Press Alt + R to read the document text or Alt + P to download or print.
This document contains no pages.
HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 10e - Extension of IT Consulting Services
DATE: November 20, 2018
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Hue Quach, Administrative Services Director
Wilson Luo, IT Manager
SUBJECT: EXTENSTION TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
WITH SCIENTIA CONSULTING GROUP, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF
$362,280
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
In September 2017, City Council approved a one-year Professional Services Agreement
(“Agreement”) with Scientia Consulting Group, Inc. (“Scientia”) to manage the City’s
Information Technology (“IT”) Systems. The Agreement expired September 2018. This
staff report recommends extending the Agreement for an additional year through
September 30, 2019.
Due to the constant turnover of IT consulting companies over the past few years, there
are many backlogged projects that are just getting off the ground. Changing consultants
again at this time would only cause more setbacks and, ultimately, more costs.
Therefore, it is recommended that the Agreement be extended for an additional year at
this time without re-bidding the contract. Based on Scientia’s overall performance and
positive feedback from the internal user community, it is recommended that the City
Council approve, and authorize and direct the City Manager to execute, a one-year
extension to the Professional Services Agreement with Scientia Consulting Group, Inc.
through September 30, 2019. The total cost of renewing the IT consulting services with
Scientia is $362,280.
DISCUSSION
Over the course of the past year, Scientia has demonstrated expertise in supporting the
City’s IT operations and a strong commitment to customer satisfaction. Scientia came
on board with many server and network infrastructure issues that were left behind from
the prior IT consultant company. Scientia was able to quickly learn and resolved many
Extension of Professional Services Agreement with
Scientia Consulting Group Inc.
November 20, 2018
Page 2 of 3
of the critical issues that were causing regular and significant network and server
downtimes.
Efforts have been ongoing to ensure that the City’s system continues to run with
minimal downtime. As some of those critical network and server issues have been
resolved, Scientia has been concentrating their support efforts in resolving other IT
challenges and reducing many daily user recurrent issues. While Scientia continues to
make progress and have been performing satisfactorily, much of their standard
contracted time has been taken up addressing a backlog of critical IT issues as well as
the daily troubleshooting calls. Fundamentally, even with much progress that have
been made since the contract was awarded, there remains a list of projects affecting
operations citywide that need to be addressed. Below is a sampling of in-process and
pending major projects that require Scientia’s continued expertise and institutional
knowledge to complete in an efficient and effective manner.
In process:
Data backup and recovery migration to new software solution
Desktop computer replacement, 35 of 96 pending
Decommissioning of unsupported platforms/migrating essential services
Firewall migration to next generation platform with security packages
Network reconfiguration and segmentation
Public facing web server reconfiguration – security assessment
Virtualization platform upgrade, reconfiguration, and licensing assessments
Vulnerability assessment scanning and risk mitigation strategy planning
Pending:
Database modernization, consolidation, and redundancy
Email migration from on premises to Microsoft hosted platform
Microsoft Enterprise Agreement software licensing
Mission-critical services redundancy research and design
Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulatory compliance changes
Public facing web server reconfiguration and migration
An additional list of critical and high priority minor projects are currently being worked on
in a collaborative manner between Scientia and the City’s in-house IT Manager.
While the City currently has an in-house IT Manager and with expectation that this role
will reassess service level needs of this agreement, his recent employment limits the
ability to properly assess the appropriate level for citywide consultant services at this
time. A longer transitional period is necessary to become knowledgeable and fully
understand the complexity of our network and infrastructure. The process of bidding out
this service and potentially finding a new consultant to partner with is certain to slow the
Extension of Professional Services Agreement with
Scientia Consulting Group Inc.
November 20, 2018
Page 3 of 3
progress that is being made, which can cause additional costs in the long run. A new
consulting group would need approximately six to nine months to “learn” and study our
system before considering any recommendations or proceed with adding new projects
that would layer over the existing system. Projects in line to take place in the remaining
fiscal year would have to be pushed further out with potential for downtime or
compromising security from the City’s system.
Scientia has provided a very reasonable proposal, in that the service rate is proposed to
be kept the same as last year’s agreement. The renewal agreement year, arguably,
provides savings to the City as the renewed year’s cost is the same, forgoing any
inflationary factor that is typical with extended contracts. It is therefore, recommended
that the City Council approve, and authorize and direct the City Manager to execute, a
one-year extension to the Professional Service Agreement with Scientia Consulting
Group for IT Consulting Services through September 30, 2019, in the amount of
$362,280.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental
Quality Act (“CEQA”), and it can be seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the
environment. Thus, this matter is exempt under CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost of extending the information management contract through September 30,
2019, is $362,280. No additional appropriation is requested as this consulting service
has been budgeted as part of the City’s annual operating budget process.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve, and authorize and direct the City
Manager to execute a one-year extension to the Professional Services A greement with
Scientia Consulting Group for IT Consulting Services in the amount of $362,280.
Attachment: Proposed Amendment No. 2 to the Professional Services Agreement
AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT SERVICES BY AND
BETWEEN THE CITY OF ARCADIA
AND SCIENTIA CONSULTING GROUP, INC.
This Amendment No. 2 (“Amendment No. 2”) is hereby entered into this ______ day of
______________, 2018 by and between the City of Arcadia, a municipal corporation of the
State of California, and Scientia Consulting Group, Inc., a California Corporation, with respect to
that certain Professional Services Agreement (“Agreement”) between the Parties dated October
4, 2017, and further amended by Amendment No. 1 dated June 13, 2018.
The Parties agree as follows:
1. Section 3.1.2 of the Professional Services Agreement, the Term is hereby extended
from September 20, 2018 to September 30, 2019 (“Extended Term”).
2. All other terms and provisions of the Agreement not amended by this Amendment No. 2
are hereby reaffirmed.
In witness whereof the Parties have executed this Amendment No. 1 on the date set
forth above.
CITY OF ARCADIA SCIENTIA CONSULTING GROUP, INC.
By: By:
Dominic Lazzaretto
City Manager Title:
Dated: Dated:
By:
ATTEST:
Title:
Dated:
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM CONCUR:
Stephen P. Deitsch Hue Quach
City Attorney Administrative Services Director