City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve the purchase of 137 Personal
Computers (PCs) from Dell Computers (Round Rock, Texas) in an amount not-to-
exceed $148,545.76 and approve a professional services agreement with Soft-Train,
Inc. (Santa Ana, CA) in an amount not-to-exceed $15,600 (with an additional $1,560
in change order authority) for professional services to facilitate deploying the newly
purchased PCs throughout the organization.
BACKGROUND:
Personal Computers (PCs) are a primary component of almost all office jobs in the
City. Even field workers (inspectors, engineers, firefighters, etc.) often use PCs after
returning from the field to input data, write reports, and communicate with peers,
supervisors, and the public. In addition, PCs are often attached to critical systems
that run devices and services. Examples include building monitoring, identity card
creation, specialized printers, and many others.
Until 2005 the City was replacing approximately 20-25% of the PC inventory each
year. Fiscal constraints dictated that the City stop the annual purchases with the last
purchase occurring in October 2005. A gap of two and a half years followed until the
next major purchase of 126 PCs was approved on March 24, 2008. Since 2008, the
Ctiy has only purchased one or a few PCs at a time due to constrained budgets.
Meeting Date: 10/28/13 Item Number: C-6
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: (1) Approval of the Purchase of 137 Personal
Computers from Dell Computers (Round Rock, Texas) via the State of California
CMAS Program for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $148,545.76; and (2) Approval of a
Professional Services Agreement with Soft-Train (Santa Ana, California) in an
Amount Not-to-Exceed $15,600 (with an Additional $1,560 in Change Order
Authority) for Professional PC Deployment Services.
Contact Person/Dept.: David Leuck Phone Number: (310) 253-5950
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: Meetings and Agendas – City Council (10/22/13), Soft-Train Inc.
(Brian Baughman: 10/14/2013), Dell, Inc. (Erica Robinson: 10/14/2013)
Department Approval:
Michele Williams (10/16/13)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (10/21/13)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (10/22/13)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (10/22/13) City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Purchase approvals were based on the need for more capability, system failures, or
compliance requirements for specialized software.
As a result, the majority of the City’s PCs are five (5) or more years old. The older
machines have begun to experience intermittent failures, which have impacted the
productivity of the staff using them. The original 3 year warranties have expired on
the majority of the City’s PCs.
The installation of security patches to the operating system and the increasing load
on systems from anti-virus and anti-spyware systems have impacted the
responsiveness of the older systems. In 2011, to allow the installation of the next
generation of operating system (Windows 7) and productivity software (Office 2010)
the oldest PCs were retro-fitted with additional RAM (random access memory),
larger hard disks, and new video cards. In their original state most of the PC
hardware inventory was not compatible with Windows 7 but the upgraded hardware
components enable it to run. This made it possible to continue using the existing
hardware for another couple of years without a significant budget expenditure.
DISCUSSION:
As a best business practice, PCs have an expected life of 4-5 years and are typically
purchased with three year warranties. After three years, the individual components
(hard disk, memory, power supply, and motherboard) of a PC are at increasing risk
of failure and potentially require replacement.
Another key factor influencing replacement is the fact that over time, software
vendors release new software or upgrades to existing software that require PCs with
more speed, processing power, and/or memory in order to function adequately.
Current versions of software recommend 3 or 4 Gigabytes (GB) of RAM for systems
to run effectively. With the move to 64 bit operating systems, future applications will
be able to use more than 4GB of RAM, and systems are being configured with 8, 12,
and even 16GB of RAM on a routine basis. This trend is not just for desktops; it also
applies to Laptops, Netbooks, and Tablets. More RAM allows the user to have
multiple applications (including web browsers) open simultaneously without slowing
down the system.
Due to budget constraints the City has extended the life cycle of the PC inventory to
approximately 6-7 years. Replacing 137 PCs represents about one-third of the
City’s PC inventory. Staff is recommending reinstituting a formal replacement
schedule. This purchase will be followed in budget years FY2014/2015 and FY
2015/2016 with requests to complete the replacement of the City’s remaining
inventory. After 3 years of replacing PCs, there will be two years of maintenance City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
before the cycle will begin again. This schedule will allow for a 5 year target lifecycle
for each PC in inventory.
The City has deployed flat panel monitors for all of the PCs and retired the old style
CRT (cathode-ray tube) screens. The existing flat panels will be reused with the
new PCs to reduce costs since the screens are compatible. While older, they still
have years of service left. As a contingency, 50 monitors will be purchased to
provide spares and to retire some of the older screens where necessary. By
purchasing the 50 screens with the PCs, the screens are discounted compared to
only purchasing the screen.
