Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit and the ALM System

By Susan O'Connor, ALMS Application Manager

In the fall of 2007, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit became the first program within the Department of Public Safety to implement the Agency License Management (ALM) System.  While   they may be the first in Public Safety to benefit from this system, they are certainly not the first in Maine .  The Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (DPFR) has been using the ALM System for many years to manage a highly diverse mix of 45 regulatory programs.  Anne Head, the Director for DPFR's Office of Licensing and Registration (OLR) and the Department's Acting Commissioner, is an avid proponent of the ALM System and believes it is an invaluable tool for the department in carrying out its mission of public protection through licensure, inspection, enforcement/complaint resolution, and discipline.  

When Lt. Christopher Grotton, Commanding Officer of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit, made the decision to find a licensing system that better met the needs of his program, he understood the difficulty of the task he was undertaking.  Large-scale system implementations of this type can be expensive, operationally disruptive and do not always deliver capabilities that were promised.  Rather than wade into uncharted waters, he first evaluated the State of Maine 's ALM System.  He was aware of its many advocates at DPFR and the fact that it was backed up by an experienced in-house support staff and a well-respected development and implementation partner in Sauper Associates.  Lt. Grotton liked what he saw and decided last April to move forward with the ALM System.  A detailed analysis of his needs was performed and a comprehensive project plan was developed with an anticipated go-live date of October 1.  The implementation went without a hitch and the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit went live on the ALM System as planned on October 1st.

Soon after the project was completed, Lt. Grotton commented that “the ALMS support staff and the Sauper Associates folks have been great to work with and have made this very simple and smooth!”  This success, combined with the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit's resultant increase in efficiency and effectiveness, has generated broad interest in the ALM System and has many other regulatory programs considering how they may benefit from moving to the ALM System