Title
Information Technologies Department recommending the Board:
1) Waive formal bid requirements in accordance with Procurement Policy C-17, Section 3.4 (4), due to there being competitively bid contracts with another public agency available;
2) Authorize the use of competitively bid Utah NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement AR3229 and California Participating Addendum 7-20-70-47-06 between Palo Alto Networks, Inc. and the State of Utah as the lead public agency for the competitively bid Palo Alto firewall hardware, software, and support services for the County’s firewall infrastructure;
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a Purchase Order to ePlus Technology Inc. in the amount of $126,025.01 plus applicable sales tax and shipping/handling for the purchase of Palo Alto firewalls, software and support; and
4) Approve the addition of three Palo Alto Networks PA-1420 firewalls to the Information Technologies Fiscal Year 2025-26 Fixed Asset List.
FUNDING: General Fund, with partial cost recovery in future years through the Cost Allocation Plan.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between physical and logical network segments. The Information Technologies (IT) Department currently employs internal firewalls at several County locations which significantly reduce our cyber risk by creating additional security barriers between El Dorado County business departments. These firewalls are a critical component of the County's continued efforts to maintain existing technology infrastructure to provide flexible, fast, secure virtual workspace for all employees to be able to work from any device or location. The firewalls help provide network redundancy, resiliency, and business continuity objectives.
The Utah NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement AR3229 is a compet...
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