The Information Technology (IT) Department is requesting the appropriation of funding in the amount of $624,300, to purchase a Disaster Recovery Solution. The City’s goal is to establish an offsite replication infrastructure at Utilities South Regional Water Treatment Plant, a hardened facility, for the placement of additional network, storage, servers, and proper software licensing to extend critical applications and data served citywide during any natural or man-made disaster. Restoration equipment is needed to provide IT services during recovery. Currently, the department backs up the critical data needed but is unable to restore this data in the event of equipment loss centrally located at City Hall. At the recommendations of auditors, establishing a Disaster Recovery site is a crucial need of the City to continue IT operations in support of City services in the event of a disruption of service or disaster. The upfront cost of the Disaster Solution is estimated at $624,300, which includes licenses and network hardware cost.

Staff is requesting the appropriation of funding for this project, and will request Council consideration for procurement at a future Council meeting.