REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 18, 2025
FROM
LYNN FYHRLUND, Chief Information Officer, Innovation and Technology Department
SUBJECT
Title
Purchase Order with Sidepath, Inc. for VMware Software Subscription Licenses and Support Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Authorize the Purchasing Agent to issue purchase orders to Sidepath, Inc., an authorized VMware, Inc. reseller, to purchase VMware, Inc. software subscription licenses and support services through the California Participating Addendum No. 7-17-70-40-05 to the Utah National Association of State Procurement Officers Cloud Solutions Master Agreement No. AR2472 for a total not-to-exceed amount of $2,453,662, for the period from June 18, 2025, through September 15, 2026.
(Presenter: Lynn Fyhrlund, Chief Information Officer, 388-5501)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Innovation and Technology Department (ITD) operating costs are recovered via service rates approved annually by the Board of Supervisors (Board). Pursuant to the VMware, Inc. (VMware) process, software subscription licenses and support services will be purchased from Sidepath, Inc. (Sidepath), an authorized VMware reseller. The annual cost of current VMware software subscription licenses and support services is $484,554. The not-to-exceed amount of $2,453,662 will provide ITD the ability to purchase software subscription licenses and support services necessary to meet the needs of County departments through September 15, 2026. Sufficient appropriation is included in ITD’s 2024-25 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ITD maintains physical and virtual servers for County departments for the purpose of hosting County applications and data. A virtual server operates on a distinct virtual platform separate from a physical server and shares physical hardware with other servers. This allows multiple operating systems to run on the same physical server and achieves cost-savings compared to a physical server alone. ITD’s virtual environment consists of over 1,400 virtual servers and utilizes the VMware platform to provide these services. Without the virtual environment, ITD would need to add physical servers to replace the virtual servers, which would significantly increase costs.
Since 2020, the Board has approved VMware agreements and authorized purchase orders to authorized resellers for software subscription licenses and support services. ITD anticipates a continued increase in demand for virtual servers to host new applications from County departments. Due to the anticipated increase, ITD will migrate virtual servers from other platforms to the VMware platform to standardize virtualization technologies and increase supportability.
On April 26, 2022 (Item No. 58), the Board approved California Participating Addendum No. 7-17-70-40-05 to the Utah National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) Master Agreement No. AR2472 for Cloud Solutions with Carahsoft Technology Corporation for Countywide purchases of cloud solution services. The NASPO Master Agreement expires on September 15, 2026. All new orders for VMware software subscriptions and services under the Master Agreement must be placed prior to September 15, 2026. The subscription term for the licenses purchased may extend beyond that date and will be honored through the end of the term as stated on the order, not to extend beyond June 17, 2028. Indefinite or perpetual orders are not permitted.
Approval of the not-to-exceed amount of $2,453,662 with Sidepath will allow ITD to continue to provide these cost-effective services for County departments to meet the needs of County departments through September 15, 2026 and potentially for an additional period of time based on the last order placed.
The Couty’s virtual environment has continued to grow over the years, and ITD anticipates its licensing needs will continue to increase. This growth occurs in response to changing technology, updated security requirements, and support for additional users and systems as needed for both ITD and ITD-supported departments. Authorizing the Purchasing Agent to issue purchase orders for additional licenses will allow ITD to accommodate the County’s increasing demand for these services and allow flexibility when County departments’ project and business needs require quick turnaround times.
PROCUREMENT
NASPO is a cooperative purchasing program that helps facilitate public procurement and is able to provide competitive pricing options due to its collective purchasing power. While Carahsoft holds the Master Agreement, they solicit contracted vendors to provide quotes under the NASPO agreement.
The procurement under NASPO consists of a competitive process, recognized to meet County purchasing standards, conducted by a lead agency. Utah is assigned as the lead agency for NASPOS’s Master Agreement No. AR2472 for Cloud Solutions. Under this agreement, the State of California signed Participating Addendum No. 7-17-70-40-05 approving participation for the State, political subdivisions, and other eligible entities. As a political subdivision, the County is allowed to participate in this cooperative agreement.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Kaleigh Ragon, Deputy County Counsel, 387-4725) on June 9, 2025; Purchasing (Dylan Newton, Buyer III, 387-3377) on May 9, 2025; Risk Management (Stephanie Mead, Staff Analyst II, 386-9039) on May 8, 2025; Finance (Ivan Ramirez, Administrative Analyst, 387-4020) on May 20, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on May 23, 2025.