To: Board of Supervisors
From: Kristin Connelly, Clerk-Recorder
Report Title: Purchase Order with General Datatech, L.P. for NetApp Support and Maintenance
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent, on behalf of the Clerk-Recorder, to execute a purchase order with General Datatech, LP (GDT) in an amount not to exceed $5,746, and a related service agreement with NetApp, to provide secure electronic data storage, support, and maintenance for the period April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total purchase of $5,746 will not have any impact on the General Fund as it will be funded 100% by the Department’s Recorder Micrographics/Modernization Fund.
Extending the support saves the Department money, once support runs out, and the servers reach end-of-life, they must be replaced.
BACKGROUND:
The Clerk-Recorder’s office stores the entirety of its electronic data on two clustered NetApp Systems. This solution has been serving the department well for over the last 15 years. NetApp storage systems are known for their reliability and high performance, which is necessary when handling the public record which is stored in perpetuity.
NetApp storage solutions are highly scalable, allowing the Clerk-Recorder to easily expand capacity and data needs. Since 2006 the department has gone from 5TB of storage to 216TB of storage. This scalability ensures that business operations can adapt to changing requirements without disrupting overall operations.
NetApp offers robust data protection features, including built-in data encryption, data backup, and disaster recovery solutions. These features help the Clerk-Recorder safeguard data against unauthorized access, data loss, and downtime.
The management tools provided by the NetApp allow Clerk-Recorder administrators centralized control and visibility over the storage infrastructure. This simplifies storage provisioning, monitoring, and troubleshooting, leading to improved operational efficiency and real time redundancy.
By executing this purchase order, the County is agreeing to defend, indemnify, and hold NetApp harmless for any claims arising out of its performance under the purchase order agreement.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this authorization is not approved the Department’s IT team will not have access to technical assistance from NetApp which can lead to prolonged downtime. The Department’s IT team will struggle to address technical challenges efficiently, leading to delays in resolving issues and potential data loss without the expertise of NetApp support. With no support, this also means no access to firmware updates, security patches, and software upgrades, this will leave the NetApp units and all the public records vulnerable to security threats and may cause compatibility issues with other systems and software. This would increase the risk of extended downtime and data loss if critical components fail.