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Chief Administrative Office, Procurement & Contracts Division, on behalf of Information Technologies (IT), recommending the Board:
1) Authorize the Fixed Asset addition of twelve (12) servers and two (2) network switching devices for the Department of Information Technologies to the FY 2021-22 budget;
2) Waive formal bid requirements in accordance with Purchasing Ordinance 3.12.160, exemptions from competitive process, Section D;
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to utilize National Association of State Procurement Officials competitively bid contract MNWNC-109 from SidePath, Inc. for the acquisition of twelve (12) servers (VxRail P670F 7-Node Cluster, VxRail E660F 5-Node Cluster) and two (2) network switching devices (2GbE Connectivity); and
4) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue a purchase order in the amount of $837,874.40 including applicable taxes and fees for server and switch equipment.
FUNDING: General Fund.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The current server infrastructure data storage system was purchased in fiscal year 2015-16 and will no longer be supported by the vendor beginning in mid-fiscal year 2022-23. IT management and staff have chosen Dell hardware because current staff has significant expertise using Dell hardware and associated management tools. Dell's management tools integrate with underlying VMWare ESXi server operating system and the architecture uses a hyper-converged server and storage system that will improve system resilience and disaster recoverability.
The IT 2021-22 budget includes line items for $400,000 for the server refresh project and $16,667 for associated licenses, maintenance, and support. The actual cost of equipment is $514,060.57. The actual 3-year cost for associated licenses, maintenance, and support is $323,813.83, with approximately $54,000 anticipated to be expensed within FY 21/22.
This increase in cost is due to changes in manufacturer hardware specifications and proposed architecture. The chan...
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