Staff Report: Off-site Backup and Disaster Recovery Services – Award of RFP
Recommendation to award a contract for off-site backup and disaster recovery services to Storagepipe Solutions Inc.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT
TO: Council DATE: August 27, 2018 FROM: D. Christenson, Director of Finance MEETING DATE: September 4, 2018
Off-site Backup and Disaster Recovery Services – Award of RFP
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Storagepipe Solutions Inc. be awarded the contract for off-site backup and “warm site” disaster recovery services for a value of $115,270 plus applicable taxes based on a 60-month term, plus incremental costs for these services due to future growth of data volume, if required.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE ADMINISTRATION’S COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
DIRECTOR OF PROTECTIVE SERVICES’ COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
PURPOSE OF REPORT:
To consider a 5-year contract for offsite backup and disaster recovery services in the event of a disaster or other unforeseen circumstance.
DISCUSSION:
During the 2018-2022 Financial Plan discussions, Council approved the Offsite Business Continuity project that included both capital and operational budget increments (see Project Summary C-39 attached). One of the elements needed to deliver this project is an arrangement with an off-Vancouver Island service provider that can provide both backup and disaster recovery services.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on May 16, 2018 and five proponents submitted proposals before the closing date of June 18, 2018. The evaluation team scored each proposal on the following weighted criteria:
| Weighted Criteria | Weight |
|---|---|
| Corporate experience and references | 15% |
| Team and resource qualifications and experience | 20% |
| Proposed solution/services and proposed implementation timeline, assumptions and View Royal responsibilities | 35% |
| Cost | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Based on the RFP criteria, the highest-ranked two proponents were invited to present their solution to provide a better understanding of the proposal and its fit to View Royal’s technical environment and objectives. The following describes the final result of the evaluation process:
| Proponent | Price 30 points | All other criteria 70 points | Total 100 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storagepipe Solutions Inc. | 19 | 69 | 88 |
| Server Cloud Canada Inc. | 30 | 46 | 76 |
While Server Cloud Canada Inc. scored higher based on the lowest price, a closer look at the solution identified that while their solution met the basic criteria, their offering and experience is not the best fit for our technology environment.
Storagepipe is a Toronto-based firm that uses proven technology for backup and disaster recovery services and has been doing so for 16 years. Their solution is flexible and scalable to fit View Royal as its needs change. They also offer disk and media archiving services which may become important in the future to electronic records management. The evaluation team recommends that View Royal contract with Storagepipe Solutions Inc. for the provision of offsite backup and disaster recovery services.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
The amount budgeted for 2018 for this project is sufficient to fund the implementation and monthly costs of the recommended solution for the remainder of the year. The 2019 Financial Plan includes operational funding of $23,300 (plus 2% inflation annually) for the ongoing offsite backup and disaster recovery services component of the Offsite Business Continuity project, which will need to be increased slightly (<$1,000) to accommodate the recommended solution.
The RFP invited proponents to provide options for recovery of computer systems within one business day (or less), and specifically for a 4-hour return to operations service. Storagepipe Solutions Inc. proposed the following alternatives, either of which would meet the objectives of this project:
| Option | Disaster recovery | Offsite backups | Annual operational costs (includes PST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | “Warm site” data replication to facilitate access from anywhere with internet connection within 24-48 hours of failure | Reciprocal backups at Town Hall, Public Safety Building and at the secure data centre in Toronto, encrypted in transit and at rest | $2,020 / month $24,240 / year $121,200 over 5 years |
| B | “Hot site” data replication to facilitate access from anywhere with internet connection within 4 hours of failure | Reciprocal backups at Town Hall, Public Safety Building and at the secure data centre in Toronto, encrypted in transit and at rest | $2,825 / month $33,900 / year $169,500 over 5 years |
The difference between these two options is time and money – specifically the amount of time it takes for the service provider to return View Royal to normal operations after a catastrophic disaster of some or all its computer systems versus the incremental cost of about $10,000 per year.
In addition to the operational costs, Storagepipe’s proposal includes a one-time capital cost of $2,000 (plus PST) for installation and configuration of the services applicable with either of the options shown above. Storagepipe would install backup appliances at both Town Hall and the Public Safety Building and would retain the responsibility for any ongoing maintenance and replacement of the hardware. As View Royal’s data grows beyond its current state, additional backup storage requirements would add to the monthly cost at a rate of $75.00 per terabyte of data.
The IT Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan approved by Council in 2015 and discussions with other View Royal staff, including the Emergency Program Officer, confirm that the timely recovery of and access to electronic data is not as critical as other priorities immediately following a catastrophic disaster. In the event there is a partial failure of one or more servers, staff can use workarounds to facilitate critical operations until systems are restored within a reasonable (1-2 day) timeline. For example, if the financial system server fails, cheques, purchase orders, and time logs can be written and tracked manually.
Option A (offsite backups with “warm site” disaster recovery service) represents the best value to View Royal as it provides multiple layers of redundant backups and data replication at Town Hall, the Public Safety Building and a secure data centre off-island at a cost very close (<$1,000) to budget. The proposed 60-month contract would commit View Royal to a total of $123,340 net of rebateable taxes as follows:
| Component | Before tax | PST* | Total budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set up and installation (capital funding) | $2,000 | $140 | $2,140 |
| Offsite backup and disaster recovery services (operational funding) | 113,270 | 7,930 | 121,200 |
| Total | $115,270 | $8,070 | $123,340 |
| *GST is not considered in this calculation, as it is 100% rebateable. |
Alternatively, if Council wishes to implement Option B (offsite backups with “hot site” disaster recovery service), the financial plan would need to be amended to increase the operational budget by approximately $10,000 per year.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Storagepipe Solutions Inc. be awarded the contract for off-site backup and “warm site” disaster recovery services for a value of $115,270 plus applicable taxes based on a 60-month term, plus incremental costs for these services due to future growth of data volume, if required.
SUBMITTED BY: D. Christenson, Director of Finance
REVIEWED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer
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