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TO: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner
FROM: Andrew Feuerborn, Police Technical Services Director
DATE: February 9, 2016
SUBJECT:
Request a resolution authorizing the purchase of Cisco UCS computing and networking equipment for the Police and Fire Departments in the amount of $244,770 from Sentinel Technologies, Inc. of Downers Grove, IL. (Finance Committee Meeting of February 23, 2016)
PURPOSE:
In December 2015, Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure Inc. was contracted by the City for the purchase of new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Enterprise Records Management Systems (RMS) to replace the City's legacy public safety systems. This purchase from Sentinel is one of several necessary to begin building out the infrastructure required for the new systems. The items being requested are based on specifications provided by the Police and Fire Departments’ chosen CAD and RMS vendors.
This new hardware will allow the City to move forward with migrating its Public Safety CAD and RMS systems to the new platforms while still maintaining the legacy systems until such time as they can be decommissioned and/or repurposed.
Sentinel has been the City's registered Cisco partner for the past several years. Sentinel has provided both hardware and IT services to the City in a variety of key technology areas gaining knowledge of the City's existing infrastructure and needs over the years. Cisco in conjunction with Sentinel continue to provide pricing for Cisco products below both state and federal contract pricing.
BACKGROUND:
Procurement of products and services from Intergraph and 3rd party vendors will be conducted via a phased approach. Selected 3rd party vendors were approached for quotes and budgetary estimates that would form the basis of design/cost. Early procurements will include supporting infrastructure as well as down payments to Intergraph as outlined in the City’s contract Milestone Payments to Intergraph. Some monies are being held outside of the Intergraph contract to allow for flexibility in purchasing them at a later date and/or substituting them for higher priority unanticipated expenses.
The Cisco Unified Computing Services (UCS) platform unifies computing, networking, management, virtualization, and storage access into a single integrated architecture. This combination of architectures enables end-to-end server visibility, management, and control in both bare metal (physical hardware) and virtual hardware environments.
The net result of this new server hardware platform is higher reliability with less management and greater flexibility. The benefits of Cisco UCS extend beyond traditional blade centers. Management of not only the CPU hardware but additionally the networking, and storage I/O is realized, which allows for an infrastructure design that ensures network failover end-to-end; providing faster failover and higher redundancy than what can be achieved otherwise.
Also realized is better consolidation and reduction of hardware infrastructure through use of Converged Network Adapters, Virtual Interface Cards, and the ability to migrate physical hardware profiles to other blades. These tools and capabilities allow for maximum use of the hardware on hand thereby reducing overall cost.
Police Technical Services has been running the majority of the Police and Fire Department's servers and mission critical applications on a UCS platform for the past few years with a great deal of success. This technology has proven to be reliable and has aided in the management and deployment of new services. As a result, UCS has been selected as the product of choice for the new CAD and RMS systems.
DISCUSSION:
It is intended that this equipment and services will be purchased from Cisco, through the City’s established registered Cisco partner Sentinel Technologies, Inc. Cisco has extended a discount level not available through other means to the City. Cisco has named Sentinel Technologies, Inc. as the preferred reseller of these products at this discount level for the City of Aurora. As such, this is being submitted as a sole source purchase.
Sufficient funds are available for this purchase in the 2016 budget in the following funds and accounts: 211-1233-419.74-11, 256-1233-419.74-11, and 101-1233.419.64-12.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
The CAD and RMS project as a whole is expected to provide the Police and Fire Departments with the necessary tools to provide more efficient and effective public safety services to the General Public. While the overall CAD and RMS project will have impacts on other City Divisions/Departments, this specific purchase within the larger project does not.
Impacts on these other Departments/Divisions are being discussed and planned for within the context of the larger project.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I request a resolution for approval to make the aforementioned purchase of Cisco UCS equipment from Sentinel Technologies, Inc. of Downers Grove, IL in the amount of $244,770 for the CAD and RMS CIP project.
cc: Alderman O’Connor, Chairman
Alderman Mervine
Alderman Bohman
Alderman Mesiacos, Alternate
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
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A Resolution authorizing the purchase of Cisco UCS computing and networking equipment for the Police and Fire Departments in the amount of $244,770 from Sentinel Technologies, Inc. of Downers Grove, IL.
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WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City has contracted with Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure for new Police and Fire Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management Systems; and
WHEREAS, the new CAD and RMS systems require additional server and network infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Sentinel Technologies Inc. of Downers Grove has been selected as the City's chosen vendor for Cisco equipment and related services and has unique knowledge of the City's infrastructure and operations; and
WHEREAS, Sentinel Technologies has been registered by Cisco as the City's preferred Cisco partner; and
WHEREAS, Cisco has extended significant discounts to Sentinel Technologies for Cisco equipment and Sentinel Technologies extends these discounts to the City of Aurora; and
WHEREAS, the 2016 City Budget provides $97,755.00 for this item in account no. 211-1233-419.74-11 (Wireless 911 Fund); and
WHEREAS, the 2016 City Budget provides $97,755.00 for this item in account no. 256-1233-419.74-11 (Equitable Sharing - Justice Drug Forfeiture Fund); and
WHEREAS, the 2016 City Budget provides $49,260.00 for this item in account no. 101-1233-419.64-12 (General Fund); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Aurora Code Section 2-335(a)(3) the desired product is provided by only one source in this situation; and)
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: The City authorizes a resolution for the purchase of Cisco UCS computing and networking equipment for the Police and Fire Departments in the amount of $244,770 from Sentinel Technologies, Inc. of Downers Grove, IL and does hereby further authorize its Purchasing Director to issue the necessary orders to implement purchase of the same.