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City of Lake Elmo. EDP Recommendation Page 3 Hardware Once the software to be used is determined, the City's decision for hardware to be purchased is likewise determined to a great extent. City personnel indicated that they preferred to stay with Apple computers. However, because of the domination of IBM in the business computer marketplace we were unable to locate suitable off -the -shelf general ledger software that would run on an Apple computer. This is not to say that a suitable program to process the City's financial transactions on a Apple computer will never be available, but currently an appropriate package is not obtainable. If the City determines that a customized relational database program is desirable than either an IBM compatible microcomputer or an Apple Macintosh computer could be used. The City's current utility billing system is available for IBM compatible computers. We have not located a canned utility billing package that it is suitable for an Apple Macintosh computer. The same relational database program could likewise be used for the utility billing application at an additional cost for the programming. This could be programmed for either type of hardware environment. A single microcomputer should be capable of processing the City's current and foreseeable financial data. We do not foresee the City requiring a local area network (LAN) for their financial data processing needs. However, other applications the City may wish to implement such as word processing or spreadsheets may necessitate a LAN at some point to use these applications to their potential, Computers that are networked require a larger investment for both hardware and software. Additionally, larger systems are generally more complex which increases orientation and training costs. However, this investment decreases marginally for each computer added (i.e., the second computer costs more than the third which is more than the fourth, etc.) At this time we do not feel it would be cost effective or efficient to have to network the computers. However, our recommendation does provide for this feature to be implemented at a later date. If the City determines to implement an off -the -shelf general ledger package we would recommend purchasing an IBM compatible (MSDOS) computer with an internal hard disk storage device. The computer we have listed on the attached letter is one example of this type of computer. There are several options available to you for manufacturers of IBM compatible computers. The computer we have listed is designed to be flexible. Larger storage devices, extra memory and multiple printers may be added at a later date. All prices listed are estimated prices based on information received from a computer dealer. If the City determines that a customized relational database programed to meet their requirements should be implemented than either a IBM compatible computer or a Apple Macintosh computer could be used. The Apple Macintosh computer we recommend also is flexible allowing similar devices to be added comparable to the IBM compatible computer. Having both IBM compatible computers and Apple Macintosh computers on the same network is also a possibility. Recent product developments that allow both types of operating environments to be on the same network have been introduced. We are looking at this option for our own office at this time. However, these developments are too new to have been adequately evaluated at this time. When the City deems a network is appropriate these may be a viable alternative.