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), and a related service agreement with NetApp, in an amount not to exceed $2,473 to provide secure electronic data storage, support, and maintenance for the period of June 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost is included in the Department’s FY25-26 budget. 100% General Fund.
BACKGROUND:
The Elections Division stores the entirety of its electronic data on one clustered NetApp System. This solution has been serving the division well for over 5 years. NetApp storage systems are known for their reliability and high performance and redundancy, which is necessary when handling the Election server files (Sharedocs) data and datastores hosting virtual machines (VMs).
NetApp storage solutions are highly scalable, allowing the Elections Division to easily expand capacity and data needs. 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 Elections Division safeguard data against unauthorized access, data loss, and downtime. The management tools provided by the NetApp allow Election IT 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 Elections IT team will lose access to NetApp technical support, increasing the risk of prolonged downtime during critical election periods. Without vendor assistance, staff may be unable to resolve system issues quickly, raising the likelihood of data loss and delays in restoring essential election systems. Lack of support also means no firmware updates, security patches, or software upgrades, leaving the storage environment, and the election data it houses, vulnerable to security threats and compatibility failures. This significantly heightens the risk of extended outages if key components fail.