Bel Air approves $53,289.99 IT renewals through SHI International; staff used piggybacked contract

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners approved renewals and purchases of information-technology services on June 16: Barracuda backup and email protection, Cisco support and Malwarebytes antivirus protection through SHI International Corporation for a combined amount of $53,289.99.

Staff said procurement was completed by piggybacking on an existing competitively bid contract rather than running a new local solicitation. “Procurement of these products and services was achieved by piggybacking on another jurisdiction's competitively bid contract. In this case, it was through the City of Mesa, Arizona, contract number 2024056 for information technology solutions products and services with SHI International,” said Mister Krantz, staff member. He and the town’s technology manager described the purchase as renewal of systems the town already uses and stressed the need to maintain backups and email protection before July 1 when services would otherwise lapse.

Commissioners asked how the piggyback process works and staff said vendor representatives often present competitively bid pricing the town can use; the town’s technology manager reviews technical fit. “These are the ones we're already using, that we're already satisfied with and and serves our needs,” Mister Krantz said of the contracted products. The board voted Aye to approve the $53,289.99 contract (Commissioners Rutledge, Chismar, Taylor, Chance and Chair Eddy).