CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Cooperative Procurement 20-349, Panasonic Refresh, to CDS Technologies for an amount not to exceed $151,356
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DEPARTMENT: Information Technology
SUBMITTED BY: Jacqueline Nguyen, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The Information Technology (IT) Department maintains the technology hardware environment for City staff across all departments, including ruggedized laptops and tablets for field work. Each year, IT staff works with the City departments to determine their computing requirements for both planned replacements and upgrades.
A three-year replacement cycle is optimum for mobile field devices due to the working conditions that the devices are exposed to. IT is working to achieve and maintain this replacement cycle. The devices requested for this replacement are past their three-year warranty with some of the devices being over four years old.
DISCUSSION:
When the Governor issued the stay-at-home order in March, the demand for mobile devices became a priority for all departments. IT worked with the departments to prioritize their mobile computing needs. In order to meet department mobility needs, IT reassigned devices that were being staged for replacement from 2019 purchases, pushed out recently delivered devices more quickly and accelerated the 2020 refresh schedule.
A total of 89 existing Panasonic devices were identified for replacement in 2020. Panasonic discontinued the long-standing model CF-31 Toughbook laptop. With the change in models, the Electric Utility and the Fire Department had to review two current models to determine which would be a better choice for their needs, the CF-33 tablet or the FZ-55 Semi-Toughbook.
In March 2020, six CF-33 tablets were ordered for the Police Department to finish the police squad car refresh. Due to the stay-at-home order and the need for staff to use mobile devices, IT placed an order for 25 Toughbook laptops which were...
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