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Arapahoe County to accelerate on‑premise server migration to avoid new Microsoft licensing costs
Summary
County IT staff told commissioners they plan to use already‑approved fixed assets from Fund 70 to bring servers back from Google Cloud sooner than planned to avoid an estimated $230,000 annual Microsoft licensing increase and potentially end parts of a $48,000‑per‑month Google contract early.
Arapahoe County IT officials asked the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to reallocate fixed assets from Fund 70 so the county can accelerate bringing servers back from the Google Cloud to on‑premise hardware and avoid a new Microsoft licensing charge. Director Savino and IT staff told commissioners a Microsoft licensing option the county had relied on while hosted in Google was discontinued and that a Google‑sourced compliance option would cost substantially more.
"We were handed a lemon," said Philip Sabino, the county IT lead, describing the sudden licensing change and the push to find a budgetary workaround. A systems team member identified in the transcript as Brian said the county currently pays about $130,000 under its existing license and that the new compliance path would amount to roughly $230,000 a year; staff framed the effort as a cost‑avoidance measure rather than a new recurring expenditure.
The county also pays about $48,000 a month under parts of its Google Enterprise Agreement, staff said. IT proposed using fixed assets already approved for replacement and asking the Q2 budget review to appropriate the remaining amounts so the migration could start this year without requiring new funds now. "We can do what we're gonna do next year this year, with no new money spent this year," the systems team member said.
Staff warned that hardware lead times are longer than in past years because of increased demand related to large AI and data‑center purchases, and they recommended ordering equipment within weeks to meet an October window that would avoid the licensing charge. They also said some cloud backup retention (notably 12‑month backups) might remain in place after migration, potentially limiting immediate savings but leaving overall net savings.
Commissioners pressed staff for clarity on the arithmetic. Commissioner Dustin Campbell asked for explanation of the $230,000 figure; staff said the number reflects avoiding the higher licensing cost after Microsoft eliminated the prior license option. Staff confirmed the Google agreement runs through December 2027 but said the county is seeking ways to terminate parts of the contract earlier if migration proceeds successfully.
Finance staff said they had no objections during the discussion. Commissioners gave an informal "five thumbs up" to proceed with the plan; there was no formal recorded vote in the transcript. Next steps staff described were placing hardware orders, seeking appropriation in the Q2 budget review to reappropriate approved fixed assets from Fund 70, and returning with any additional procurement or contract details as needed.
