Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It Computers Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Modesto council approves $3 million, four-year Dell computer purchase after staff explains need
Summary
The Modesto City Council approved a four-year, not-to-exceed $3 million agreement with Dell Technologies to replace roughly 1,200 aging city desktop and laptop computers, after staff described security and warranty concerns and answered public questions about reuse and procurement discounts.
The Modesto City Council on May 6 approved a four-year purchase agreement with Dell Technologies for personal computers and laptops not to exceed $3,000,000, citing widespread end-of-life units and security risks.
City Finance Director Deanna Christiansen and IT Director Damian Booker told the council that about 1,400 city devices are in the replacement pool and roughly 1,200 — about 83 percent — are four years old or older, out of warranty and “dire in need of replacement.” Booker said the city negotiated a public-sector discount and will not be paying full retail prices for the equipment.
The council’s vote followed public questions about the number of units, whether operating-system upgrades could extend device life, where retired devices go, and whether employees take machines home. A resident asked whether updating operating systems instead of replacing hardware had been considered and whether the city gets refunds or resells old equipment.
Booker said the city would purchase about 1,200 units, that many employees do take devices home but that the devices are monitored and secured remotely, and that when devices are retired “certain components of the device we destroyed considering the data sensitivity.” He added that hardware eventually becomes unsupported by vendors and can become a security and operational risk even if software could be patched.
The council approved a resolution to authorize the competitive bidding process and to set an annual estimated spend of $750,000 (total not to exceed $3 million over four years). The motion was moved by Vice Mayor Bavaro, seconded by Council member Williams, and carried on a 5-0 roll call vote (Council members Rickey, Bavaro, Williams, Wright and Mayor Sue Zwolens voting Aye).
The purchase will be funded through the city’s internal service charges that include replacement reserves; staff said the agreement establishes the purchasing mechanism so departments can replace out-of-warranty PCs when necessary.
City staff said they will repurpose components when possible and securely retire devices that are too outdated to be viable. No additional council direction was given at the meeting.
