CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Cooperative Procurement 24-268, Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure, to Sentinel Technologies, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $297,588.22 and for a five-year term
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DEPARTMENT: Information Technology
SUBMITTED BY: Jacqueline Nguyen, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The current core switches at the Municipal Center are beyond or nearing the end of useful life. Upgrading them not only replaces failing equipment but also provides an opportunity to significantly enhance security and efficiency through segmentation.
In today's rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, organizations must stay vigilant to protect sensitive data and infrastructure. One highly effective security measure is network segmentation. This strategy involves dividing a network into smaller, isolated segments, each with its own security controls.
This project is critical to address the following:
1. Replacing Outdated Equipment:
The existing switches are now beyond their usable life and requires replacement to avoid performance degradation and potential hardware failures. Rather than just a like-for-like replacement, this is an ideal time to upgrade to switches that support network segmentation, adding long-term value to the infrastructure.
2. Enhanced Security Through Segmentation:
These switches are crucial for segmenting the network, which is a key step in preventing the spread of cyber threats. Segmentation prevents the threat from moving laterally across the systems if a part of the network is compromised. New switches will allow us to create isolated network segments, containing any potential breaches and limiting the damage. This is a proactive approach to security, making it harder for attackers to access critical systems.
3. Better Access Control:
By replacing the switches with newer models that support advanced segmentation, the city gains more control over accesses to different parts of the network. New switches allow access policies to be fine-tuned, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and improving overall security.
4. Boosting Network Performance:
The aging switches are becoming a bottleneck for network performance. Upgrading them not only ensures smoother operations but also allows for traffic segmentation more efficiently. This results in reduced congestion and improve the performance of key applications, as traffic within each segment is more controlled and isolated.
5. Simplified Monitoring and Troubleshooting:
With a segmented network, issues like configuration issues, bottlenecks, or security incidents can be isolated more quickly. The new switches will allow for active monitoring of network traffic more effectively within specific segments, making it easier to detect and troubleshoot problems, reducing downtime and increasing operational efficiency.
6. Compliance and Data Security:
Many regulations, such as CJIS, AWWA, PCI-DSS and HIPAA, require us to protect sensitive data by limiting access to certain parts of the network. Our current infrastructure isn’t configured to provide sufficient segmentation for this. The new switches will help us meet these compliance requirements by segmenting the network in a way that ensures only authorized users can access sensitive data.
DISCUSSION:
The IT Department is seeking approval to procure the switching hardware and required components including Cisco Catalyst 9300 Switches, Cisco Catalyst 9000 Compact Switches, and associated licenses and support to strengthen the infrastructure and support network connectivity.
Staff has identified an approved cooperative contract, OMNIA Partners, (TDSynnex) #OMNIA-R200803, through Sentinel Technologies, Inc. for this procurement.
The maintenance and support services for these switches will be for five years starting upon the order being placed.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP #: CE168 - Application Centric Infrastructure
Implementation of the Cisco ACI solution is expensed to the account numbers listed below. In 2024, the IT Department included $250,000 to begin the implementation of the ACI functionalities as part of the capital improvement program. The project is estimated at $850,000 over the next 3 years. Amounts associated with maintenance and support services will be expensed to the software and hardware maintenance account and will be budgeted accordingly during each respective budget cycle.
|
Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
16102200-551504 |
Capital Projects Fund |
$9,655,000 |
|
16101100-531312 |
General Fund |
$3,655,145 |