South Coast Air Quality Management District
South Coast Air Quality Management District
BOARD MEETING DATE: November 1, 2002 AGENDA NO. 5
Authorize Purchase of Application Servers and Network Server Upgrades
SYNOPSIS:
AQMD business computer applications and operation efficiency are highly dependent on application and network servers. New data warehouse and wireless connector application servers are needed to provide additional functionality. The data warehouse server will provide needed ad hoc reporting capabilities for the entire agency, and the wireless connector server will provide wireless access between staff and critical business information. In addition, demands on network servers have steadily increased as desktop and network resources have risen. Three network servers are aging to the point that they cannot be supported effectively, and need to be upgraded. This action is to authorize the purchase of application servers and network server upgrades. Funds ($168,987) for these purchases are included in the FY 2002-03 Budget.
COMMITTEE:
Administrative, October 11, 2002. Less than a quorum was present during the discussion of this item; Committee Members who were present communicated their concurrence.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer
Background
AQMD staff currently uses development and production database servers for application development, testing database upgrades, application upgrades, stress testing the hardware and software in a multi-user environment, as well as day-to-day business operations. These servers are reaching maximum utilization and cannot be further upgraded. Additionally, increased usage of the AQMD’s CLASS business applications have led to increased disk storage utilization on the production and development servers. The new data warehouse server will alleviate the increased demand for processing and disk storage by partitioning some of the functionality.
In order to ensure reliable operation of databases and applications, and improve production system performance, it is necessary to purchase a new server that is fault-tolerant and has sufficient computing capacity to provide required database warehouse functionality. The new data warehouse server will provide needed ad hoc reporting capabilities for the entire agency, and it will provide staff timely access to historical data.
The wireless connector server is required to provide real-time wireless connectivity to the AQMD computer system which will allow staff to retrieve critical business information from any location at any time.
The AQMD’s network servers are used to provide file sharing, e-mail, network printing, Internet and Intranet access. AQMD has migrated to the Windows 2000 Server environment, providing a more stable network platform, increased availability, enhanced file sharing, better security, and a host of other new and improved features. In addition, demands on network servers have steadily increased as desktop and network resources have risen. Three network servers have aged to the point that they cannot be supported effectively and do not provide adequate computing capacity; therefore these servers need to be upgraded.
Bid Evaluation
In accordance with the District’s purchasing policy, bids for data warehouse, wireless connector servers, and network server upgrades with configurations identified below were solicited from the firms on the list of prequalified vendors for the purchase of "Desktop Computers, Mini Computers, Networks, and Phone System Hardware" in order to achieve the best available price. The prequalified vendor list was approved by the Board on June 15, 2001, and is in effect for a period ending June 30, 2003. Of the forty-one vendors on the list, three were from certified disabled veteran-owned, seven were from certified women-owned, six were from certified women-minority-owned, seventeen were from certified minority-owned, and five were from non-certified minority-owned business enterprises. A number of vendors quoted prices based on master agreements, cooperative agreements, or other interagency agreements with governmental entities, (i.e., Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA), California Multiple Awards Schedule (CMAS), or State of California Volume License Agreement).
Server configurations are:
Data Warehouse Server
Wireless Connector Server
Network Server Upgrades
Two bids for the data warehouse server and nine bids for the wireless connector server and network server upgrades were received and evaluated (see Attachment). Wareforce, Inc. submitted the lowest bid for the data warehouse and wireless connector servers at costs of $136,345 and $16,339 respectively; and Unitek Technology, Inc. submitted the lowest bids for the three network server upgrades at a cost of $16,303. The total cost of all servers and upgrades including sales tax is $168,987.
Resource Impacts
Funds for these purchases are included in the FY 2002-03 Budget.
Attachment
Evaluation of Bids from Prequalified Vendor List
Attachment
Evaluation of Bids from Prequalified Vendor List
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