HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 - Police Department CAD & RMS Systems UpgradeCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item No. 10
June 14, 2005
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Paul Henisey, Support Services Division Commander
Bob McDonell, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PURCHASE TO
UPGRADE POLICE DEPARTMENT CAD AND RMS SYSTEMS
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve the sole source purchase from Northrup Grumman to upgrade
the Police Department's Computer Aided Dispatch and Records
Management Systems' Computer Hardware and associated operating
system software in an amount not to exceed $320,000 from the Police
Department's Support Services Division Computer Capital Purchases
Account #1820 -9010.
2. Authorize the Police Department to negotiate the terms of the Purchase
Agreement subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney, and
execution of the document by the City Manager.
DISCUSSION:
Background:
The current Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management Systems
(RMS) for the Police Department operate on two Hewlett Packard (HP) 9000 UNIX
Computers. The CAD /RMS software has been in operation at the Police Department
for over seven years and continues to meet our needs. However, the existing HP
computer hardware and operating system has reached the end of its service life. As a
result it is necessary for the Police Department to replace the HP computer hardware
and move our existing CAD /RMS software to the new replacement platform. This will
extend the useful life of our CAD /RMS systems for at least another four to five years.
Replacement of Computer Hardware
To illustrate the end of life issue for the computer hardware, HP will no longer support
the four primary hard disc drives in our existing HP computers after June 30, 2005. We
cannot replace these drives with HP equipment as the drives are no longer
Northrup Grumman Software and Hardware Purchase Approval
June 14, 2005
Page 2
manufactured since they are old technology. The Department is currently paying
$41,000 per year to Northrup Grumman just for the HP system software and hardware
maintenance, and we will see an increase in support to $43,000 next year. The only
reason the annual maintenance cost is not going even higher, is because the four drives
mentioned above, are not covered by the new annual maintenance fee and therefore;
they will only be eligible for service on a "time and materials" basis (in addition to the
maintenance agreement costs). The latter assumes parts will still be available at the
time of the required repair.
Additionally, in FY 2006 -07, both HP UNIX computers and all remaining equipment
running our CAD /RMS will then need to be replaced, since they will no longer be eligible
for an HP annual maintenance contract. Service will only be available for those pieces
of equipment on a "time and materials" basis as well. The risk of having unsupportable
hardware for the Police Department's mission critical functions like the CAD /RMS
systems, is not an appropriate one under these circumstances.
As a result of all these facts, it is recommended the Department migrate to a Microsoft
Windows /Dell -based Server Platform purchased through our CAD /RMS vendor,
Northrup Grumman. The total cost for this system will not exceed $320,000. It is
important to reiterate that the Police Department will continue to use the existing
Northrup Grumman CAD /RMS software; however, we will just be moving both systems
over to a new computer hardware platform.
One of the primary reasons to move to a Dell platform is not only its lower purchase
cost but also because there are no separate hardware support costs as compared to
our existing HP computers, saving the Police Department $43,000 next year. Not only
will the Police Department realize savings in support costs by upgrading now to a
Windows based system, the Department will have standardized all of our computerized
systems onto Windows -based Dell Server computers, greatly simplifying maintenance,
support and functionality issues for our MIS staff.
This acquisition is recommended as a sole source purchase because the CAD and
RMS software the Police Department currently uses was purchased from and is
currently supported by Northrup Grumman. As noted above, the Department will
continue to use the same CAD /RMS software on the new computer hardware and the
only company capable of insuring a smooth transfer of that existing software to the new
hardware platform is Northrup Grumman. They will also provide future software and
hardware support through a renewed maintenance contract. It is crucial that one
company be the sole provider of both hardware and software support to ensure the
effective and rapid response to operational problems in these critical response systems
upon which the Police Department relies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It
occasionally becomes a "fine line" between what is a hardware versus a software
problem in a complex computer system (like our CAD and RMS Systems). We surely
do not want to be caught up in that struggle.
Northrup Grumman Software and Hardware
Fundino Availability:
Purchase Approval
June 14, 2005
Page 3
The funds for this purchase are available in the Support Services Division Computer
Capital Purchases Account #1820 -9010. The City Manager and the Administrative
Services Director have approved this purchase.
Prepared and Submitted by:
Paul Henisey, Captain
Support Services Division Commander
Approved by:
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Bob McDonell
CHIEF OF POLICE