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Water & Wastewater Commission Review and Recommendation Government That Works For All COA Strategic Direction: March 11, 2020 Commission Meeting Date: Council Meeting Date: Department: Purchasing March 26, 2020 Client: Danielle Lord, Chris Stewart, Bill Stauber Agenda Item Recommend approval to negotiate and execute a contract with GE Digital, LLC, to provide software licensing and technical support, for a term of two years in an amount not to exceed $198,149. Funding is available in the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Operating Budget of Austin Water. Amount and Source of Funding Sole Source Purchasing Language: Prior Council Action: Boards and Commission Action: MBE/WBE: March 11, 2020 – To be reviewed by the Water and Wastewater Commission. Sole source contracts are exempt from the City Code Chapter 2-9C Minority Owned and Women Owned Business Enterprise Procurement Program; therefore, no subcontracting goals were established. The contract is for technical support, maintenance and license renewals for General Electric (GE) Proficy Globalcare software. This software is used in the daily operations of Austin Water treatment facilities including treatment plants, water distribution facilities and wastewater collection facilities. This software is part of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system which is required to monitor and control the process equipment at these facilities. It is a critical system for Austin Water operations and is used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This software is highly specialized, proprietary and is necessary for operation of the SCADA system. GE Digital Solutions, LLC owns the intellectual property of this software and does not have any resellers or allow others to provide associated services to users. This contract is necessary to continue to provide support to this software. A longer term contract was not pursued given rapidly changing technology in this area. Continued licensing and maintenance of this software is critical to supporting Austin Water key daily operations.