Submitted By: Christopher Ramos
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Presentation By: Christopher Ramos
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Department: Information Technology
FORMAL TITLE:
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Continued utilization of the State of Florida Alternative Source Contract with SHI International Corp. for the one-year renewal of Microsoft 365 cloud subscriptions, endpoint licenses, security tools, and AI licenses with an estimated aggregate expenditure amount of $578,413
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OCALA’S RELEVANT STRATEGIC GOALS:
Operational Excellence
PROOF OF PUBLICATION:
N/A
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BACKGROUND:
Since 2015, the City of Ocala has utilized Office 365, leveraging Microsoft's SaaS Cloud Solution. The continued use of this product guarantees the seamless and secure operation of City services across all devices within our environment. Additionally, the subscription brings forth the following benefits:
• The flexibility of working remotely and on multiple devices to access emails and Office products on different devices, such as smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops, without paying additional license fees for each device.
• AI chat, agents, notebooks, and AI integrations for Microsoft Office products
• Assurance we are adhering to rigorous compliance and security standards.
• Unlimited archiving with unified document discovery and legal hold functionality to comply with Florida Sunshine laws.
• Built-in resiliency and disaster recovery. Data is replicated to multiple data centers and is recoverable in the event of an emergency.
• Continuous threat and vulnerability management.
• Greater investigation capabilities.
• Protection of sensitive data wherever it lives or travels.
• Improved compliance controls for Payment Card Industry (PCI) and personally identifiable information (PII) data.
• Detection and identification of vulnerabilities and suspicious account sign-ins.
As a political subdivision of the state of Florida, the City of Ocala qualifies as an eligible user of Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) alternate contract source (ACS) agreements under Rule 60A-1.001, Florida Administrative Code. ACS agreements have been competitively solicited by governmental agencies and evaluated and determined by the Florida Secretary of Management Services to be cost-effective and to afford best value. DMS's ACS Agreement for Software Value Added Reseller (SVAR) Services, Alternate Contract Source (ACS) No. 43230000-23-NASPO-ACS, is effective for a four-year term commencing March 21, 2023, and ending April 24, 2027.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
SHI International Corp., Microsoft, and the City of Ocala IT Department completed an audit in March 2026 and found that the city’s use complied with the terms of our license agreement. Microsoft 365 Office products are used throughout the city to enhance productivity and provide a proven and secure platform for City business.
Staff recommends approval.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Funds for this purchase are budgeted in account 001-035-530-516-51-52045/001-035-530-516-51-52050 and will be charged to the City’s existing contract with SHI under Munis Contract No. 240527.
Contract 240527 was originally approved for $1,571,692.95, split over three years at $523,897.65 per year. To date, expenditure has reached $1,118,105.71, driven by two primary factors: the licensing requirements for newly hired staff and the implementation of Microsoft Copilot AI tools.
Below are the previous purchases under this contract:
Fiscal Year 2023-24: $523,898
Fiscal Year 2024-25: $588,945
Fiscal Year 2025-26 year-to-date expenses: $5,263
PROCUREMENT REVIEW:
This software was procured in compliance with the City’s Procurement Policy.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City’s standard and approved purchase order terms and conditions shall govern this purchase. Any conflicting terms and conditions offered by the supplier will be reviewed for form and legality by the City Attorney’s office.
ALTERNATIVE:
• Approve with Changes
• Table
• Deny