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IT director outlines license increases, cloud plans and a phased laptop replacement program
Summary
The city’s IT director said Microsoft licensing costs and cloud migration discussions with the finance system vendor are driving higher IT service costs; the department requested capital for end‑of‑life laptops and server/storage upgrades while noting staffing is a single‑person operation plus a part‑time assistant.
The city’s IT director (Cooper) presented the IT budget and told council members that licensing increases and planned migration to cloud services are the principal drivers of an increased IT request.
Cooper said the city is in active discussions with the core financial software vendor (BS&A) about moving desktop services to the vendor’s cloud offering, and that staff expect a vendor meeting on migration and pricing. He said Microsoft licensing costs have risen and that some savings were achieved by renegotiating telecommunications contracts, but a net IT increase of roughly $64,000 over last year is reflected in the draft.
The IT director recommended a laptop replacement program on about a five‑year lifecycle; many municipal devices approach or do not meet Windows 11 minimum specifications and should be replaced with modern laptops that include next‑business‑day warranty coverage. Cooper also asked for capital to improve server/NAS storage for cable/video files and to support BS&A cloud migration if needed.
Cooper described the department as effectively a “department of 1” with a half‑time assistant and said he is exploring internship options to supplement capacity for projects such as scanning and plan‑review implementation. Council members praised the work and asked Cooper to circulate a prioritized replacement schedule and vendor cost estimates for consideration in the capital plan.
No final capital appropriation was adopted; council asked for specific pricing and a project timeline to accompany any future capital request.
