Committee forwards $934,000-per-year Microsoft licensing agreement to full council

The Hawaii County Council Committee on Finance voted to forward Resolution 344-25 to the full council with a favorable recommendation; the measure would authorize the mayor to enter a three-year licensing agreement with Microsoft at an approximate annual cost of $934,000.

The licensing package is intended to increase the county's cloud and device protections, provide Office 365 licensing for the fire department and other users, and support planned online time-sheet and mobile-device deployments, Corey Stone, director of information technology, told the committee.

"That is basically our, increasing our licensing for the county that we, the county employees that we support," Stone said, adding the agreement covers most county employees "except for, like, water and, some of the other, police." He said the county will purchase a short-term set of licenses to cover October through January while the three-year agreement begins in February.

Councilmember Kimball asked what applications and users the agreement would cover; Stone said it provides additional protection for mobile devices, licensing for employees who do not have email accounts but will use iPads, and migration benefits from on-premises servers to the cloud. Councilmember Bradley Clinefeller asked whether the licensing applies to every county position or every field position; Stone replied the agreement would cover current classified positions and field positions in the county.

The motion to approve Resolution 344-25 at the committee level and forward it to the full council with a favorable recommendation was made by Councilmember Connolly Lee Kleinfelder and seconded by Councilmember Onishi. The clerk recorded eight votes in favor with Councilmember Kurkowitz absent.

The measure now goes to the full County Council for consideration and a final vote.