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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2d: Purchase of Computer Equipment: Computer Replacement Program 1161011 k r4,c°41'ORATSV-.°°° STAFF REPORT Administrative Services Department Date: November 1, 2011 To: Mayor and City Council From Hue Quach, Administrative Services Director Jeff Wagner, IT Consultant Subject: Purchase of computer equipment and related peripherals in accordance to the City's Computer Replacement Program Recommendation: Approve SUMMARY Staff is recommending the City Council authorize a purchase in the amount of $54,925.08 from Dell Computer Corporation for replacement of (44) computer workstations, monitors, and software. The formal bidding requirements have been satisfied and funds were approved for this acquisition as part of the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget. BACKGROUND Computer technology continues to develop and advance but these changes also create on-going compatibility challenges between software and hardware. Standardization of computer hardware and software is necessary in order to use the available technology efficiently. The Computer Replacement Program is an effort to reduce the dependency and the inclination to purchase the "latest" by carefully planning our needs with a centralized management of computer resources and standardization of the desktop computing environment. The overall goal of the program is to ensure that computing resources are up-to-date, cost effective, and available to all staff but with consideration to limited budget resources that are available. Other goals of the Computer Replacement Program are to: • Assure that each staff member who uses computing resources in their position has access to a computer of sufficient capability to support basic computing needs in fulfillment of their work responsibilities. • Assure that appropriate computing resources are available in departmental offices in support of the mission of the City. • Implement minimum standards for computing resources by increasing the supportability of the City's installed base of equipment. • Streamline the specification, acquisition, and deployment of new equipment and re-deployment or disposal of old equipment. • Staying current to allow continuing efficiency and productivity but also remain compliant with newer technology for ongoing support from technology corporations such as Microsoft. • Review and analyze with the purpose of determining the cost effectiveness and economic benefits of going to new versus keeping older technology. DISCUSSION An assessment of the City's IT program was conducted in past years and among the recommendations was to incorporate the industry standard of replacing computers over a five year life cycle. To achieve this goal, the City would need to replace approximately 70 computers annually. Arcadia's desktop computers, at one time, were on a 5.8 year life cycle. Due to budgetary constraints, the city is currently replacing approximately 13% of the existing 350 computers annually which equates to a life cycle of 8 years for each computer. Although our extended life cycle can create limitation and functionality issues with newer software, our IT staff has adopted the policy to put a priority on computers that are used more heavily and contain applications which require greater performance hardware in hopes of limiting consistencies and functionality problems. To further minimize computer problems, it is essential that we replace/upgrade computer hardware for their functionality aspect. As an example, software such as Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 require specific minimum requirements, which many city machines do not meet. Adversely, not keeping up with newer technology would create compliant issues that could prevent the City to "upgrade" to those programs and consequently prevented from receiving technical support in the event of software/hardware issues. Given those reasons and in conjunction with the current computer replacement program, staff is proposing to complete the acquisition of replacement workstations in the respective departments for the current fiscal year: Administrative Services 5 Workstations City Clerk 2 Workstations City Manager 1 Workstation Development Services 8 Workstations Fire 5 Workstations Library 4 Workstations Recreation 2 Workstations Police 17 Workstations Total: 44 The City frequently utilizes other agency's formal bidding process as an efficient method of purchasing equipment while still remaining within the City's adopted rules and procedures. The Western States Contracting Alliance solicited competitive bids for computer equipment and entered into purchasing contracts with Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Howard, IBM, and MPC-G. Staff has reviewed the bidding process as well as the contract with Dell and is confident both measures meet City requirements and specifications. FISCAL IMPACT The total cost of proposed computers and monitors replacement is $54,925.08. Funds have been budgeted and approved in the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Equipment Replacement Fund for this acquisition. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended the City Council: Authorize a purchase of computer workstations and monitors from Dell Computer Corporation in the amount of$54,925.08 and authorize a cooperative purchase using the Western States Contracting Alliance bid contract. Approved: Don Penman, City Manager