DATE: December 12, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: CIO/Director of Information Technology
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute an Agreement with LookingPoint for Implementation of Network Refresh in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $2,340,126
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with LookingPoint for implementation of network refresh in an amount not-to-exceed $2,340,126.
SUMMARY
The City has an extensive and complex data/voice network that supports every department and provides computer and telephony systems functionality throughout the enterprise. The existing network infrastructure was last upgraded in 2015 and a total upgrade is now necessary to maintain and increase current bandwidth, position the network for future technological advances, and add reliability of redundancy. This project benefits the City because it supports the bandwidth needs and application availability for both onsite and remote access of data, systems, and services.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The City has an extensive and complex data/voice network that supports every department and provides computer and telephony systems functionality throughout the enterprise. The existing network infrastructure was last upgraded in 2015. The current system has had various segments and components such as SDWAN updated over time but a total upgrade is now necessary to maintain and increase current bandwidth, position the network for future technological advances, and add reliability of redundancy. To achieve this upgrade the City will utilize a “forklift” approach, which is replacing all network equipment that is currently end-of-life. This upgrade will position the City for the future and allow integration of future technologies.
The purpose of the infrastructure upgrade is to enhance and strengthen the City’s network capabilities to support both data and telephony systems as well as the future network needs of the City. The strengthened network will be more capable of handling the new SDWAN infrastructure as well as voice, video, and data requirements over one heterogeneous (converged) network throughout the enterprise. This upgrade brings together telephone services, data services, and the power of the Internet in a single high-speed, secure, stable, and expandable network, which will serve as the foundation for the future expansion of the City’s technology systems.
This project directly supports the Strategic Priority of Strengthen Organizational Health, specifically Optimize Access to Workforce Technology. Several benefits of this upgrade directly impact this strategic priority. Optimizing access to workforce technology is a benefit to the City because it allows for secure and reliable connections for data and voice in office as well as in remote environments. In addition, the City has moved an increasing number of vendors to cloud-hosted platforms, which require secure and reliable connections for staff to perform their jobs. Optimizing access to workforce technology also assists in securely accessing resources, files, and data onsite and remotely. This allows for remote work depending on the job classification and assignment.
Information Technology Department staff undertook a systematic process to identify Network Infrastructure system manufacturers considered to be the industry leaders. Factors such as product performance, years of industry experience, resource commitments, and recommendations from similar vertical market peer groups were used as benchmarks in a pre-qualification process.
On June 9, 2023, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) through OpenGov to design, install, and configure a complete network refresh.
The City received seven responses to the RFP by the October 9, 2023 deadline. Of the seven responses, four responses were deemed fully qualified to meet the requirements. City staff interviewed the four vendors and independently rated the interviews and solutions, ultimately arriving at one chosen solution.
The chosen provider, LookingPoint, is a local business and the City has worked with them in the past. Staff has found their work to be dependable and reasonably priced. The design offered by their engineers was clear, simple, and covered all concerns the City is looking to address. LookingPoint also supplied several references for comparable governmental organizations as well as private companies. The review team found their solution to be very cost-appropriate.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Strengthen Organizational Health. Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following project:
Optimize Access to Workforce Technology.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost of the agreement with LookingPoint will not exceed $2,340,126. This includes a 10% contingency to account for unexpected project costs. Authorizing this agreement does not require an additional appropriation. CIP and ARPA funds will be used to cover the costs of the project. The solution set will be a one-time cost that covers all licensing and support for five years.
RFP Evaluation Results
Vendor
Winning Bid
Total Pricing
Bear Cloud Technologies
No
$ 3,181,752
HHS Construction LLC
No
$ 3,699,578
LookingPoint
Yes
$ 2,127,387
USA Technology Consultants
No
$12,033,770
NEXT STEPS
If Council authorizes the City Manager to negotiate and execute this agreement, then staff will schedule the project. Staff will also recommend pursuing a lease/purchase option, which allows for expenditures to be spread over five years. The project kickoff would commence in December 2023 and take approximately six months to complete.
Prepared by: Carolyn Baily, IT Manager - Infrastructure Recommended by: Adam Kostrzak, CIO/Director of Information Technology Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager