TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an agreement and all related documents with Solnovo, Inc., to provide personal computer (PC) replacement/installation services in an amount not to exceed $195,000 for a period of one year, with the option to extend for two additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The Technology Services Department (TSD), Customer Services Bureau is responsible for maintaining approximately 4,000 PCs. For the last six years, the City has maintained a four-year replacement cycle for its personal computer (both desktop and laptop) assets. In an effort to reduce PC-related expenditures, the City implemented four-year cycle as part of the City’s Financial Strategic Plan.
Leading information technology industry experts, such as Gartner, Inc., have found that the average lifespan of a personal computer is 43 months and, therefore, recommend a four-year replacement cycle to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership. By refreshing personal computers every four years, the City workforce benefits from reduced PC downtime resulting from hardware failures and from faster, more robust machines.
In order to benefit from these new computers, the City must replace between 600 and 1,000 computers per year, depending upon actual deployment dates. For the last six years, TSD has used technical services from private sector firms to assist in the installation of these PCs to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve service delivery. This sourcing strategy is cost-effective and responsive to TSD’s customer departments’ needs and also addresses a recommendation from a third-party efficiency study to streamline information technology operations. Implementation of this strategy has allowed TSD personnel to focus on other high priortity activities, such as providing more timely response to problems reported to the help desk by TSD customers.
A request for proposals (RFP) for PC r...
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