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Commissioners ask for RFP as county weighs moving data center on-site
Summary
Coryell County staff and commissioners debated the cost and risks of staying in a hosted data center versus building on-site IT infrastructure. Staff recommended issuing an RFP/RFQ for technical advice and flagged fire-suppression and backup costs as significant uncertainties.
County officials debated whether to continue relying on the current hosted data center or to build an on-site "mini" data center and bring server infrastructure into county buildings. Staff cautioned that upfront hardware purchases, fire suppression and electrical upgrades could be substantial and that ongoing off-site backup requirements would add to monthly costs.
"I think we need to get an RFQ or an RFP, however we wanna address it," the county manager told the court while recommending the county contract a technical adviser to advise the migration strategy and life-cycle costs. Staff said the data-center hardware lifecycle is about five years and that moving services on-site would require additional wiring, redundant systems and new monthly fees for off-site backup.
Commissioners discussed fire suppression in the proposed room and estimated that installing appropriate systems and electrical upgrades could add roughly $100,000 to $200,000 to the project. One commissioner asked staff to include the data-center migration and build-out options as capital-improvement candidates and to refine cost estimates before locking funding into the FY2025 budget.
No procurement was approved at the workshop; the court directed staff to produce a clearer scope and to issue a formal procurement notice so the county can obtain vendor pricing and technical recommendations.
