Summary#
Montréal city council unanimously approved its position in favour of awarding a direct contract to Compugen inc., through its agreement with the Centre d’acquisitions gouvernementales. The proposed purchase is 150 perpetual Windows Server licences and eight perpetual SQL Server licences, with software assurance, for a maximum of $563,675.22, taxes included. City staff say the goal is to maintain licence use and upgrade rights and support the City’s technology systems.
- The proposed contract price is $490,152.36, taxes included, plus a contingency of up to $73,522.86, taxes included.
- The City’s IT Service would use the licences for infrastructure modernization and the M-IRIS police operations system.
- The resolution authorizes the Director of Infrastructure and Operations in the IT Service to sign documents related to the contract.
- The agglomeration council makes the final decision at a later meeting.
What it means for you#
- Residents: The decision does not directly change a service, fee, or eligibility rule. City staff say the licences support systems used for services including policing, water operations, snow removal, libraries, and recreation.
- City IT staff: The proposed licences would add capacity for the City’s Microsoft server infrastructure and its M-IRIS police system. The resolution does not require staff to change how residents use those services.
- Taxpayers: The spending is assigned to two City technology projects and financed through borrowing bylaws. The materials do not say what effect, if any, this has on individual tax bills.
Money#
The proposed maximum spending is $563,675.22, taxes included; no separate cost estimate is provided.
- $327,553.03, taxes included, is assigned to infrastructure and IT-platform modernization. The materials list $299,099.58 net of tax rebates and say it would be financed under borrowing bylaws RCG 24-032 and 24-026. The agglomeration share is 49.6%.
- $236,122.19, taxes included, is assigned to M-IRIS police-system modernization. The materials list $215,611.03 net of tax rebates and say it would be financed under borrowing bylaw RCG 24-032.
- The contingency is for possible licence price increases because prices under the Centre’s agreement are updated monthly.
What is unclear#
- The materials do not give the duration of the software assurance or a schedule for using the licences.
- They do not say how much of the contingency is expected to be spent.
- No bid count or price comparison is provided for this direct award, so the materials do not show how the price compares with alternatives.
Case for#
- City staff say Microsoft infrastructure supports more than 900 City servers and many systems used in municipal operations. Maintaining licences and upgrade rights could help keep those systems running.
- The purchase combines infrastructure licences with added SQL Server capacity for M-IRIS, which staff say could improve that system’s performance.
- Buying through the Centre’s existing agreement gives the City a stated procurement route for Microsoft products.
Case against#
- The contract is a direct award, and the materials provide no bid count or comparison for this purchase. Readers therefore cannot assess from these materials whether another offer would have cost less.
- The contingency adds up to $73,522.86, but the materials do not show how likely the price increases are or how much of the contingency will be needed.
- The materials describe expected benefits, but do not set out measurable performance targets for the systems or how the City will report whether those benefits occur.