Finance & Management Committee
May 14, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Tony Batalla
City Administrator Director, Information
Technology Department
SUBJECT: Information Technology Department
Temporary Staff Augmentation
DATE: March 28, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing the City Administrator To Enter Into a Professional Services Agreement With Insight Global, For Temporary, As Needed Technical Staff Augmentation Not To Exceed The Amount of $3,750,000 For A Term Beginning August 1, 2024, And Ending July 31, 2029, And To The Extent Necessary, Waiving The Local/Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirement For Information Technology Agreements.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommend the City Council adopt a Resolution providing the Information Technology Department (ITD) the ability to enter into specialized and technical temporary agreements for staff augmentation with Insight Global on an as-needed basis and to waive the local/small local business enterprise program requirements for information technology agreements.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Periodically, ITD has an urgent or critical need to bring in external contractors on a temporary basis to preform and/or assist in highly specialized, technical functions including, but not limited to network administration, database management, programming, technical project management and application development. In these cases, the work is defined and closely monitored by City staff. These assignments are temporary in nature, meaning they do not warrant a full-time position, but the work is required to meet a vital, or developing need in ITD or across the City.
Over the past year, ITD has engaged such expertise in helping the City recover from the ransomware attack (reporting needs associated with a public safety application) and technical project management linked to the deployment of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). As the department continues to develop applications, build databases, and ensure reliability and capacity, the demand for these temporary services will be ongoing.
Prior to engaging in any work plan, the Department works internally to prioritize needs and define which aspects of a project can be done within ITD. This process helps the department Jestin Johnson (Apr 17, 2024 11:32 PDT)
Apr 17, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Information Technology Department Temporary Staff Augmentation Date: March 28, 2024 Page 2
Finance & Management Committee
May 14, 2024
define the external need and ensures that ITD creates an engagement with a limited time window and scope. The work is then closely supervised and approved by City staff.
The Information Technology Department recommends entering a contact with Insight Global to help meet these urgent needs as they arise. Having on-call services available will streamline and enhance the Department’s ability to meet growing technology demands, Citywide.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The City has a vested interest in the functionality, capacity and reliability of our technology systems, and these platforms occasionally require either urgent work or specialized functional support and staff augmentation including, but not limited to programming, troubleshooting, database and network administration and management, and specialized program design integration for enterprise systems including public safety.
The ability to enter into temporary agreements on an as-needed basis is critical to addressing system needs. This on-call contract does not commit City funds up front. This contract would provide the mechanism for ITD to access specialized services, as needed. As with other contracting arrangements, ITD would maintain total oversight of the project and control over the contractor selected to assist with the required work. With all contractors, ITD develops a specific scope of work, screens resumes, interviews candidates, checks references, and only makes an assignment when the Department is certain that a viable candidate has been matched. As this contract is entirely based on providing temporary, highly specialized services limited to ITD, this agreement will not result in the loss of employment or salary by any person having permanent status in the competitive service.
If ITD does not have access to on-call technical services through this agreement, each identified need would require a separate solicitation for services. This policy would allow ITD to enter into a cooperative agreement with a total current value over $250,000 to ensure that ITD maintains access to contractors to help address immediate and urgent needs as they arise. If this Resolution is not approved, the City will face additional time with technical service requests, implementation or restoration of software and/or services that require immediate attention. ITD’s ability to respond timely will help sustain the Citywide priorities of a vibrant, sustainable infrastructure and responsive, trustworthy government. When software solutions are not delivered timely and efficiently, departments and the residents who rely on those applications are impacted. By ensuring business continuity, this policy enables the endurance and functionality of platforms that help ensure the City is running effectively.
Cooperative Purchase
Oakland Municipal Code Section 2.04.080 [Cooperative Agreement Purchasing] authorizes the use of agreements of "...other governmental jurisdictions or public agencies that were awarded pursuant to an appropriate competitive process" to meet the City’s multi-step bidding requirements for purchase agreements. ITD recommends this resolution through University of California, CA Contract Number 2021003051 cooperative purchasing agreement.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Information Technology Department Temporary Staff Augmentation Date: March 28, 2024 Page 3
Finance & Management Committee
May 14, 2024
Waiver Of Competitive Solicitation Requirement Justification
In consideration of both criticality and technical specifications required by ITD when seeking augmented labor, ITD has determined that an on-call, as-needed contract with Insight Global is reasonable and economical under the circumstances. Therefore, for the purposes of accessing highly technical skillsets, and to minimize potential system disruptions and provide business continuity, it is in the City’s best interest to waive the Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) requirements for this agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
This proposed Resolution will authorize the City Administrator to enter into a professional services agreement with Insight Global, in an amount not to exceed $3,750,000, over a five-year period from August 1, 2024, through July 31, 2029.
It is important to note that ITD may opt to pay out none, some, or all this contract amount over the five-year period. The intent of this policy is to provide access to resources for ITD in cases where temporary, specialized services are needed. Should ITD require services, the amount would be funded internally from ITD’s baseline budget. Available funding will be identified from the related area (for example, network services, cyber security, or application development) prior to the performance of technical services. Approval of this contract will not result in the additional appropriation of funding, and no additional funding is requested.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney, the Controller’s Bureau, and the City Administrator’s Office.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
ITD has completed previous projects providing temporary labor with Insight Global and deemed their performance satisfactory.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Effective City outcomes depend on secure, reliable, and cost-effective technology and platforms. Enabling access to temporary, skilled IT augmented resources will allow the City the ability to address urgent needs quickly with a specific and defined scope of work.
Maintaining existing systems and addressing urgent needs rapidly is the most efficiency solution for the City.
Environmental: Enterprise IT solutions focus on digital transactions that reduce the need for traditional printing and copying. Ensuring the City’s applications, databases, software solutions, including public safety platforms are robust and functioning well give staff confidence in using these electronic tools and repositories.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Information Technology Department Temporary Staff Augmentation Date: March 28, 2024 Page 4
Finance & Management Committee
May 14, 2024
Race & Equity: The IT Department must ensure that City Staff have the systems and services necessary to provide critical services to the community in support of racial equity goals to address disparities. Failing to maintain robust infrastructure and services can negatively impact City Staff’s ability to provide these services to the community.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing the City Administrator To Enter Into a Professional Services Agreement With Insight Global, For Temporary, As Needed Technical Staff Augmentation In The Grand Total Not To Exceed Amount of $3,750,000 For A Term Beginning August 1, 2024, And Ending July 31, 2029, And To The Extent Necessary, Waiving The Local/Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirement For Information Technology Agreements.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Tony Batalla, Information Technology Director, at 510-238-3319.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY BATALLA
Director, Information Technology Department