City Council
A $58,283 bill in overlooked interest is all that's left to own 2,000 Dell devices.
The city's IT department is working to run Pittsburgh's computer network in-house. Now, council has agreed to move forward with a $95,440 one-year contract with an outside firm to help with that shift. Council also advanced a $58,283 interest payment the budget missed on a Dell lease-to-own deal. That would finish buying over 2,000 Dell devices.
Written by Amy Whipple
Pittsburgh is $58,283 away from owning over 2,000 Dell devices used by city employees.
The Department of Innovation and Performance (DIP) asked for council’s approval to pay the remaining balance to Dell Financial Services.
Zoe Burns, senior manager of the service desk, said the city had a four-year lease-to-own agreement with Dell. The budget did not reflect the $58,283 in interest that was included in the contract.
Sylvia Harris, DIP’s acting director, said, “It just got missed, is what it looked like.”
DIP also requested $95,440 for a one-year agreement with ePlus Technology, Inc. for general networking and IT support to augment the existing internal team.
Harris said that Tom Juip, who works for ePlus, designed the city’s network. “We need [him] to help us stand up some connections that we have, and also to be able to document this” as the department brings everything in-house.
According to the legislation, the network includes connections for Google Cloud Platform, the city’s data repository, as well as internet circuits that provide connectivity between approximately 120 City of Pittsburgh facilities, the majority of which are public safety facilities.
Council agreed to move forward with both requests. Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park gave the idea of moving networking services completely in-house “two thumbs up.”
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