02. Purchase of network switching equipment

211 9th Street South, Fargo, ND 58103 | www.casscountynd.gov Information Technology Telephone: 701-241-5750 ITD@casscountynd.gov MEMO TO: Cass County Commission FROM: Bob Henderson, IT Director DATE: March 9th, 2022 SUBJECT: Purchase of Network Switching Equipment ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Commissioners, Enclosed is a quote to replace all existing network switches in Cass County with Extreme Networks gear. Background: There are approx. 49 network switches located throughout the various county facilities. Of these, 21 of them have reached end of support by the manufacturer, having reached end of sale years ago. This information was priorly pointed out in the 2022 budget proposal by Mr. Schmaltz. In a change from the initial proposal, over the past 3 months I have worked with my network and security teams to do a vendor comparison of three major switch vendors in our region. This involved numerous sales calls and demos, hands on lab exercises, in depth design discussion and more. In the end, we have decided to propose the attached proposal from High Point Networks for Extreme Networks Fabric. Extreme Networks Fabric is a different switching platform that allows us to have a higher degree of automation, security, and insights into our network. By utilizing these features, we should be able to not only improve performance in our network environment, but also increase resiliency to better serve our County. The proposed solution also includes 3 years of licensing and support for all equipment, compared to our existing piecemeal setup. Estimated renewal of this software and support is slated to be approx. $5000 less than our existing fleet’s limited support model. This is an existing, budgeted request under line item 101-1801-412.74-14. The vendor selected for this project holds the ND State Contact for Network Equipment, allowing us to bypass the RFP process. For due diligence, we did solicit 3 proposals from alternative vendors, including our incumbent. Extreme Networks was the middle of the road solution. SUGGESTED MOTION: Move to authorize the IT Director to purchase a fleet of Extreme Network switches, supporting software, accessories, and 3 years of support from High Point Networks for $272,244.00. Bob Henderson Information Technology Department