For City Council Meeting [August 13, 2019]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Rod Foster, City Administrator
FROM: Jessica Brown, Finance Director
Title
Request City Council to Approve Purchase Orders with Dell EMC in the total amount of $295,591.29 plus tax for the Purchase of five (5) Replacement Servers, (4) PowerSwitch S3100 network switches, associated equipment and software, and five (5) year service warranty.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
As a result of continuous connectivity and stability concerns with the City's Exchange Server and Outlook databases, the City's Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) retained an Information Technology (IT) Consultant in July 2019 to assist ITSD in resolving these issues and stabilizing the system. Additionally, as part of the City Administrator's efforts to provide comprehensive assessments of City Departments, the IT Consultant is in the process of conducting an assessment of the City's IT infrastructure which may include networks, servers, personal desktop/laptop computers, equipment inside/outside cable plant, and other communications infrastructure.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Over the last several weeks, the IT Consultant has worked with ITSD staff to accomplish multiple tasks and improvements within the City's IT environment including:
* Stabilizing and restoring email services within the City;
* Oversight of the Office 365 implementation project;
* Replacement and upgrade of the City's email spam filter, backup and archiving system;
* Replacement and upgrade of network switches allowing for increased access;
* Increasing City internet bandwidth;
* Restoration and reconfiguration of VPN access for users also enabling faster access;
During this preliminary stage of the assessment, the IT Consultant identified some critical areas requiring immediate attention including the replacement of 14 servers. The City uses over 150 different software applications or modules throughout all departments and t...
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