Compuware deal Approved – Tri County Sentry

 

Oxnard—The Finance and Governance Committee, on Tuesday, September 23, approved a two-year agreement with Compuware totaling $1.2 million to purchase computer hardware and regulated services.

THE agreement supports the timely replacement of critical IT (Information Technology) Systems, which improves operational reliability and aligns the Council’s priority to strengthen its cybersecurity posture.

Chief Information Officer Rob Ruben presented the deal and said the City’s IT Department supports and manages over 1,000 computers throughout the City.

“Aging and outdated computer equipment increases cybersecurity vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and decreases Staff productivity,” he said. “The IT Staff has been systematically replacing outdated equipment to mitigate risks with obsolete equipment and ensure the City’s inventory remains constant with industry standards and adopted policies. “

The City has worked with Compuware for several years by leveraging the vendor’s long-standing relationship with the County of Ventura.

“This partnership has allowed the City to benefit from the competitive pricing and reliable service that Compuware has consistently provided to regional public agencies,” he said.

“The City will use competitively bid Omnia Partners TD SYNNEX Sourcewell Contract # 020624-SYN.

The State of Minnesota created this agreement to offer cooperative solutions for computer and wireless hardware, software, and services to government entities.

“Compuware, a local business, has a strong track record, has a strong record of supporting regional government, including the County of Ventura, and the Cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, as well as Oxnard,” he said. The Staff periodically compares pricing from multiple sources to ensure its City is receiving competitive pricing.”

Compuware also provides value-added services including warehousing and system imaging, and is receiving competitive pricing. Additionally, Compuware provides valueadded services at little or no cost to the City.

“Purchases from Compuare typically consist of 85 percent hardware, 10 percent software, and 5 percent services,” he said. “The industry standard for replacing personal computers is 3-5 years and 5-7 years for servers and workstations.”

With an approximate, $3 million total inventory value, he said the City’s annual replacement value, using the five and seven-year cycles for PCs and servers, respectively, is approximately $500,000

“Over the past five years, the City has annually purchased an average of $543,000 of computer hardware and services from Compuware,” he said.

“Spending increases in FY 21-22 and FY 23-24 are primarily due to Council directives to replace aging equipment to enhance cybersecurity and performance, proactively inflationary cost increases, standardizing on higher specifics, devices to support modern data-intensive applications and workflow.”

He said the spending has been spiky and erratic, and in certain years, they’ve tried to catch up; the City is now in a much better position.

Funding for Compuware is based on the City’s prior purchase levels and will both support scheduled computer replacements and unanticipated needs.

“All expenditure falls within the already adopted budget limits.

Committee Member Aaron Starr complimented Clerk Luly Lopez on her outstanding report and asked her to elaborate on the timeframe for replacing old equipment.

“There are industry standards to refresh technology,” he said. “The industry standard is 3-5 years, and on servers and high-end workstations it’s 5-7 years. WE went conservative, so on the PCs, it’s more in the 5-year range to be more conservative. But ensuring that the equipment is functioning for use and it doesn’t create driver cybersecurity vulnerabilities by having unsupported hardware.”

Ruben said Firmware needs to be upgraded.

“Equipment becomes out of date by the manufacturer,” he said. “The firmware updates in the same way as the software manufacturer updates the software.”

When it comes to firewalls, he said the hardware and software are bought together,” he said. “You might buy a Dell Server and operate a Windows operating system; the firewalls are one product with two-line items, the original purchase price for the equipment, but the software is resource intensive, in terms of money.”