Explanation
BACKGROUND:
This ordinance retroactively authorizes the establishment of purchase order PO261720 with Fusion Alliance LLC, for the procurement of professional services in support of the City email platform. On March 2, 2021 Microsoft issued a Zero-day vulnerability on certain Exchange mail products used by customers worldwide, including the City, requiring that the vulnerability be patched immediately. The Department of Homeland Security issued similar guidance on March 3, 2021, requiring all federal, state and local governments to immediately address the Microsoft Exchange vulnerability. It was necessary for DoT to install emergency patches to the email servers as soon as practical. Patching, that under normal circumstances would require months of planning and effort, had to be completed in less than 5 days. This was necessary to ensure that email systems could be patched per Microsoft and the federal government's mandate, and to ensure that continuity of email could be maintained and re-established in a short amount of time. To complete this work the city needed assistance in staff resources with the expertise to ensure that patching work could be accomplished on an emergency basis in three days. It sought local resources with expertise in Exchange platform planning and management, and was able to locate resources at Fusion Alliance LLC. The resultant outcomes including vulnerability assessments, plans, intelligence, investigative, law enforcement, and/or national security information in the work outcomes of this effort is exempt from public release or disclosure under Section 149.433 of the Ohio Revised Code and applicable federal statutes as it is a confidential infrastructure security record. The term of the contract is one-year from the date of the purchase order or until funds are exhausted whichever is sooner, in the amount of $49,995.00.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The funds for this expenditure have been identified and are available within the...
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