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Cowlitz County IT to shift Varonis data‑security tool to cloud at $99,000 for one year
Summary
County IT notified commissioners it has negotiated a one‑year cloud (SaaS) renewal with Varonis for $99,000, down from prior on‑prem licensing of about $163,000; commissioners approved moving forward and legal reviewed contract language. Staff said future price increases are expected to be modest (estimated 7–10%).
Cowlitz County's information technology staff won board approval to move a key data‑security tool from an on‑premises installation to a cloud‑based service.
Travis (IT) told the commissioners the county has used Varonis on‑prem for three years and faces server replacement costs if it stayed with the installed product. He said negotiations produced a one‑year cloud renewal proposal at $99,000, down from the previous recurring license cost of about $163,000 and from an earlier cloud quote of more than $200,000.
"They proposed... a renewal for 1 year at $99,000 for the next year," Travis said, adding the vendor communicated estimated annual increases of roughly 7–10% in future years. Travis told the board legal counsel had reviewed contract language and the county and vendor legal teams reached agreement on terms.
Commissioners asked whether the contract contained explicit escalation language; Travis said the modest escalation was not spelled out in the contract text but had been communicated by the vendor, and that a multiyear agreement could likely lower escalation if the board wanted that option.
Board members expressed support for the move as a cost‑saving alternative to replacing aging servers and as a way to maintain the county's ability to identify and protect sensitive data (credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and other critical files). Commissioners verbally approved proceeding with the one‑year term and asked staff to continue to evaluate alternatives for future years.
Ending: Staff will sign the revised contract after completing the administrative signature process; no formal roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript.
