Board of Estimate and Contract:
RESOLVED, that an Ordinance adopted by the City Council on May 13, 2026, and signed by the Mayor on May 15, 2026, authorizing the Mayor to Enter into a 24-Month Managed Server, Storage, and Backup Services Agreement with Hi-Link Technology Group Through SHI International Corp. Pursuant to Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI - (the proposed agreement authorizes monthly payments in the amount of Four Thousand Six Hundred Fifty-Six Dollars and Ninety-One Cents ($4,656.91), for a total contract amount not to exceed One Hundred Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars and Eighty-Four Cents ($111,765.84); funding for the first year of the agreement shall be charged to Budget Code A1680.203 (Equipment). Funding for subsequent years shall be subject to appropriation through the City’s annual budget process); be, and the same is hereby approved.
City Council:
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR
TO ENTER INTO A 24-MONTH MANAGED
SERVER, STORAGE, AND BACKUP SERVICES
AGREEMENT WITH HI-LINK TECHNOLOGY
GROUP THROUGH SHI INTERNATIONAL
CORP. PURSUANT TO SOURCEWELL
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING
CONTRACT NO. 121923-SHI
Whereas, by correspondence dated May 8, 2026, the Commissioner of the Department of Management Services formally requested that the City Council authorize the Mayor to enter into a twenty-four (24) month Managed Server, Storage, and Backup Services Agreement with Hi-Link Technology Group through SHI International Corp., pursuant to Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI, together with such related documents as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Ordinance; and
Whereas, the Department of Management Services has requested authorization for the City of Mount Vernon to enter into a twenty-four (24) month Managed Server, Storage, and Backup Services Agreement with Hi-Link Technology Group through SHI International Corp. pursuant to Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI; and
Whereas, the proposed agreement authorizes monthly payments in the amount of Four Thousand Six Hundred Fifty-Six Dollars and Ninety-One Cents ($4,656.91), for a total contract amount not to exceed One Hundred Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars and Eighty-Four Cents ($111,765.84); and
Whereas, the agreement includes an option to extend on an annual basis upon mutual written agreement of the parties; and
Whereas, the City’s current server infrastructure is operating in an unsupported and vulnerable condition, creating significant operational, cybersecurity, and continuity risks for municipal departments and the Mount Vernon Police Department; and
Whereas, the City’s prior information technology support vendor, Softchoice, was awarded the server support contract through the City’s competitive procurement process but was unable to perform required Dell VxRail firmware updates because such updates are restricted to Dell Technologies as the original equipment manufacturer; and
Whereas, the inability to maintain current firmware prevented the City from operating a supported virtualization platform and required the City to downgrade its VMware virtualization environment; and
Whereas, following the downgrade, Broadcom, the VMware licensor, declined to provide technical support due to the unsupported software revision notwithstanding the existence of an active support agreement; and
Whereas, the City’s support contract with Softchoice expired in April 2026, and the City’s backup infrastructure support contract has also expired, leaving critical systems without vendor-backed support coverage; and
Whereas, the City explored restoring direct support services through Dell Technologies, but Dell required retroactive payment for the prior unsupported year before reinstating coverage, which the Department of Management Services determined would not provide sufficient operational value or fiscal justification; and
Whereas, Hi-Link Technology Group has proposed a comprehensive managed technology solution under Service Order No. HL09031 that addresses the City’s infrastructure, virtualization, backup, and support needs through a single coordinated engagement; and
Whereas, the proposed services include:
1. The provision of three (3) Cisco Hyper-V server hosts and HPE SAN storage systems at both City Hall and the Mount Vernon Police Department under a rental model that eliminates the need for a substantial upfront capital expenditure;
2. A controlled and staged migration of all existing workloads from the current VMware environment to Microsoft Hyper-V infrastructure in order to minimize operational disruption;
3. Deployment and configuration of a new Veeam backup solution to replace the expired backup infrastructure; and
4. Twenty-four (24) hour per day, seven (7) day per week hardware and infrastructure support for all covered systems, including the Police Department environment; and
Whereas, the Department of Management Services recommends the twenty-four (24) month agreement term over a shorter twelve (12) month term because enterprise server infrastructure requires long-term operational stability, predictable budgeting, and continuity of support services; and
Whereas, the agreement provides the City with a predictable monthly operating expense and preserves flexibility through annual renewal options beyond the initial term; and
Whereas, this procurement is being conducted pursuant to Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI (Technology Products & Solutions) through SHI International Corp., which satisfies all applicable procurement requirements without the necessity of a separate competitive bidding process; and
Whereas, Year One costs in the approximate amount of Fifty-Five Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty-Two Dollars and Ninety-Two Cents ($55,882.92) shall be charged to Budget Code A1680.203 (Equipment), and Year Two funding shall be incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2027 departmental budget request; and
Whereas, implementation of the project shall be coordinated between Hi-Link Technology Group and the Department of Management Services, including migration scheduling, testing, and deployment activities; and
Whereas, all City departments utilizing the shared server infrastructure shall benefit from this agreement, and the Mount Vernon Police Department shall additionally receive dedicated local twenty-four (24) hour per day, seven (7) day per week vendor-backed hardware support; and
Whereas, this procurement utilizes a cooperative purchasing contract and therefore does not require a bid opening before the Board of Estimate and Contract, and no enforcement activity is associated with this agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Authorization to Execute Agreement. The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to execute a twenty-four (24) month Managed Server, Storage, and Backup Services Agreement with Hi-Link Technology Group through SHI International Corp., pursuant to Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI, together with all related documents necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Ordinance.
Section 2. Term of Agreement. The agreement authorized herein shall commence upon execution and shall remain in effect for a period of twenty-four (24) months. The agreement may thereafter be extended on an annual basis by mutual written agreement of the parties, subject to any required approvals and appropriations.
Section 3. Contract Amount. The total amount authorized under this Ordinance shall not exceed One Hundred Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars and Eighty-Four Cents ($111,765.84), payable in monthly installments of Four Thousand Six Hundred Fifty-Six Dollars and Ninety-One Cents ($4,656.91).
Section 4. Funding Authorization. Funding for the first year of the agreement shall be charged to Budget Code A1680.203 (Equipment). Funding for subsequent years shall be subject to appropriation through the City’s annual budget process.
Section 5. Procurement Compliance. The City Council hereby determines that procurement through Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract No. 121923-SHI satisfies all applicable procurement and purchasing requirements of the City of Mount Vernon and applicable law.
Section 6. Implementation Authority. The Department of Management Services is hereby authorized to coordinate implementation of the agreement, including migration scheduling, system testing, deployment activities, and related operational planning with Hi-Link Technology Group.
Section 7. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or part of this Ordinance shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the specific provision directly involved in the controversy.
Section 8. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon adoption by the City Council and subsequent approval by the Board of Estimate and Contract.