CDT's Top IT Goods Buys in August

The state technology agency made 15 purchases of IT goods last month, with the five most expensive buys representing a combined spend of more than $1.1 million. Here’s more detail, with rounding, on the California Department of Technology’s five most expensive IT goods purchases in August, the second month of the state’s 2020-2021 Fiscal Year. All demonstrate state agencies’ regular need to renew and update technology subscriptions.

• $627,000 with Oracle systems integrator Mythics Inc. for one year of Oracle software license subscription and support renewal. The contract period is Aug. 31-Aug. 30, 2021. It’s unclear what state department or agency this would support; but as an RFQ this spring affirmed, major departments utilize the software giant’s products.

• $317,000 with Taborda Solutions Inc. for an on-prem Splunk Enterprise upgrade. The contract period is Aug. 1-July 31, 2021. Here again, it’s not clear exactly how this will be used — but state agencies that use or have used Splunk include the departments of Motor Vehicles and Consumer Affairs.

• $79,000 with Enterprise Networking Solutions Inc. (ENS-Inc) to renew a threat prevention subscription for a device in an HA pair, PA-5220 — likely a reference to the Palo Alto Networks enterprise firewall PA-5220 series. The contract period is just more than a year, Aug. 13-Oct. 31, 2021. Other state agencies contracting with the vendor include the California Department of Water Resources; its single largest IT goods purchase this year through June 30, at nearly $6.5 million, was for Palo Alto Networks firewall technology, on a statewide contract. CDT made another purchase with Palo Alto in June.

• $73,000 with The StateStore Inc. to renew a Trend Micro data privacy and encryption module and enhance it to InterScan Messaging Security Virtual Appliance (IMSVA) 8.2 and higher — a multi-tiered integration of spam prevention and anti-phishing as well as antivirus tech and anti-spyware. The contract term is Aug. 15-Aug. 14, 2021. StateStore is a supplier on the California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS) and a Certified Small Business, according to its website.

• $46,000 with InterSystems Corp. for an annual software renewal of MNF-Ensemble Elite — likely a reference to its Ensemble multi-model data repository platform — “dedicated to DHCS only,” the Department of Health Care Services. The Massachusetts company’s software supports government, health-care systems and businesses. The contract term is Aug. 1-July 31, 2021.