Commissioners approve plan to replace county server amid software and licensing changes

Franklin County commissioners agreed to move forward with replacing an aging county server after an IT presentation that cited a vendor software upgrade and rising licensing and hardware costs.

The county's IT specialist (listed in the meeting packet as the IT services presenter) told commissioners the current server was installed in April 2020, its warranty will expire this October, and a Harris software upgrade requires substantially higher performance. The presenter said VMware licensing has shifted since Broadcom acquired VMware and that Microsoft licensing now looks more cost-effective — increasing overall replacement and migration costs. "It'll probably take about five weeks" to migrate the county's five servers, the specialist said, describing a weekend-by-weekend migration to avoid downtime.

Commissioners and finance staff discussed funding timing. County finance staff suggested splitting migration labor invoicing into the next budget year, a technique other counties used, while the IT presenter emphasized warranty coverage and perpetual licenses for server OS would reduce hidden costs. The IT specialist gave what staff characterized as an overall estimate of about $88,000 to upgrade hardware, buy licenses and perform migration labor. The board moved, seconded and approved a motion to proceed with purchase and bring final purchase paperwork back to the commission.

The board did not record a roll-call tally for the purchase beyond a voice vote during the meeting. Staff said they would circulate the final purchase agreement for chairman review and complete procurement steps in accordance with county rules.