Austin Council to Consider Nearly $23M in Technology Contracts

The Austin City Council is set to consider nearly $23 million in technology contract authorizations Thursday, including a major expansion of the city’s Salesforce agreement, enterprise information management software and a workforce training platform.

The largest of the three items would add $19.5 million to an existing contract with Carahsoft Technology Corp. for Salesforce software, maintenance and support used across city departments. Approval would increase the contract’s total authorization from $6.5 million to $26 million during its five-year term.

The amendment would also expand the city’s use of Salesforce to include the company’s Energy & Utilities Cloud, which Austin plans to use for a new Utility Customer Service Portal. The platform would replace an Oracle Digital Self Service customer portal that is scheduled to reach the end of its supported life in April 2027.

According to city documents, the new portal would support bill payments, automatic payments, usage information, outage information, service requests and customer preference management. The amendment also covers licensing, implementation, system integrations, ongoing operations, maintenance and consulting support.

Austin said the project would expand licensing for 473,242 registered users and launch a modernized bilingual customer portal with an interface compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Of the proposed $19.5 million increase, $18 million is available in Fiscal Year 2026-27 operating budgets across city departments. Another $1.46 million is available through Austin Energy operating and capital budgets for FY 2025-26.

Council will also consider a contract worth up to $3 million with The IQ Business Group Inc. for OpenText Enterprise Information Management Software used by Austin Technology Services. The initial term would run three years with two optional one-year extensions.

Austin uses the OpenText software to manage documents that must be available to the public, including contract records, City Council meeting postings and agendas as well as documents from city boards and commissions. The system also provides a searchable interface for internal and external users and allows city staff to scan, upload, catalog and annotate document metadata.

The proposed agreement would replace an existing contract that expires Sept. 14. The IQ Business Group is the city’s current provider for the services. Austin said delaying approval could affect its ability to make required online documents available under open meetings requirements and other state and federal laws.

A third item would authorize a contract of up to $480,000 with Carahsoft for LinkedIn Learning Hub for Government. The agreement would run for one year with two optional one-year extensions at $160,000 annually.

The platform provides city employees access to more than 24,000 courses covering areas including project management, construction management, budgeting, analytical skills, business analysis, leadership and software systems. Austin said the resource supports employee training, retention and succession planning.

That agreement would replace an existing contract scheduled to expire Oct. 4. City documents state that a delay in approving the replacement could interrupt ongoing employee training and succession planning.