Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It Contracts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County raises concerns about 5 Nines IT support after network outage; board met in executive session on contract
Summary
A countywide network outage prompted discussion of hardware responsibility, vendor response times, and whether service levels under the master service agreement are adequate; commissioners entered executive session to discuss contractual services and left with no decisions recorded.
Keith County commissioners raised service concerns with their IT vendor after a network outage that left multiple county offices offline for most of a day. Commissioners said vendor response and replacement procedures for a suspected battery‑backup failure were unclear and that a signed proposal would be required before the vendor ordered replacement hardware.
County staff reported that when power hiccups occurred the county’s server connection was lost; technicians on site and a remote vendor (5 Nines) initially offered differing diagnoses (possible network switch vs. battery backup). At the meeting staff said the vendor’s tech schedule left a single regional field technician to serve multiple county customers, increasing estimated repair timelines. Commissioners were told the vendor estimated ordering and replacing a battery backup would require a signed proposal and that lead times could be two to three weeks; staff said the vendor provided no firm immediate timeline when asked at the meeting.
Commissioner Dale Irvin moved the board into executive session at 9:04 a.m. "to discuss contractual services and negotiation." The board recessed into closed session and returned at 9:43 a.m.; commissioners stated on the record that no formal decisions were made during the executive session.
The board asked staff to pursue written clarification from the vendor on service levels, vendor staffing and response times and to prepare materials for a contract review. No changes to the master service agreement were adopted at the meeting; commissioners said they intend to continue discussions and examine options for ensuring reliable on‑site response and timely hardware replacement.
