Title
MOTION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF CISCO SMARTNET TOTAL CARE FOR THE CITY'S CORE CISCO INFRASTRUCTURE HARDWARE IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $81,783.55, FROM NETSYNC, UTILIZING THE STATE OF FLORIDA ALTERNATE CONTRACT #43220000-WSCA-14-ACS VIA THE FLORIDA NASPO VALUEPOINT CISCO AR233 (14-19), PURSUANT TO SECTION 35.18(C)(5) OF THE CITY'S CODE OF ORDINANCES.
Summary Explanation and Background
PROCUREMENT PROCESS TAKEN:
- Chapter 35 of the City’s Code of Ordinances is titled “PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES, PUBLIC FUNDS.”
- Section 35.18 of the City's Code of Ordinances is regarding "COMPETITIVE BIDDING OR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS REQUIRED; EXCEPTIONS."
- Section 35.18(C) states that "Only the following situations are exempt from the competitive bid and competitive proposal requirements of this section:"
- Section 35.18(C)(5) states that, "Utilization of other governmental agencies' contracts. Commodities or services that are the subject of contracts with the state its political subdivisions or other governmental entities including the United States Government, are exempt from this section, provided, however, that this division shall apply only if the contract expressly permits or if the awarding jurisdiction and/or the vendor agree to allow the city to purchase therefrom and if either: (i) the commodities or services are the subject of a price schedule negotiated by the state or federal government or by competitive bid by another governmental agency and not on any preference; (ii) or the price offered for the commodity or service exactly equals or is lower than the governmental contract from vendors awarded the governmental contract. Where an award is made pursuant to this paragraph, the terms and conditions agreeable to the City may be used in lieu of those terms and conditions of the contract with the other governmental agency."
- Section 35.21 of the City's Code of Ordinances is regarding "AWARD OF CONTRACT."
- Section 35.21(A) is regarding "CITY COMMISSION APPROVAL."
- Section 35.21(A)(1) states, "An initial purchase of, or contract for, commodities or services, in excess of $25,000, shall require the approval of the City Commission, regardless of whether the competitive bidding or competitive proposal procedures were followed."
SUMMARY EXPLANATION AND BACKGROUND:
1. The City utilizes Cisco equipment to run its essential IT operations. This Cisco infrastructure consists of just under 125 pieces of critical IT equipment including firewalls, telecommunications, switches, and network servers.
2. In order to insure that Cisco infrastructure functions are at the highest levels of integrity and dependability, the City subscribes to Cisco’s SmartNet Total Care (SmartNet) coverage. SmartNet is a service program that reduces downtime by providing fast, expert technical support and flexible hardware replacement provided by Cisco’s Technical Assistance Center (TAC). SmartNet gives the City’s Techonology Services Department (TSD) staff the ability to resolve problems quickly, reduce the City’s computer system risk, improves visibility into the state of the infrastructure, and increases operational efficiency through the proactive management of hardware and software critical to our operations and IT security.
3. Over the years, the City’s TSD has been responsible for acquiring, installing and maintaining Cisco equipment. Each time the TSD staff acquired a piece of Cisco equipment, the City would also purchase SmartNet coverage for the particular item. Purchasing Cisco related equipment with corresponding SmartNet coverage one-by-one or on an as needed basis has resulted in a patchwork of SmartNet providers, warranty expiration dates and coverage terms. This approach has also created a confusing management, operational and budgeting environment.
4. Because of the problems with the patchwork coverage, the City TSD staff completed an effort last year (2020) to identify and catalog all Cisco equipment eligible for SmartNet coverage. This cataloging was coordinated with NetSync. NetSync then worked with Cisco on a proposal to combine existing, expiring and non-covered SmartNet eligible equipment into one agreement with a unified termination date.
5. The Technology Services Department would like to purchase SmartNet Total Care for the City’s core Cisco infrastructure hardware covering service dates: February 01, 2021 - January 31, 2022.
6. The Technology Services Department has obtained a quote from NetSync in the amount of $81,783.55.
7. Request Commission to approve the purchase of Cisco SmartNet Total Care for the City’s core Cisco infrastructure hardware in the amount not to exceed $81,783.55, from NetSync, utilizing the State of Florida Alternate Contract # 43220000-WSCA-14-ACS via the Florida NASPO Valuepoint Cisco AR233 (14-19), pursuant to section 35.18(C)(5) of the City's Code of Ordinances.
Financial Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT DETAIL:
a) Initial Cost: $81,783.55
b) Amount budgeted for this item is in Account No: funds are budgeted in account # 1-513-2002-46801 (I.T. Maintenance)
c) Source of funding for difference, if not fully budgeted: Not Applicable.
d) 5 year projection of the operational cost of the project: Not Applicable.
e) Detail of additional staff requirements: Not Applicable.