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CITY OF SAN BERN~INO - REQUEST Fee COUNCIL ACTION
From:
Fred Wilson
Assistant City Administrator
Subject:
Authorization to negotiate
with Digital Equipment Corporation
for the purchase of a new
computer system.
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Date: February 26, 1991
Synopsis of Previous Council action:
2/22/91 -- Council Data Processing Ad Hoc Committee recommended
Mayor and Council approval of the purchase of the
Dual Host VAX 4000 and DEC 5500 computer system.
Racommended motion:
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That authorization be given to negotiate for the purchase of a
Digital Equipment Corporation Dual Host VAX 4000, Model:300 computer
system and a DEC system 5500 to replace the existing Police Records
Management, Computer Aided Dispatch and the City's McDonnell
Douglas business/financial applications computer systems.
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Contact person:
Frp-n W;'~nn
Phone:
5122
Supporting deta attached:
yes
Ward:
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
Amount: $1,707.000 lease/purchase over 5 years.
Source: (Acct. No.)
679-103-55486
(Acct. Descriotion)
Finance: ~ UJ-
ece Notes:
75.0262
Agenda Item No
39
CITY OF SAN BER&DINO - REQUEST "R COUNCIL ACTION
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STAFF REPORT
The issue of upgrading the City's computer systems has been a
high priority of the city Administrator since she assumed the
position in July 1990. The Data Processing committee was
charged with the responsibility of developing recommendations
regarding upgrades to the city's computer systems. The
recommendation of the committee is to initiate negotiations
for the purchase of a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) VAX
4000 and DEC System 5500 to replace the existing police
Records Management, Computer Aided Dispatch and the city's
McDonnell Douglas business computer system.
In order to better understand how this recommendation was
made, it is necessary to review the city's current computer
configuration as well as the needs assessment performed by
Omnicom.
CURRENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
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The police Records Management System (RMS) was first
introduced to the police Department in 1984 as part of a
grant obtained by the city. The DEC 11/750 computer, which
was purchased from Command Data systems, was a computer well
into its product life cycle. As a result of increased usage
by the police Department, the RMS system is currently
outdated. It is almost at 100% capacity in disc storage
space. The police have indicated a need for at least 2 to 3
years of history on the system. Currently only 90 days of
history are available due to lack of space. The system is
extremely slow because of the overloaded resources and old
technology.
The CAD system was purchased in 1987 and is
all 9-1-1 calls. Although this system is not
terms of disk storage, it is expected to
capacity when mobile data terminals (MDT's)
line.
used to record
at capacity in
be close or at
are brought on
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The city has a 5 year old McDonnell Douglas Sequel mini-
computer which serves the Data Processing needs of most of
the non-public safety departments. Finance is the single
largest user accounting for approximately 50% of total
capacity. Library and public Services each utilize 10% with
the remaining 30% divided among Business Licenses, Purchasing
and other users. At anyone point, there are currently 70
users logged on to the system. This system is also at
maximum capacity. The system has 176 ports to which
terminals and printers can be connected. There are
currently 135 terminals and 40 printers connected. The city
has been unable to accommodate additional requests from the
departments for more terminals and printers due to inadequate
"capacity." In addition, only 1.6% of capacity remains
unused on the city's business system. The Data Processing
Department currently is forced to move large amounts of data
from disc to tape in order to gain the required space every
75.0264
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two weeks to run the payroll process. In addition, due to
the age of the systems, maintenance contracts for the
hardware and software systems approximate $20,000 per month
or $240,000 per year.
.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
In July 1990, the Mayor and Council approved a proposal
relating to the 800 MHz radio system which involved the
purchase of mobile data terminals (MDT's) for the Police and
Fire Departments. As part of this proposal, the City
contracted with the communication/engineering firm of Omnicom
to investigate the impact of MDT's on the CAD and RMS
systems. After omnicom initiated this study, it became
evident that in order to insure that the recommendations
regarding CAD/RMS upgrades would interface properly with the
City's overall data processing objectives, the scope of the
Omnicom study was expanded to address the City's business
system as well. The Omnicom study which was completed in
December 1990 included an overview of the City's current
computer configuration as well as an analysis and
recommendations relative to alternatives for each of the 3
major computer systems -- CAD, RMS and City's system.
omnicom's recommendations focused on the replacement of the 3
systems with state-of-the-art Digital Equipment corporation
(DEC) computers.
.
The major reasons for selecting Digital Equipment corporation
as the primary vendor for the computer systems include:
1. Omnicom recommended that the City retain the
existing Police and Fire CAD software which will
only run on DEC equipment. These computer
programs were purchased only 3 years ago at a cost
of approximately $500,000. They noted that the
City has not yet realized a return on the
investment. In addition, the users of the CAD and
RMS software programs were generally satisfied with
the abilities of the system.
2.
DEC was able to address
system needs in a
infrastructure.
the CAD, RMS and city's
comprehensive networking
3. 100% compatibility was guaranteed between all new
hardware and peripherals.
4. Ability to provide an office automation "all-in-
one" package which includes word processing,
electronic spreadsheets, electronic mail and PC
network integration.
