Vauxhall council pondering software system

By Nikki Jamieson
Vauxhall Advance
njamieson@tabertimes.com

The town council of Vauxhall is debating about switching out their current software for a different one.

Currently, they are using Bellamy, which costs $28,000 annually, plus support fees. Those annual costs recently increased due to a software upgrade.

“It’s kind of like when you do an upload on your phone, right? You have no choice,” said Mindy Dunphy, CAO assistant.
“We don’t have any problem with support, they answer us fast, there’s no issues that way.”

They have considered hosting the software themselves to cut costs, but then they are looking at a $40,000 to upgrade their servers, plus licensing and registration fees, support fees and upgrading costs.

“Hosting it, this is coming from Bellamy, would cost way more money, us having it here would cost way more money then them hosting it,” said Dunphy. “There was a lot of stuff we didn’t know because we don’t host it.”

So they are looking at different software companies to find a different, and cheaper, alternative. Currently, they are considering two, having seen one in action in Barnwell, and costing significantly less then their current software at $7,000 annually.

“I have no problems switching, because to me, anything that pays back in three years, and you save $20,000 a year, is a good investment,” said Richard Phillips, Vauxhall councillor.

If they do switch, there are upfront costs involved.
It will take two to five months to set up the new software, and there is a data retrieval and set-up cost. In addition, depending on when they switch, they could end up having to pay full annual fees for both the former and current software.

“It will save us money in the long run, it’s just a matter of are we prepared to put that cost up right now,” said Vauxhall Mayor Margaret Plumtree.

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