REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BRYON HORN, Chief Information Officer
Information Services Department
BY: FRANK D. VAWTER, Assistant Director
Information Services Department
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the purchase from AMS.NET of Cisco network switches, services, and support for a public safety switch upgrade in the amount of $299,811.25. This purchase is made in accordance with purchasing procedures from cooperative agreements as laid out in Administrative Order 3-1 and priced from a cooperative agreement, Merced County FOCUS Agreement 2021092 (FOCUS).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council approve the purchase of Cisco network switches, services, and support for a public safety switch upgrade in the amount of $299,811.25, utilizing the FOCUS agreement, contract number 2021092. The equipment currently in place is at or near its end of life and end of support and it is imperative that the City ensure that its networking equipment is supported so that it can receive proper support and to receive any security patches/updates
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Working with Fire and Police (PD), the Information Services Department (ISD) is planning a replacement of network switches at a variety of public safety sites, including fire stations, PD HQ, and PD district stations. The existing hardware is near, or passed, its end of life and end of support. The proposed replacement hardware will include several upgrades that will improve network security and streamline management.
With this replacement ISD seeks to assure reliability of public safety network hardware and alignment with our network roadmap. Funds for this purchase are available in ISD FY22 appropriations.
BACKGROUND
Both Fire and PD have become more information-driven and reliant on technology in pursuit of their goals. ISD regularly works with both groups to identify areas where technology needs to be improved, replaced, or upgraded to meet operational needs. ISD has been tracking these needs and, as a result, requested, and was granted, appropriations in FY22. This hardware will not only serve as a replacement but also represents a significant upgrade, allowing for improved performance, security, and manageability.
On December 14, 2017, ISD entered into an agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc. for a network assessment and technology review. From that assessment, ISD laid out a roadmap for replacement of the existing network technology. In 2019, Council approved the replacement/upgrade of the City’s networking infrastructure. The proposed replacement hardware and services are in alignment with the roadmap developed by Cisco and ISD. ISD’s objectives in establishing this roadmap were to develop and deploy a network that had greater availability and survivability, improved performance, and security as well as streamlined management.
The City has worked with AMS.Net because past attempts to procure such items from an RFP process has resulted in counterfeit and “gray market” products, even if the bid requirement specified that only genuine and supported equipment be supplied. As such, ISD and the Finance Department have agreed the best approach for purchasing networking equipment is from cooperative purchasing agreements. The Focus agreement is a very low cost and competitively bid agreement in which AMS.Net is able to provide the City of Fresno the lowest possible price for the equipment. AMS.Net is an authorized dealer of such equipment and, when looking at other authorized providers, provides the lowest priced solutions, thereby, allowing ISD to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, this item is not a project for purposes of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because the items are being procured through a cooperative purchase agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this purchase are available in ISD FY22 appropriations.
Attachment: AMS.NET Quote_REDACTED