FROM: Robert Thompson, General Manager
Originator: Wally Ritchie, Director of Finance
SUBJECT:
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PURCHASE OF IT HARDWARE FOR ENTERPRISE SERVER REFRESH AND UPGRADE
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GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
A. Approve a Purchase Order to ePlus Technology, inc. for the purchase of IT Hardware for Enterprise Server Refresh and Upgrade, Specification No. E-2023-1435BD, for a total amount not to exceed $2,038,037 (plus applicable sales tax); and
B. Approve a contingency in the amount of $203,804 (10%).
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BACKGROUND
Orange County Sanitation District’s (OC San) current server infrastructure for the enterprise office computing environment at Plant Nos. 1 and 2 has been in service for over six years. The equipment requires upgrading as it will reach end-of-life in 2024 and will no longer be supported. Additionally, the implementation of the new SCADA development environment, Project No. J-120, requires additional storage space and computing capacity. The recommended solution is to adopt the Nutanix hyper-converged infrastructure, which will provide greater capacity, efficiency, redundancy, and security. Nutanix has already been deployed for the Industrial Control System network (ICS) so it will simplify management, since both the office network and ICS network will be operating on the same solution.
RELEVANT STANDARDS
• Protect OC San assets
• Ensure the public’s money is wisely spent
• 24/7/365 treatment plant reliability
• Maintain a culture of improving efficiency to reduce the cost to provide the current service level or standard
PROBLEM
The enterprise office computing equipment is approaching its end-of-life. In addition, the new SCADA system development environment, implemented by Project No. J-120, requires more storage space and computing resources.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Approve a Purchase Order Contract to ePlus Technology, inc. for the purchase of the IT Hardware For Enterprise Server Refresh and Upgrade, Specification No. E-2023-1435BD.
TIMING CONCERNS
Upgrading the IT infrastructure is imperative for the continued support of enterprise operations and future expansions.
RAMIFICATIONS OF NOT TAKING ACTION
A decision not to update OC San's enterprise office computing environment would impede organizational progress, reduce the IT environment stability and uptime, and have a negative impact on upcoming implementations.
PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS
N/A
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A Notice Inviting Bids was issued on November 17, 2023 via PlanetBids. Bids were due on January 22, 2024. OC San received five (5) bids which are valid for 180 calendar days from the bid opening date. The following is a list of the firms who submitted a bid.
|
Company Name |
Bid |
Determination |
|
ePlus Technology, inc. |
$2,038,036.86 |
Responsive, Responsible |
|
SHI International Corp. |
$2,184,658.07 |
Responsive, Responsible |
|
Questivity, Inc. |
$2,387,894.24 |
Responsive, Responsible |
|
Axelliant LLC |
$2,411,107.49 |
Responsive, Responsible |
|
Netsync Networks |
$2,610,305.04 |
Responsive, Responsible |
All bids were found to be responsive and responsible. Based on these results, staff recommends approving the Purchase Order to ePlus Technology, inc. The term of this Purchase Order will begin upon effective date of the Notice to Proceed.
CEQA
N/A
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
This request complies with authority levels of OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance. This item has been budgeted (FY2022-23 & FY2023-24 Budget).
ATTACHMENT
The following attachment(s) may be viewed on-line at the OC San website (www.ocsan.gov) with the complete agenda package:
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