DATE: June 4, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Robert W. Bash, Director, Internal Services/Chief Information Officer
SUBJECT: Agreement with Carahsoft, Inc.
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with Carahsoft, Inc. for an Information Technology Service Management platform, effective upon execution, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $1,500,000.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Internal Services Department - Information Technology (ISD-IT) Division to replace an aged, home-grown service management system with an industry standard software, ServiceNow. This software will allow for greater integration and efficiency of IT services to better support County departments. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
The current system used by ISD-IT to manage service requests, eRams, is an outdated system that was designed in-house, and is now inadequate in its current form. Not replacing the current system will result in delays, inefficiencies, and potential downtime in executing IT requests, due to the inadequacy and instability of eRams.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with approval of the recommended action. Costs are estimated not to exceed $1,500,000 for the term of this agreement. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues to cover FY 2018-19 costs associated with this agreement are included in the Department’s Information Technology Services Org 8905 FY 2018-19 Adopted Budget and will be included in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The ServiceNow software will provide a replacement for the existing County-developed system, eRams, to manage IT related service requests. It is a robust solution that far exceeds the current system’s capabilities, and will allow for better workflow management, automation, and provide for other increased efficiencies related to managing incoming service requests from County departments. This replacement is urgently needed, as the current system does not provide adequate functionality to effectively manage service requests as they are received by ISD-IT. Adding this functionality will allow ISD-IT to provide better, more responsive service to County departments, and provide more transparency on the status of service requests.
Pursuant to the County’s Purchasing Manual, Carahsoft, Inc. is recommended from the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) Contract AR2472, available to all local California local governments through the California Participating Addendum.
The Purchasing Manual stipulates that services competitively bid by another governmental agency may be procured via purchasing cooperatives. Under this directive, the Internal Services Department - Purchasing Division (ISD-Purchasing) may use the NASPO if the items on the contract meet the County’s needs, and if it is unlikely that a separate County bid would result in more favorable prices, terms, and/or conditions.
Following ISD-Purchasing’s review of the NASPO Request for Proposal (RFP) process, a determination was made that the policies and procedures were consistent with the County’s RFP process. The Department is requesting to procure IT Service Management software, which was competitively bid and awarded by NASPO, enabling the County to leverage the pricing, terms, and conditions from the contract to the County’s advantage.
NASPO issued an RFP in mid-2016, with awards in October of 2016. The evaluation team awarded the contract to Carahsoft, Inc.
The agreement provides for implementation services for the ServiceNow software, a subscription to the ServiceNow software, as well as maintenance services for the ServiceNow software. The agreement incorporates the terms of the Carahsoft NASPO Master Agreement, as well as the terms of the State of California participating addendum. The format for the agreement is not County-standard, however, as an existing government cooperative contract, the County is unable to significantly modify the format or terms. The terms and conditions of the agreement have been reviewed by Risk Management, and staff believes that they are sufficiently consistent with the County’s requirements, and that the benefits outweigh the associated risks.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Carahsoft, Inc.
CAO ANALYST:
Yussel Zalapa