Explanation
BACKGROUND:
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Technology (DoT) to enter into a contract with OARnet/OSU, a non-profit organization, for VMWare software licensing, maintenance, and support services. The original agreement (EL011737) was authorized by ordinance 1716-2010, passed December 13, 2010. The agreement was most recently renewed by authority of ordinance 0651-2020, passed by Columbus City Council on April 20, 2020, establishing purchase order PO224516. The total cost associated with this ordinance is $370,143.69 for the coverage term period from April 2, 2021 to April 1, 2022.
Through the State of Ohio Virtualization Program, authorized for the city’s use by Ordinance No. 582-87, for VMware software licensing renewal, 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 to the City reflects the agreed upon public sector discounts available to all participants in the State of Ohio Virtualization Program. The policy for anyone renewing software purchased under the Ohio State University VMware contract can only be renewed through OARnet. (See attached OARnet letter).
Server virtualization is the conversion of one physical server into multiple individual and isolated virtual storage spaces. This industry standard was adopted by the Department of Technology in 2009 to reduce the costs of Data Center operations. This also reduces power consumption, cooling requirements, and provides further capabilities for recovery and availability of information systems. VMWare software is the core component that is needed in order to operate virtual servers that run critical applications for the enterprise such as Accela, CUBS, and 311.
EMERGENCY:
Emergency action is requested to expedite authorization of this contract in order to facilitate and maintai...
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