To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marc Shorr, Information Technology Director
Report Title: Purchase Order for IBM MLC Software.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent, on behalf of the Chief Information Officer, to execute a purchase order with IBM in an amount not to exceed $165,000 for the renewal of Monthly License Charge software, maintenance and support, subject to the terms of IBM’s Customer Agreement, for the period of July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost is charged to the user department. 100% User Departments.
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Information Technology’s (DOIT) Operations and Enterprise Services staff manage the County’s mainframe system, which includes management of required software maintenance and support. IBM’s Monthly License Charge (MLC) software products collectively enhance the capabilities of the County’s z/OS mainframe environment, providing robust solutions for data management, security, printing, performance monitoring, and application development. The products and key features of the IBM MLC software are listed below:
1) z/OS Version 2 Base is the core operating system for the County’s mainframe system providing essential services for running the County’s enterprise applications, as well as reliability and availability needed for mission-critical applications.
2) Data Facility Sort (DFSORT) is IBM's high-performance sort, merge, copy, and data manipulation utility for z/OS, which helps staff efficiently reformat, filter and analyze large volumes of data, and is optimized for speed and resource utilization.
4) Infoprint Server for z/OS enables enterprise printing and electronic output solutions for County production jobs and allows for seamless integration with other z/OS applications and data sources.
5) Resource Measurement Facility (RMF) is a performance monitoring and reporting tool for z/OS mainframe systems which enables staff real-time monitoring of mainframe system performance and can provide detailed reports on mainframe system utilization and performance metrics.
6) System Display and Search Facility (SDSF) provides staff with tools for monitoring and managing system activity on the z/OS mainframe and enables staff to execute system commands and manage system logs.
7) The Security Server, which includes Resource Access Control Facility (RACF), provides security services for z/OS mainframe environments and provides staff with tools for auditing and ensuring compliance with security policies
8) Enterprise COBOL is a compiler for developing COBOL applications on z/OS and allows for seamless integration with z/OS features and services.
9) Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) Download Plus provides enhanced AFP printing capabilities, converts various data formats for AFP printing, supports high-quality, high-volume printing needs and a variety of printers and output formats.
10) Print Services Facility (PSF) for z/OS manages the printing of AFP documents and provides centralized management of print jobs, controls formatting and routing of print output and works with other z/OS printing tools and applications.
11) Customer Information Control System Transaction Server (CICS TS) is a transaction processing system for z/OS mainframe environments, which handles high-volume, high-speed transactions, scales to support large numbers of concurrent users’ transactions and integrates with existing applications and data.
12) Print Services Access Facility (PSAF) provides access to print services in the County’s z/OS mainframe environment, submits print jobs to various printers, manages print resources and queues.
13) PPFA/370 Page Printer Formatting Aid (PPFA/370) and Overlay Generation Language (OGL/370) are tools for creating and managing print resources. PPFA allows detailed formatting for print jobs, and OGL helps create reusable overlays for printed documents. Together these provide the county staff with customization options for complex printing needs.
14) Data Interfile Transfer, Testing, and Operations Utility (Ditto System/360-370) is a mainframe utility for data manipulation and testing on System/360-370, which facilitates data transfer between different formats and systems, provides county staff with tools for testing and verifying data and supports various data operations such as copying and comparing.
IBM provides sole-source services as the products are highly customized for the County’s mainframe system/environment. DOIT is continuing with IBM for continuity of service. IBM’s Customer Agreement (ICA) contains a limitation of IBM’s liability up to the greater of $100,000 or the charges (if recurring, 12 months' charges apply) for the Product or Service that is the subject of the claim.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without these software solutions, the County’s z/OS mainframe environment would face significant operational challenges, including inefficiencies, security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and increased complexity in managing system resources and applications. These impacts could lead to higher operational costs, increased risk of system downtime, and potential non-compliance with industry regulations.