5.
DEC's networking infrastructure
systems standards meaning computers
other than DEC could interface with
provided open
made by vendors
the system.
.
6. DEC is one of the top 3 computer vendors in the
world.
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two weeks to run the payroll process. In addition, due to
the age of the systems, maintenance contracts for the
hardware and software systems approximate $20,000 per month
or $240,000 per year.
.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
In July 1990, the Mayor and Council approved a proposal
relating to the 800 MHz radio system which involved the
purchase of mobile data terminals (MDT's) for the Police and
Fire Departments. As part of this proposal, the city
contracted with the communication/engineering firm of Omnicom
to investigate the impact of MDT's on the CAD and RMS
systems. After Omnicom initiated this study, it became
evident that in order to insure that the recommendations
regarding CAD/RMS upgrades would interface properly with the
City's overall data processing objectives, the scope of the
Omnicom study was expanded to address the City's business
system as well. The Omnicom study which was completed in
December 1990 included an overview of the City's current
computer configuration as well as an analysis and
recommendations relative to alternatives for each of the 3
major computer systems -- CAD, RMS and City's system.
omnicom's recommendations focused on the replacement of the 3
systems with state-of-the-art Digital Equipment corporation
(DEC) computers.
.
The major reasons for selecting Digital Equipment Corporation
as the primary vendor for the computer systems include:
1. Omnicom recommended that the City retain the
existing Police and Fire CAD software which will
only run on DEC equipment. These computer
programs were purchased only 3 years ago at a cost
of approximately $500,000. They noted that the
City has not yet realized a return on the
investment. In addition, the users of the CAD and
RMS software programs were generally satisfied with
the abilities of the system.
2.
DEC was able to address
system needs in a
infrastructure.
the CAD, RMS and City's
comprehensive networking
3. 100% compatibility was guaranteed between all new
hardware and peripherals.
4. Ability to provide an office automation "all-in-
one" package which includes word processing,
electronic spreadsheets, electronic mail and PC
network integration.
5.
DEC's networking infrastructure
systems standards meaning computers
other than DEC could interface with
provided open
made by vendors
the system.
.
6. DEC is one of the top 3 computer vendors in the
world.
-3-
7.
.
DEC's service and
excellent.
.
maintenance organization is
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8.
The industry trend is towards UNIX as the operating
system of choice. This proposed City system is a
UNIX platform. RMS/CAD systems will be able to
become UNIX in the future.
9. The proposed City system by DEC is RISC (reduce
instruction set computing) based. RISC
architecture is the latest and most advanced
hardware efficiency technology in the industry.
tt
Omnicom's hardware recommendation for the CAD/RMS upgrade was
a Dual Host VAX 4000 configuration. It was noted that this
recommendation would also provide sufficient processing power
to support up to 200 MDT's and ensure adequate capacity to
accommodate system growth into the next decade. The upgrade
to the VAX 4000 RMS system would permit increased storage for
several more years in terms or more criminal history records
and improved response times for operators at the terminals.
The recommended upgrade to the City system was a VAX 5500
which, in their opinion, appeared to be the best computer
system in terms of memory and storage capacity to meet the
City's computer needs for the next 5 years. The estimated
increase in performance through this upgrade was
approximately at 400%. In addition, up to 300 users could be
accommodated along with significant enhancements in the areas
of disk storage. This system will also permit the existing
PICK operating system to operate under the UNIX operating
system.
Negotiations were initiated with Digital Equipment
Corporation in terms of exploring the feasibility of
purchasing this type of computer configuration. DEC was
approached on the premise that, as the manufacturer, they
could potentially offer a total package at a reduced price.
DEC has offered a 30% reduction in the listed prices. The
approximate cost to purchase this system including network
and systems management, office automation, personal computer
connectivity, system implementation services along with a 5
year maintenance agreement is estimated at approximately $1.5
million dollars. Omnicom has reviewed DEC's proposal and
recommends that strong consideration be given to pursuing
this purchase based on the price and the nature of the
package.
The Council Data Processing Ad Hoc Committee reviewed this
proposal on 2/22/91 and supported proceeding with the
purchase of the system.
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with respect to financing of the purchase, an analysis has
been prepared by Finance. This analysis assumes a five year
lease/purchase for the hardware at a total cost of
$1,207,000. The annual maintenance costs are approximately
$lOO,OOO/year. Assuming implementation of the RMS and CAD
systems in May 1991 and the business system in July 1991, the
net additional cost in FY 1990/91 is $96,000. This cost
would be funded through available Police Department funding
sources including existing funds and asset seizure funds in
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the amount of $41,000 and $55,000 respectlvely. The net
additional cost for FY 1991/2 is approximately $193,000 which
would be funded through increased departmental user charges.
The net costs for the succeeding four years are estimated at
$123,000 for FY 1992/93, $104,000 for FY 1993/94, $83,000 for
FY 1994/95 and $45,000 for FY 1995/96.
It is recommended that the
to finalize negotiations
Equipment Corporation VAX
systems.
Mayor and Council authorize staff
for the purchase of the Digital
4000 and DEC System 5500 computer
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