City IT staff told the Board of Public Works and Safety on June 18 they will add an application to the city’s existing Barracuda cybersecurity contract and increase licenses under the current five-year agreement, and the board approved the purchase.

The presenter said the city has a five-year Barracuda contract that began in 2021 and runs through October 2026 and that the requested additions include increasing licenses for an existing component and adding two new applications to address a critical gap in the city’s cybersecurity architecture. The presenter described the change as fixing “a critical hole” in the architecture and said the additions would begin immediately and run to the same October 2026 expiration.

Board members confirmed the change would start right away and could be renewed as a package when the contract comes up for renewal. The board approved the purchase by voice vote.

Why it matters: the city framed the change as an operational cybersecurity improvement intended to close a gap in protection rather than a new, stand-alone multi-year commitment. The board’s approval lets IT proceed with immediate license increases and application activation under the existing contract term.