Staff recommends purchasing the Dell Optiplex 9020 which is a new production
model at the beginning of its release cycle. In discussion with Dell it is expected that
this model will be available for one to two more cycles before it is superseded.
The City’s software maintenance agreement with Microsoft automatically licenses
the latest version of Windows, Office, and several other tools as they are released.
This hardware will be able to run all the existing software versions and the
anticipated future updates.
The PCs taken out of service will be evaluated and parts that can be reused on
remaining systems will be removed (i.e. hard disks, video cards, RAM chips, DVD
drives) to form a spare parts inventory. The remaining units and components will be
turned over to Purchasing for sale or recycling per City Policy.
Vendor Selection
For some time the City has standardized on Dell business class computers. Dell
provides a number of advantages as the City’s vendor. These include:
• Industry compatibility - As one of the largest PC makers, Dell leads with
standards in quality and compatibility.
• Free shipping - Purchased under the California Multiple Award Schedule
(CMAS), municipalities pay no shipping costs on systems.
• Automatic upgrade to 3 year warranty on all PCs. Next business day service
on parts and labor.
• Call in support for hardware on a 24x7 basis.
• Longer product support life cycle. Dell is able to provide parts for their own
systems from a worldwide support system. Custom built clone systems can
only be supported as long as the local manufacturer can secure parts.
• The City has been standardized on Dell PCs for some years. From a
maintenance and support perspective it is far more efficient to support a
standardized inventory. City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Low Energy and Recyclable PCs
Efficient energy usage and recyclable components have become a focus of
computer makers and the City since the mid-2000s. The Information Technology
(IT) Department, starting with the 2008 purchase, chose PCs that were
environmentally friendly, more energy efficient, and can be broken down for
recycling with less waste than past generations of hardware.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a consumer rating
measure, Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), to assist
buyers with identifying environmentally preferred equipment. Products are
measured against both required and optional criteria. A product must meet all of the
required criteria to be added to the registry. The ratings are:
• Bronze (Meets all required criteria)
• Silver (Meets all required criteria and at least 50% of the optional criteria)
• Gold (Meets all required criteria and at least 75% of the optional criteria)
The Dell Optiplex 9020 PCs have earned the EPEAT Gold level rating.
PC Deployment Services
One Hundred Thirty Seven (137) PCs will be deployed across all City sites while at
the same time maintaining daily IT operations and projects already in progress. The
IT Department’s goal is to deploy approximately 25 new units per week. Using
existing internal staffing to deploy the newly purchased hardware would result in an
significant strain on resources.
A supplemental staffing proposal was solicited from Soft-Train. This is the same
vendor who provided staffing for the last major rollout effort in 2008. The contract in
2008 was billed at $24.00/hour. Soft-Train has delivered a proposal for this effort at
a rate of $26.00/hour.
Soft-Train staff will work with IT to prepare and deploy PCs according to plan. They
will work in conjunction with IT staff who will perform follow-up and quality
control/troubleshooting of issues that arise.
Pursuant to Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) Section 3.07.045.G, the purchase
of the PCs is excepted from formal competitive bidding requirements, as discussed
below. In addition, pursuant to CCMC Section 3.07.085.A professional services do
not require competitive bidding. City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Funding to support this project has been appropriated in the Computer Replacement
Fund (30724100) of the City Council Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2013/2014.
Purchasing 137 PCs will result in an expenditure of $148,545.76 including tax (with
free shipping).
The purchase of the PCs will be made through the State of California’s CMAS
program. This program gives the City preferential pricing using the buying power of
the State of California. The CMAS contract is overseen by the State’s Department
of General Services. Public Contract Code (PCC) Sections 10290 et seq. and
12101.5 include approval for local government agencies to use CMAS for acquisition
of information technology and non-information technology products and services. In
addition to the above-stated provisions of the CCMC, AB 2866 and AB 1684
authorize local government agencies and school districts to use CMAS and other
Department of General Services agreements without competitive bidding.
Contracting with Soft-Train to provide professional deployment services will result in
an expenditure of $15,600. This includes 3 full-time technicians working at a rate of
$26 per hour for five (5) weeks.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve the purchase of 137 Personal Computers (PCs) from Dell, Inc. for an
amount not-to-exceed $148,545.76; and,
2. Authorize the Purchasing Officer to execute the purchase order on behalf of
the City; and
3. Approve a professional services agreement with Soft-Train for Professional
PC Deployment Services for an amount not-to-exceed $15,600; and,
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
4. Authorize the Chief Information Officer to expend up to an additional 10% of
the professional services contract ($1,560) as a contingency if deemed
necessary; and,
5. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and,
6. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.