On March 21, 2023, City Council approved the renewal purchase in the amount of $254,998 for 8 Nutanix nodes that include hardware, software, and licensing to support the increased data, backup, and server processing workloads.

The City currently manages three separate Nutanix environments, each with its own maintenance schedules, causing inefficiencies and increased costs. Our proposal aims to address this by consolidating maintenance, support, and licensing for these environments, streamlining operations, simplifying management, and potentially reducing costs.

These environments consist of the SQL cluster, COVID cluster, and the Enterprise Cluster. Two of these were acquired to meet unforeseen requirements after the initial refresh of the City’s Nutanix environment. The SQL and COVID clusters have different maintenance schedules, which we plan to align with the larger Enterprise Cluster. The Enterprise Cluster, which was purchased with 5 years’ upfront hardware and software support and licensing, is scheduled for a refresh in 2026. We intend to synchronize the expiration dates of all other assets with it.

Bringing the maintenance of the SQL and COVID clusters under a single agreement will streamline administration and save valuable time for our team. Aligning maintenance schedules will also enable us to take advantage of volume discounts, estimated to save $390,075 over the next 23 months. Additionally, a unified environment sets the stage for a comprehensive update of the City's server and storage infrastructure in 2026.

Failure to approve this purchase would mean continuing to operate with different maintenance periods for similar systems, resulting in missed volume discounts and higher overall costs.

The City is authorized to purchase from the State Contract list pursuant to Chapter 271 Subchapter D of the Texas Local Government Code and by doing so satisfies any State Law requiring local governments to seek competitive bids for items. (DIR Contract No. DIR-CPO-4444 / City of Plano Internal Contract No. 2024-0304-O)

Funding for this item is available in the 2023-24 Infrastructure Budget.  This request is to approve the purchase of SQL and COVID Nutanix hardware, software, and licensing support for 23-months from Freeit Data Solutions, in the amount of $629,917, which will leave a remaining balance of $363,432 in the 2023-24 Infrastructure Budget for other support and maintenance expenditures.

Approval of this agenda item supports the City's Strategic Plan Critical Success Factor of Excellent, Innovative, and Accountable City Government.