Title
Information Technologies Department recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Waive formal bid requirements in accordance with Purchasing Ordinance 3.12.160, exemptions from competitive process, Section D;
2) Authorize the use of the Utah NASPO ValuePoint (formerly WSCA-NASPO) master price agreement AR233 and California Participating Addendum 7-14-70-04 for the acquisition of computer hardware, software, and support services necessary for an upgrade of the existing data center core switch equipment; and
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a purchase order to ConvergeOne, Inc., the designated reseller of the awarded vendor, Cisco Systems, Inc., under the State contract, in the amount of $126,040.20, plus applicable sales tax, for the purchase of Cisco Core Switch Hardware and Cisco warranty/maintenance support for one (1) year.
FUNDING: General Fund, with partial cost recovery in future years through the A-87 Cost Plan.
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DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
Information Technologies Department recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Waive formal bid requirements in accordance with Purchasing Ordinance 3.12.160, exemptions from competitive process, Section D;
2) Authorize the use of the Utah NASPO ValuePoint (formerly WSCA-NASPO) master price agreement AR233 and California Participating Addendum 7-14-70-04 for the acquisition of computer hardware, software, and support services necessary for an upgrade of the existing data center core switch equipment; and
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a purchase order to ConvergeOne, Inc., the designated reseller of the awarded vendor, Cisco Systems, Inc., under the State contract, in the amount of $126,040.20, plus applicable sales tax, for the purchase of Cisco Core Switch Hardware and Cisco warranty/maintenance support for one (1) year.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In IT architecture terms, “core switches” are devices that interconnect practically everything in the data center. They are like the central nervous system, handling the massive amounts of network traffic flowing among all our application servers, file storage, databases, firewalls, and security appliances.
The County's current core switches are over 6 years old, and the manufacturer has put them in End-of-Life status. This means that support services will terminate within the next year. Industry standard practices stipulate that extending support beyond end-of-life for critical infrastructure constitutes a very high risk.
These new core switches will be a great improvement in all aspects. They will replace not only our existing core switch hardware, but also several hardware “extenders” we have had to add due to limited port capacity with older technology. They will enable us to apply security updates without service interruptions, and will have greatly improved capabilities to analyze and manage data flows. In general, the new switches will result in a more resilient, expandable, and failure-resistant infrastructure.
ALTERNATIVES
If the event the Board does not approve this purchase, the backbone of our network will be considered End-of-Life with no service or support within the year. This could jeopardize County operations.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
It is recommended that the Board approve this item.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
No change to Net County Cost. Funding for these purchases is included in the FY 2017-18 Adopted Budget for Information Technologies.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Infrastructure
CONTACT
David Russell, Information Technologies