Title
Request for transfer of funds to purchase server hardware
Proposed Motion
That Council authorize the transfer of $194,770 from the Information Technology Restricted Surplus and $172,000 from the Office Systems Restricted Surplus to fund the purchase of required on-premise server hardware to support ongoing County operations and the implementation of the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
Body
Administration Recommendation
Administration supports the proposed motion.
Purpose
To ensure the ongoing sustainability of the network architecture by upgrading to servers that are able to support the growing business needs of the County.
Summary
Information Technology Servcies identified that our current servers will not be able to optimally handle the growing strategic business intiatives and operational needs of the County. The upgrade of the on-premise server hardware was planned for 2016, however in an effort to save costs and meet the organizations growth needs, we are requesting to do the full server replacement in 2015.
Funding for the replacement of the existing hardware is already in restricted surplus as a result of budgeted annual transfers from the Office Equipment Lifecycle Plan. Due to escalating operational needs, and the ERP project, approval of these funds will allow for the purchase of the required hardware a year sooner than originally planned, will bring greater system capacity for other County strategic initiatives, and support responsible fiscal management principles.
The new hardware will be put into production, and the older hardware will be repurposed for Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery purposes. Information Technology Services plans to build an off premise disaster recovery site to support ongoing operations in the event of a disaster at Parkland County Centre or the County Services Building. This will also provide greater redundancy and data backup capacity to Parkland County, and this capability will support the County's desire to explore revenue generation opportunities.
Strategic Plan/Policy/Legal/Staff Implications
Financial Impact:
Cost: $434,170
Source of Funding:
$67,400 from 2015 Budget
$194,770 from Information Technology Restricted Surplus
$172,000 from Office System Restricted Surplus