Technology commission backs full routable domain migration, defers final vendor awards

The Franklin City Technology Commission on April 23 recommended moving forward with a full routable Active Directory domain migration and directed staff to return with vendor reference checks before final contract awards.

The commission’s recommendation followed a lengthy presentation by the city’s IT director on tradeoffs between keeping the existing (unroutable) domain and building a new routable domain. “There are two main decisions that we’ll have to make tonight. One is love it or list it,” the IT director said, using the meeting’s repeated shorthand for in-place migration versus building a new domain. The director later added, “I cannot guarantee five years, three years down the road we’re going to have the time, resources, and money to do a domain migration,” arguing this was a rare opportunity to address long‑standing architecture and security concerns.

Why it matters: the city’s choice affects licensing, the police department’s incoming Motorola body‑camera rollout, and other linked projects such as Microsoft 365, Exchange migration and multifactor authentication (YubiKey) deployment. Commissioners pressed vendors and staff on technical risk, legacy application compatibility, and the budget impact of different options.

What the commission reviewed: staff presented detailed vendor proposals for three separate RFPs split across (1) domain migration, (2) Microsoft 365/Entra onboarding and multifactor authentication, and (3) Exchange migration. Key figures discussed in the meeting (as presented by staff) included a proposal from ConvergeTP/PDS that would put the domain migration near $80,000 (with an additional approximately $15,000 for planning in staff estimates), and a Digicorp set of quotes that broke out roughly $48,000 for a domain migration option, $27,000 for Microsoft 365 onboarding, and $22,000 for Exchange migration. Staff said their available project funds total about $162,000 in capital plus roughly $19,000 currently tied to a purchase order, for a working total of approximately $181,000.

Budget and procurement constraints: staff described several budget complications. A prior vendor’s contract left roughly $19,000 allocated to a purchase order that is currently limited to invoices from that original vendor; staff said finance must resolve how to reassign those funds. Staff also noted an unbudgeted extension of licensing into November–December would add roughly $16,000 in OPEX that was not included in the 2025 budget and could reduce funds available for consulting or hardware upgrades.

Vendor evaluation and next steps: commissioners and staff debated vendor strengths and weaknesses. Staff said ConvergeTP/PDS submitted the most-complete plan and the only fixed‑fee option, but at a higher price; Digicorp provided a dual‑option proposal (in‑place vs. new domain) and local references for some work, but staff wanted direct, verifiable government references for full routable migrations. Other proposers discussed included SCS (security-focused) and Robert Half (staffing/placement approach). Staff recommended two near-term actions: (1) proceed with the full domain migration as the preferred technical approach and (2) request best-and-final offers and reference checks from shortlisted vendors before recommending awards to the Common Council.

Formal action: a commissioner made a motion to recommend the full routable domain migration; the motion was seconded and carried (voice vote: “Aye,” motion carries). The commission did not yet award contracts. Commissioners asked staff to collect reference checks and clarifications — especially on any vendor whose bid included significant caveats — and to schedule a special meeting if needed to act before project deadlines.

Project risks and mitigations: staff described the primary technical risks as (a) legacy applications that might not interoperate with a new domain, (b) the effort of preserving or re‑mapping SID history for accounts, and (c) coordinating linked projects such as police body‑camera onboarding that require Entra ID integration. Staff emphasized an inventory of apps and targeted pilot cutovers by department as the planned mitigation. Commissioners also discussed seeking Council approval for any budget amendments needed if the final vendor costs exceed current allocations.

Votes at a glance: The commission voted to recommend the full routable domain migration; staff will return with vendor reference checks and any revised cost proposals before contract awards.

What’s next: staff will solicit best-and-final offers, verify government references (including any references claiming full domain migrations), provide added assumptions to vendors to shrink price ranges, and return to the commission or call a special meeting with the verification results and a recommended vendor award path.