City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: July 29, 2025
Agenda Item: 4.G
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Feroz Merchhiya, Chief Information Officer, Information Services Department Subject: Approval of Third Modification of Agreement with Zones for 24x7x365 Service Desk Support
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a third modification to agreement #10887 in the amount of $226,936 with Zones, LLC (Zones) for 24x7x365 Service Desk support for the Information Services Department (ISD).
This will result in a 7-year amended agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $2,215,668, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
2. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica contracts with Zones to provide 24x7x365 service desk support, after-hours technical support, and around the clock monitoring of City computer systems. The current agreement expires on August 31, 2025, and staff seeks to modify the current agreement on a month-to-month basis to continue IT support services while staff conduct a formal procurement process for these services in FY 2025/2026.
Discussion
Santa Monica operates over 300 software systems and supports over 2,200 computer users. As a full service City, many critical city functions, such as Police, Fire, Water and Transportation, happen outside of normal business hours and require immediate support. After evaluating different models, staff determined it was most cost effective to 2 of 4
contract with a third party to provide IT support desk services, including after-hours support, and monitoring. The City support service staff focus their efforts on hardware repairs, more complex technical issues, asset management of computer systems, and the replacement of laptops and computers.
The City intends to follow a competitive process of soliciting proposals in the Fall of 2025 to establish a new agreement for 24x7x365 Service Desk support. Until a new contract is in place, staff recommends that Council extend the existing agreement with Zones on a month-to-month basis to avoid interruption in critical 24x7x365 Support Desk, not to extend beyond August 31, 2026. Zones provides its services at a cost of $20,159 per month plus a 10% contingency, a rate which will remain in place through the term of the contract. The City will terminate its current contract with Zones when a new agreement is in place.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Description
07/23/2019
(Attachment A)
Award Request for Proposal (RFP) for Network Operations Center Services
Contract #10887 (CCS), was executed on September 16, 2019 for an amount not to exceed $2,169,786. On February 8, 2023, in response to the City’s evolving Support Desk needs, that agreement was modified by the City and Zones to extend the Managed Services Service Desk Support model from After-Hours (8:30 PM Eastern – 10:30 AM Eastern, Monday – Friday), Weekends and Holiday support to 24x7x365 support. In addition to extending the Service Desk scope to 24x7x365, the City asked Zones to remove the NOC scope, which had become duplicative, and both parties agreed to subsequently decrease the overall agreement amount to reflect the change in services to a reduced amount not to exceed $1,988,732.
On August 20, 2024, the City and Zones agreed to modify Contract #10887 a second time to extend the term one additional year, until August 31, 2025, with no change to the existing not to exceed amount of $1,988,732, to allow the City to complete a formal 3 of 4
procurement process for a new agreement without an interruption in critical services.
After careful evaluation of the City’s current Managed Services Service Desk Support model, Information Services Department staff determined that the planned request for proposals required significant revision in order to successfully procure a 24x7x365 Managed Services Service Desk remote delivery solution that reflects the City’s current support desk needs, integrates with the City’s current systems and platforms, and aligns with the most up-to-date cybersecurity and industry best practices and standards. This evaluation, analysis and major revision required additional time that has pushed the formal procurement process into FY 2025/2026.
Environmental Review
The proposed contract modification is exempt from the provision of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines (common sense exemption). The proposal is covered by the common sense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The modification would not result in any adverse physical environmental effects as it encompasses remote services. Therefore, the modification to the agreement is exempt from CEQA and no further environmental review under CEQA is required.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from various funds to increase the total contract amount for Contract #10877 (CCS) with Zones for 24x7x365 Service Desk support on a month-to-month basis. The cost is allocated to various funds based on the historical percentage of service desk usage. Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Contract Modification Request
Agreement # Current
Authorized
Amount
FY 2025-26 Modified
Request Amount
Account
Number
Total Revised
Contract Amount
10877 $1,988,732 $226,936 Various $2,215,668
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Prepared By: Carolyn Connolly, Administrative Services Officer Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Staff Report - NOC Services - 07.23.2019
B. Original - Professional Services Agreement No. 10887 (CCS) 09.16.2019 C. First Modification - Executed Zones_NOC_Mod_1 02.08.2023 D. Executed Zones_Second_Modification_10887 08.20.2024
E. FY24-25 OAKS INITIATIVE FORM - Zones Signed 07.30.2024 F. Levine Act Disclosure Form 2.6.24 - signed 07.30.2024