Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Three-Year Agreement with Avallation, LLC for City Network Resiliency Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $182,976. (Information Technology C80900)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is requesting City Council approval of a three-year agreement with Avallation, LLC (Avallation) to enhance network resiliency, ensuring continued connectivity to critical systems in the event of temporary network disruptions or other communication-related emergencies affecting City of Alameda (City) datacenters or internet access.
BACKGROUND
Network resiliency is essential to ensure business operations and public safety systems are not impacted in the event of a network disruption. As the City’s reliance on systems that require network or internet connectivity increases, the importance of uninterrupted connectivity cannot be understated. Network or internet outages directly impact the City’s abilities for emergency response, communications and internal operations. Ranking high on the Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan among other top priorities, implementing network resiliency reduces the risk of service downtime and supports business continuity. Without a resilient network, an outage may substantially impair the City’s capacity to provide timely services, effectively manage emergency response efforts, and maintain uninterrupted operations
DISCUSSION
Ensuring the City’s business continuity in the face of a network or internet outage is of paramount importance. The increased reliance on internet access for services is the driving force for the need for network resiliency for each of the City’s administration facilities. The benefits of a resilient network include the assurance of business continuity, uninterrupted emergency response, service reliability and the reduction of recovery time. A resilient network acts as a safety net that allows networks to carry-on even if a service provider fails or becomes impaired. The centrally managed firewalls implemented through this project will automatically utilize secondary internet connections during outages, minimizing or preventing connectivity loss. In addition to maintaining network connectivity, these firewalls will also enforce consistent network security across all City locations in alignment with established security practices helping to protect sensitive information and reduce the risk of cyber threats. The vendor, Avallation, was chosen using the California Multiple Award Schedules (CMAS) procurement program, which provides competitively bid contracts approved by the State of California for use by local government agencies.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement with Avallation.
• Not authorize the agreement with Avallation.
• Accept the risk of relying on a single network provider without redundancy.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The costs for the Avallation agreement over three years is as follows:
|
Professional services: |
$ 91,350.00 |
|
Hardware and Licenses: |
$ 83,027.00 |
|
Support: |
$ 6,419.00 |
|
Total: |
$182,976.00 |
The cumulative cost over the three-year period is not-to-exceed $182,976. Funds for this agreement to Avallation are included in Project C80900 - Design Redundant Communication Network.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The action is consistent with the Alameda Municipal Code.
This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a three-year agreement with Avallation in an amount not-to-exceed $182,976 over a three-year period.
Respectfully submitted,
Demetrius Cagampan, Information Technology Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Avallation Service Provider Agreement