Keith County Commissioners Press IT Vendor 5 Nines on Response Times, Aging Hardware and Rising Costs

Keith County commissioners spent a large portion of their meeting on a quarterly business review with IT provider 5 Nines, pressing the vendor for clearer service commitments as the county faces aging equipment and rising technology costs.

Ariel Lux and Jacob Lux of 5 Nines presented a renewal that includes a 3% price increase for services and warned of supply‑chain delays and price pressure for hardware such as wireless access points and servers. Ariel told the board the vendor’s minimum billable user count would be set at 79 and that some hardware lead times are stretching as long as 90 days. “It’ll be a 3% increase,” Ariel said when summarizing the renewal terms.

Commissioners, department heads and office staff used the presentation to surface recurring operational problems: delayed ticket responses, outages stretching multiple days in some offices, and uncertainty about whether older Windows 10 workstations could be upgraded or must be replaced. The county’s project‑inclusive labor bucket is overdrawn by roughly $20,354, the vendor said, largely due to unplanned work to migrate virtual infrastructure and to install switches at two new buildings.

Multiple elected leaders and office managers described specific service shortfalls. County staff repeatedly raised the need for faster on‑site response times and clearer escalation paths when deadlines (for instance, Secretary of State filing deadlines) are at risk. Jacob Lux explained that 5 Nines has made internal changes to its service desk and is seeing improvements in ticket closures since August; the vendor also said it will circulate a ‘voice of the partner’ survey to gather staff feedback.

The commissioners asked for follow up on several technical points the vendor had not resolved in the meeting packet — in particular, exact counts of how many of the roughly 17 workstations running Windows 10 can be upgraded versus which must be replaced, and clarification of which services are included or excluded from the project bucket (cabling labor was described as excluded). The board directed staff to collect the vendor survey results and return with consolidated feedback and options for procurement or contract adjustments.

What happens next: 5 Nines will send the partner survey to county department heads for distribution, provide replacement vs. upgrade lists for the Windows 10 workstations, and provide updated quotes and timing for end‑of‑life network access points and firewall projects so the county can consider procurement timing and budget adjustments.