Committee advances proposed $60M Oracle enterprise contract; members pressed procurement and licensing questions

The Budget & Finance Committee on April 14 recommended to the full Board a 5-year, not-to-exceed $60,000,000 contract with Mythix Inc for Oracle products and separately advanced a customer participation agreement with Oracle America that would permit city employees to participate in Oracle advisory boards.

Hao Xie, strategic sourcing manager at the Department of Technology, told the committee the new citywide agreement would consolidate many existing Oracle purchases into a single master agreement across departments, improve procurement efficiency and vendor oversight, and provide better pricing and contract terms. Xie said Oracle agreed to waive an annual 4% increase for five years and that consolidation and termination of unused maintenance would yield at least $3,750,000 in savings or cost avoidance over five years.

Vice Chair Asha Safaie pressed the department on why the city purchases through resellers rather than directly from Oracle and questioned whether relying on a 2018 solicitation issued by Maricopa County remains competitive in 2021. Deputy City Attorney Anne Pearson and Taryn Amoyak of the Office of Contract Administration explained that San Francisco Administrative Code section 21.16 permits departments to rely on another jurisdiction’s procurement so long as the source procurement remains active and the city’s use is consistent with the solicitation’s scope and advertised duration.

Separately, Jack Wood of the Controller’s Office described a proposed customer participation agreement for Oracle advisory boards that would give Oracle a perpetual, nonexclusive, irrevocable license to use city feedback (without identifying the city or employees). Wood said the Controller’s Office assesses that risk as low and highlighted benefits: a seat at advisory forums that influence Oracle’s product roadmap and the potential to reduce locally expensive customizations.

Severn Campbell from the Budget Analyst’s Office summarized the BLA report and recommended approval. After legal clarifications and discussion, the committee voted to advance the Oracle contract and the customer participation agreement to the Board with positive recommendations.

Next steps: both items will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda for final action. Supervisors requested additional background on procurement reliance and said the committee may follow up if the Board or staff needs to defend the approach publicly.