will be able to receive one utility bill for multiple accounts instead of having separate bills for each meter. Power, water, sewer, and garbage customers will have more control over the timing and payment of their bills.

“In Tacoma, the public, power, and water utilities have separate managers who at times have competed with each other for funding and responsibilities. The Business Systems Improvement Project—for the first time—has brought the city together as a single organization and as a team,” said Karen Larkin, project executive director and formerly assistant director of Public Works. “The SAP solution will support the changes in our business processes as we work together to serve our customers.”

In addition to improved billing procedures, mySAP CRM will enable constituents to report potholes, zoning violations, power outages, and other city issues to one central, database, which will be accessible to every department. Currently, every department has its own—or several—tracking systems. In contrast, the unified system will create a holistic view of the concerns of residents, helping city management dictate resource allocations and address customer needs.

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