Explanation
BACKGROUND:
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Technology (DoT), to modify an agreement with OARnet/OSU, a non-profit organization, for VMWare software upgrades, maintenance and support services. The original agreement (EL011737) was authorized by ordinance 1716-2010, passed by Columbus City Council December 13, 2010. This ordinance will modify the agreement with OARnet to upgrade and incorporate VMWare software originally purchased from Software House International, as authorized by ordinance 1680-2008 (purchase order FL004201). The original purchase provided for software maintenance and support services through December 23, 2011 for an older version of VMWare software. This modification will allow upgrades to the latest version of VMWare, and provide maintenance and support for the period December 24, 2011 to December 23, 2012, at a cost of $19,547.71.
The total cost of this modification includes $7,373.86 for software upgrades and $12,173.85 for an additional year of maintenance and support. As maintenance and support is expiring for the VMWare software purchased in 2008 and newer versions of VMWare have become available, this modification is needed to ensure continued maintenance and support. While the need for continued maintenance and support was known when the original agreement with OARnet was executed in 2010, the cost of incorporating VMWare purchased in 2008 was not known. Through the State of Ohio Virtualization Program, OARnet offers significant discounts on VMWare that are not available in the market place. So it is in the City’s best interests to procure VMWare through OARnet, instead of through another procurement process. The pricing offered the City reflects the agreed upon public sector discounts available to all participants in the State of Ohio Virtualization Program.
VMWare software is needed in order to operate virtual servers. Server virtualization has been adopted by the Department of T...
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