Sole Source for E32361 – Approve the sole source purchase from EnvisionWare, Inc. in the total amount of $90,042.74 for System Products and Software Support Services for Houston Public Library.
Specific Explanation:
The Director of Houston Public Library and the Chief Procurement Officer recommend that City Council approve the sole source purchase in the total amount of $90,042.74 for system products and software support services for a period of one (1) year for Houston Public Library (HPL), and that authorization be given to issue a purchase order to EnvisionWare, Inc.
EnvisionWare, Inc. provides a comprehensive suite of products for time and print management, copy payment, self-checkout, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking, faxing, scanning, public computer reservations, mobile device printing system, self-service tablet dispenser system, self-service lockers with software, and other customer-friendly software technology services for HPL.
HPL’s recent acquisition of EnvisionWare, Inc. products and services was a result of CARES funding for services during the pandemic. Switching to an alternate provider would result in an interruption of services and place an undue hardship on HPL and render the existing equipment now for public use, inoperable and/or unusable.
EnvisonWare, Inc. is the sole provider of these patented software products, and they do not have any distributors, resellers or support providers for these products, services, or software. These products can only be purchased and licensed through EnvisionWare, Inc., and they are the sole company with access to source code which permits them to make updates for features and defects to any software. EnvisionWare, Inc. is the only company authorized to provide ongoing software support, as they exclusively control access to new software downloads, documentation, and customer center diagnostic logs that only EnvisionWare, Inc. employees need to access on their management system.
This recommendation is made pursuant to subsection 252.022(a)(7) of the Texas Local Government Code, which provides that “a procurement of items that are available from only one source” is exempt from the competitive requirements for purchases.
M/WBE Participation:
This procurement is exempt from M/WBE subcontracting as the total project expenditure does not exceed the $100,000.00 City’s threshold.
Hire Houston First:
This procurement is exempt from the City’s Hire Houston First ordinance. Bids/proposals were not solicited because the department is utilizing a sole source contractor for this purchase.
Fiscal Note:
Funding for this item is included in the FY2023 Adopted Budget. Therefore, no Fiscal Note is required as stated in the Financial Policies.
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Jedediah Greenfield
Chief Procurement Officer
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Department Approval Authority
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Estimated Spending Authority
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Department
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FY2023
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Out-Years
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Award Amount
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Houston Public Library
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$90,042.74
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$0.00
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$90,042.74
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