Optima has started managing the City of Seattle’s comprehensive technology solution that will support
the ongoing implementation of the City’s Building and Energy programs.Optima is providing the project
management services for Office of Sustainability and Environment to identify solution that will address
interim improvements to support the existing Energy Benchmarking & Reporting program, provide new
capabilities required to administer the Building Emissions Performance Standard law, and enable the
consolidation of these programs onto one platform.

Project: City of Seattle Building and Energy Programs
Role: Business Project Manager
Client: City of Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment
Period: Oct 2024 – Feb 2026

City of Seattle adopted a new Building Emissions Performance Standard (BEPS) Policy which is projected
to reduce building related carbon emissions by 27% by 2050, making it one of the most impactful
climate actions adopted for Seattle. The Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) oversees the
City’s existing buildings and Energy programs, which include the Energy Benchmarking & Reporting
(EBR) program, the Building Tune-Ups (BTU) program and the Seattle Clean Buildings Accelerator
program.

For the next year and half, Optima will work with OSE and Seattle Information Technology Department
to:
 Conduct standard requirements gathering activities, evaluate solution options, select the
solution, and complete the contracting process.
 Create and execute the implementation plans supporting a multi-phased implementation
approach
 Ensure the project aligns with business goals and supports business objectives and delivers
value.
 Account for in-flight Energy Benchmarking & Reporting (EBR) and Building Emissions
Performance Standard (BEPS) programs to ensure an integrated project scheduled is managed
to aligned dependencies and timelines.
 Ensure successful project Phase 1 go-live, stabilization and operational support transition plans.
 Manage requirements gathering and scope management activities

 Oversee the change management process within the business, including training and
transitioning the organization to new processes or systems.
 Focus on improving business processes through the implementation of new systems & changes.
 Manage the communication between OSE stakeholders, IT Dept. the vendor.
 Ensure project management deliverables are created and maintained. This includes a detailed
project schedule, communication plans, project RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues and
Dependencies), change log; meeting minutes; project status reports.
 Collaborate with project sponsors, steering committee, teams, business SMEs, City’s vendors, IT
teams, and other key stakeholders to ensure project progresses as planned.

The post Building Emissions Performance Standard IT Platform appeared first on Optima.

On July 15, 2024, Optima has successfully completed the deployment of the integrated Accela Civic
Application that administers permitting, licensing, inspections and compliance programs forCity of
Seattle.In March 2023, Optima was contracted by the Seattle Information Technology Department to
manage the migration of the on-premises infrastructure to the vendor’s SaaS solution on Microsoft
Azure platform.

Project: City of Seattle Accela SaaS Migration
Role: Program Manager
Client: Seattle Information Technology Department
Period: March 2023 – July 2024

To complete this migration to the SaaS environment, Optima’s services included:
 Lead the project from initiation to closeout incorporating project management principles, best
practices and the City’s established IT project delivery processes.
 Revise the existing City contract with Accela to update requirements for Payment Card Industry
(PCI), Cybersecurity and American Disability Act (ADA)
 Migrate the current application to Accela’s SaaS solution – a “lift and shift”
 Collaborate with in-flight projects and operational efforts to understand dependencies and
develop a comprehensive implementation plan/schedule for the migration.
 Lead the project team in ensuring effective mechanisms are in place to manage project scope,
schedule, quality, budget; and risk identification, mitigation, and issue resolution.
 Lead the project team in ensuring effective mechanisms are in place to manage project scope,
schedule, quality, budget; and risk identification, mitigation, and issue resolution.
 Develop, manage, and track progress against the project schedule.
 Collaborate with project sponsors, steering committee, teams, business SMEs, City’s vendors,
and other key stakeholders to ensure project progresses as planned.
 Manage the spend plan for the project, updates the Steering Committee on monthly basis on
actual vs. budget spending, and provides budgetary forecasts as necessary.
 Prioritize and manage resource allocation based on required schedule and deliverables based on
the business priorities for the project.
 Coordinate activities within the project team; ensure team building, team performance, conflict
resolution and escalates issues if necessary.
 Ensure project management artifacts are created and maintained. This includes a detailed
project schedule, communication plans, project RAID, change log; spend plan, and resource
plans; meeting minutes; project status reports.
 Ensure successful project go-live, stabilization and operational support transition plans.

The post Seattle Services SaaS migration appeared first on Optima.