Technology Solutions recommends approving a three-year renewal of the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) contract with annual payments to SHI Government Solutions, Inc. SHI is authorized to provide this licensing under the State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) contract DIR-CPO-5237.
The Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is a comprehensive volume licensing program specifically designed for organizations like the City. This program offers substantial cost savings compared to standard license pricing. Key benefits include access to a wide range of software licenses, maintenance, cloud services, flexibility to adjust license quantities based on evolving business needs, and valuable resources for resolving technical issues.
The City has consistently realized significant cost savings and streamlined license management through the existing Microsoft EA, which minimizes the need for frequent annual transactions.
This renewal incorporates the addition of Microsoft Teams Voice licenses, totaling $188,676, to support the City's Enterprise Voice Project. This initiative modernizes the City's telecommunications system by transitioning from outdated on-premise infrastructure (scheduled to reach end-of-life in October 2025) to a robust, cloud-hosted solution. This transition from Skype to Teams eliminates the reliance on 26 Skype for Business servers at a cost of $12,000 annually and $56,160 in Skype for Business licensing costs.
Furthermore, the contract increases the quantity of Microsoft Defender licenses from 3000 to 4072 to enhance security for all city employee accounts. Additionally, the renewal includes 64 Windows Server Core licenses and 15 SQL Server Core licenses to meet current operational needs.
The overall average price increase per license in this agreement, compared to the agreement from three years ago, is 4.81%.
The current Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is set to expire on February 28, 2025. Failing to renew the agreement would necessitate procuring licenses for all currently utilized Microsoft products at full list prices, resulting in a substantial cost increase. This expense would significantly exceed the renewal cost of the Enterprise Agreement.
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 government to seek competitive bids for items. (Texas Department of Information Resources Contract No. DIR-CPO-5237 / City of Plano Internal Contract No. 2025-0213-O)