DeSoto council approves three-year Office 365 hosted exchange contract

The DeSoto City Council unanimously approved March 4 a three-year agreement for Microsoft Office 365 hosted Exchange services, along with an initial purchase of perpetual licenses for shared devices and professional services to support migration and training.

IT Director Tom Feigert told the council the procurement will be paid from the city’s Electronic Equipment Replacement Fund, which already has money set aside for the project. The package approved includes a three-year subscription for hosted Office 365/Exchange from SHI priced at $429,882, a one-time purchase of 175 perpetual Office licenses priced at roughly $76,392 for shared/public devices, and professional services from Global Asset over two years priced at about $83,520, bringing the total package presented to roughly $589,794. Staff said the amounts on the meeting agenda are the amounts to be approved.

Feigert said the migration is expected to take six to nine weeks and that the first phase will be Exchange and desktop Office deployment; later phases will include SharePoint, Teams and collaboration training. Councilmembers asked about contingency, on-site versus remote training, project management and security for public-facing devices. Staff said project management assistance is included in the professional-services proposal and that funds remain in the replacement fund for contingencies.

The motion to approve the contract and associated professional services and licenses was moved by Councilmember Brett Parker and seconded by Councilmember Crystal Chisholm; the vote was unanimous. Staff will proceed with contract execution and begin migration planning.