SPECIFIC EXPLANATION:
The Chief Information Officer recommends that City Council approve an ordinance to appropriate $4,828,000.00 from the Equipment Acquisition Consolidated Fund (1800) for maintenance, hardware, software upgrades and various professional and support services for the City’s voice, data and wireless networks. This appropriation is budgeted in the approved FY18 Capital Improvement Plan adopted by City Council.
The project descriptions with allocations are as follows:
PROJECT PROJECT NO. AMOUNT
1. Network Refresh X-680015 $3,488,000.00
Initiate a maintainable 7-year refresh cycle for network equipment starting with the deployment of new switches to replace the oldest network switches in the environment; addressing the aging network infrastructure and maintenance will increase network performance and address concerns regarding security updates that can be hampered because of out dated hardware. HITS is currently working with Strategic Purchasing Division (SPD) and dependent upon vendor selection will return to Council for spending approval for the professional services portion, as appropriate.
2. Network Equipment Spares X-680032 $80,000.00
Provide spare network switches to avoid service outages in the event of existing device failures. Onsite availability reduces downtime and provides secure efficient business operations by mitigating network threats and outages, as well as managing network traffic and capacity issues. Currently, there is a lack of onsite equipment for unscheduled network events/failures. HITS is currently working with Strategic Purchasing Division (SPD) and dependent upon vendor selection will return to Council for spending approval for the professional services portion, as appropriate.
3. Contact Center X-680046 $650,000.00
Upgrade of end of life Cisco Telephony Contact Center hardware, software and supported services. The upgrades will include Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE), Customer Voice Portal (CVP), Cisco Unified Intelligence Center (CUIC), Nuance and other items that may be discovered during assessment. The project will support an upgrade and replacement of Public Works call center environment. Professional services will include planning, design, implementation and staff support. HITS is currently working with Strategic Purchasing Division (SPD) and dependent upon vendor selection will return to Council for spending approval for the professional services portion, as appropriate.
4. Firewall Replacement X-68C001 $610,000.00
Replacement/upgrade of existing hardware, software and licenses for the network firewall; to include professional services for design and implementation. Updated firewall infrastructure will enhance prevention of unauthorized access into the City’s networks. It will also enhance authorized remote access to the network through secure authentication certificates and logins. HITS is currently working with Strategic Purchasing Division (SPD) and dependent upon vendor selection will return to Council for spending approval, as appropriate.
BACKGROUND:
Cisco is the City of Houston’s standardized platform for network data and voice communications. The Cisco Enterprise agreement consolidates all City departments’ Cisco related purchases into one enterprise agreement. Consolidating the City’s purchases for Cisco hardware and services allows the City to take advantage of the largest discount possible on the purchase of refresh assets, maintenance and support agreements, and extended support for on-call related services. This model also relieves the multiple City department staff of many small solicitations, delays in obtaining critical support contracts, and paves the way for consolidated efforts of standardization and continuity of services throughout the City.
Fiscal Note
Funding for this item is included in the FY2018 Capital Improvement Plan budget.