Applied Connective presents IT-services proposal to Keith County; board requests references and digital packet

Representatives from Applied Connective (Five Nines) presented a proposal to provide managed IT, cybersecurity, backup and physical-security services to Keith County. The company said it supports nearly 60 counties and recently opened an office in the NACO building.

Company representatives described a suite of services that would include remote management, endpoint protection, identity protections, and an onboarding fee for initial deployment. "There's an onboarding cost," a representative said while walking through the proposal; later in the discussion the amount of the one-time onboarding charge was described in the packet as $6,800. The company said typical transitions involve about 30 days and two on-site engineers during early onboarding and that they would deploy management tools and assist in retiring previous providers’ tooling.

Boardmembers and staff raised several operational questions, including guaranteed response times, documentation of outstanding tickets from the incumbent vendor, Microsoft licensing costs, and local boots-on-the-ground support. County concerns centered on past experiences with slow or multiple-level escalations and the need for measurable response-time guarantees. The vendor offered to provide a master service agreement that outlines response times and service expectations and to furnish references from comparable counties.

Commissioners asked the vendor to email a digital copy of the full proposal and a list of county references for verification. No contract or formal procurement decision was made at the meeting; staff will review the packet and coordinate next steps.