Eastern Montana Enterprise Systems Services Centers (ESSC) Site Selection Picks Miles City for Computer Center

HELENA — The 2007 Legislature funded the construction of two Enterprise Systems Services Centers (ESSC) by the Department of Administration, one in the Helena area and one in eastern Montana. Selecting a site for the eastern ESSC involved a lengthy process to balance the security objectives of the ESSC, obligations under Montana law, functional attributes of the facility, and cost considerations.

State Chief Information Officer Dick Clark has determined that the Miles City alternative best meets the needs of the State and satisfies the Department’s obligations under the law.

The selection process turned out to be a lengthy, complicated effort that involved a great many people within the department and in Billings, Forsyth and Miles City. The Department developed a process, based on the process used for administrative rules, to assess alternative site communities and to involve the public. The evaluation method involved development of an assessment tool that was used to evaluate a wide variety of characteristics about each site. Each site was visited twice and local leaders were involved in those visits.

Openness was very important in the process. Selection of the eastern site is a topic of significant public interest that warranted public participation. The public had the opportunity to provide comment in written, email or phone message form, as well as in the public meetings held in each of the three communities. More than 400 people attended the meetings and several hundred comments were received.

The evaluation method used a Request For Proposal-style approach to award points based on site characteristics. Of the potential 100,000 points, Miles City received 66,349, Forsyth received 63,175 and Billings received 60,968.

The selection process had three foremost "drivers" which received the greater weight in the evaluation:

1. Security. Vulnerability to natural disaster and manmade disruptions are a paramount concern with the State’s primary data center being located in Helena and security was a key objective endorsed by the 2007 Legislature.

a. Miles City is one of only five communities in the nation that have access to more than one power grid in the event of a major utility interruption.

b. Miles City is a less urbanized community making it less of a target for terrorist activity directed at civil infrastructure, such as oil refineries.

c. The Miles City site is part of the Pine Hills complex. As a result, the data center will be "part of" a Department of Corrections facility and benefit from the security infrastructure already present.

2. Economic development responsibilities. Under 2-17-512 (c) MCA, the Department of Administration is responsible for making IT decisions that also promote economic development. While all the communities would benefit economically from being selected, the impact is most pronounced in a smaller community, such as Miles City.

3. Cost factors.

a. The project’s capital budget is very tight. The Miles City site is state owned land and carries no project cost. In contrast, the estimated $600,000 purchase cost for Billings land poses a significant problem.

b. Recurring costs are currently estimated to be $329,700 higher annually for Miles City. While this is not an insubstantial cost, it is reasonable to expect that increased economic development stemming from the presence of the ESSC in Miles City will reduce telecommunications costs over time and narrow the cost difference.

As mandated by law, Clark will present his findings to the Legislative Finance Committee at a meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2008.