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1 <br /> ORD-2023-005 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: January 17, 2023 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-i <br /> SUBJECT: Microsoft Office 365 Contract and Approval of Budget Amendment #5-B <br /> DEPARTMENT: Information Technologies (IT) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Jim Northrup, Chief Information Officer, <br /> 1. Year-to-Date Budget Summary 919.245.2276 <br /> Kirk Vaughn, Budget Director, <br /> 919.245.2153 <br /> PURPOSE: To: <br /> • Approve the purchase of Microsoft Office 365 subscription licenses from Software House <br /> International Corp., for $403,195.97 paid annually (NC State Contract #208C) using the <br /> County Attorney's contract template; <br /> • Approve the associated Microsoft Volume Licensing Enrollment Agreement which was <br /> originated by the vendor and is in line with industry standards while meeting policy <br /> requirements and legal sufficiency; and <br /> • approve Budget Amendment #5-B. <br /> BACKGROUND: Orange County computer users utilize Microsoft Office products to aid them <br /> with productivity. The current version of Office installed on the majority of computers is over seven <br /> years old and will necessitate an upgrade in FY 2023-24. <br /> Since spring 2022, Orange County IT has been conferring with Microsoft and its partners to <br /> undertake a license audit to ensure that the County was meeting compliance standards, i.e., the <br /> County was not utilizing any software not appropriately purchased. Upon completion of the audit, <br /> it was determined the current license compliance model falls outside of Microsoft standards for <br /> Exchange Email and Office. Through an oversight, new Office versions were installed on <br /> replacement computers rather than transferring the existing older licenses to the new computers. <br /> A similar process took place when upgrading Exchange to a different version. The server license <br /> was paid for, but the licenses that allow employees to connect were overlooked. <br /> After meeting with Microsoft regularly, all parties informally agreed to try to coincide bringing <br /> County software into compliance with the FY 2023-24 Budget cycle as a satisfactory remedy. <br /> Recently, however, Microsoft determined that the County needed to meet compliance standards <br /> immediately, resulting in the need for the current Board consideration. <br />