HomeMy WebLinkAboutAS400 Mod 810 Upg Agenda Memo.dCity of University Park
AGENDA MEMO
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 Agenda
DATE: September 10, 2003
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Jim Criswell, Director of Information Services
SUBJECT: IBM AS/400 iSeries Computer Upgrade for Public Sa fety
BACKGROUND
In July of 1999, the City began a computer system migration for Police, Fire, and
Computer - Aided Dispatch to the HTE suite of software. This initiative was driven in part
by the Year - 2000 requirement, but primarily by the desire to mov e these functions to a
more robust software product, where Police and Fire could be dispatched from a common
interface, and there would be a solid growth path for the Public Safety departments with a
vendor who’s capabilities and financial strength would i nsure support as the demand for
mobile data computing increased.
The conversion was completed on December 12, 1999, and the project has been very
successful. The City added mobile data computers to the squad cars and fire vehicles in
September of 2001, an d the ability for police officers to complete crime reports from the
field in September of 2002, allowing officers more time on the streets.
The primary computing platform supporting these operations is an IBM AS/400 iSeries
Model 720. The system is now f our years old and there are several reasons that a Model
810 upgrade should be considered.
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The age of the system - In today’s technical environment, the life expectancy of
any business computer is approximately three years. With the importance of
insuring “up time” for the Public Safety environment, it is imperative that
equipment be replaced in a timely manner.
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The Police and Fire Departments are both planning to install new applications
from HTE to provide support for mug shots and evidence, property ro om bar -
coding, mobile computing, and mapping for cellular 911. These applications will
require additional computer capacity.
Agenda Memo - IBM AS/400 iSeries Computer Upgrade for Public Safety
September 10, 2003 – Page 2
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IBM has notified the City that the upgrade path from the Model 720 to a Model
810, with a trade - in allowance will expire on October 8, 2003. The price
differential after that date is projected at $20,349.
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IBM support for the currently installed AS/400 Operating System (Version 4
Releas e 5) is no longer available. The Model 810 will come with the latest
AS/400 Operating System (Version 5 Release 2).
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The Model 810 system will contain hot - swap disk drives, which will allow the
system to continue processing information even if a physical d isk drive fails. This
feature will insure system availability for the City’s most critical applications.
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The additional system capacity will provide the necessary file growth and
enhanced processing speed required to support the City for the next three - to - five
years.
Main Memory – 1GB to 2GB – 2 times larger
Disk Capacity – 38GB to 122GB - 3 times larger
Throughput Rating – 150 to 750 – 5 times greater
The City has identified a Capital Project to provide funding for the Public Safety IBM
AS/400 Model 810 system upgrade.
PROPOSALS
To select a vendor for the IBM AS/400 iSeries Model 810 hardware system upgrade and
the onsite System Migration Service, the City decided to utilize the Texas Qualified
Information System Vendor (QISV) program to solicit bid s. The Attorney General has
stated that use of this program meets the competitive bidding requirements of the Local
Government Code. The request for bids was sent to three vendors authorized to sell IBM
systems, software, and services. They were MMI Intern etworking, Titan Solutions
Group, Inc., and Prologic Technology Solutions. The bid tab is listed below.
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MMI Internetworking $69,464
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Titan Solutions Group, Inc $71,525
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Prologic Technology Systems $72,500
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends City Cou ncil approval of this IBM iSeries AS/400 Model 810 System
upgrade and the award of the contract to MMI Internetworking, the low bidder, for
$69,464. Funds are available ($75,000) in the Capital Projects Fund, Project 11950.