Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: George Tablack
Department: Finance and Administrative Services Division: Purchasing
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO REAFFIRM sole brand, sole source standardization of Microsoft Corporation Licenses, Software Assurance, Microsoft 365 and Azure Subscription Services, Software Maintenance, Government Client Cloud Services, Premier Support, direct Microsoft Consulting Services and other Microsoft general user products such as Project and Visio, for the County’s information technology infrastructure, for all Broward County agencies and offices to purchase direct from Microsoft Corporation or through its current authorized reseller at the time of purchase.
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Why Action is Necessary
In accordance with the Broward County Procurement Code, Section 21.54.c, the Board is required to approve all standardizations over the award authority of the Director of Purchasing; and Section 21.43, the Board is required to approve all contracts for supplies or services of more than five years.
What Action Accomplishes
Standardizes Microsoft Corporation products, services and consulting services, which are utilized across all Broward County Agencies.
Is this Action Goal Related
Yes
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT/ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND THE PURCHASING DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board's Value of "Consistently delivering responsive, efficient, quality services to the public and internal customers"; and its Goal to "Build into every process and service effective checks and balances that do not cause inefficiency, but rather ensure consistency, continuity, and quality".
The purpose of this action is to reaffirm the standardization of Microsoft as approved by the Board on July 9, 2002 (Item No. 15) and reaffirmed by the Board on September 27, 2011 (Item No. 40) and September 23, 2014 (Item No. 28). This software and services are business critical systems serving County operations and permit the County to work in a hybrid locally administered, enhanced and highly secure Cloud, specifically for Government entities. This extension of the County's network allows Enterprise Technology Services staff to continue maintaining public records and storage hierarchy at the folder level, while taking cost advantages through economies of scale that government cloud services offer. The extension of Broward County's Microsoft Active Directory provides for seamless transition of data and services without the use of third-party software applications or conversion scripts and allows real-time synchronization of documents to the user's folder, in the cloud.
Reaffirming this standardization serves to assure the use of compatible Microsoft products and software that currently reside on County servers, workstations, Web portals and other critical systems; and allows for the extension of the useful life of software assets owned by the County through the various generational upgrade benefits (Exhibit 1).
Source of Additional Information
Brenda J. Billingsley, Director, Purchasing Division, (954) 357-6070
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Each requirement processed against this open-end contract will be funded by the appropriate source at the time of release.