Subject:
Title
Purchase authorization with SHI, Inc, as requested by the Business Technology Services Department, for Security Operations Center, Security as a Service with Arctic Wolf LLC. for continuous cybersecurity monitoring service.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approval and execution by the County Administrator of the purchase authorization and execution of the agreement with SHI, Inc., utilizing State of Florida NASPO agreement NASPO Cloud Solutions 43230000-NASPO-16-ACS, as requested by the Business Technology Services Department (BTS), for Security Operations Center, Security as a Service with Arctic Wolf LLC., for continuous cybersecurity monitoring service.
• This purchase authorization will provide the County with essential IT security monitoring and response capabilities on a 24x7x365 basis via a contracted Security Operations Center service that will manage and monitor threat intelligence and activity such as logs, devices, cloud services and networks for security incidents, analyze the incident, and prioritize response efforts.
• This purchase authorization will implement strategic direction and policy of the BTS Board and County Security Panel aimed in the protections of information technology assets in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
• Leveraging this service will expand security monitoring from our current normal business operational hours accomplished with BTS internal staff, to a true 24x7x365 monitoring and response.
• This purchase authorization enables BTS to manage and account for required security provisions in response to a cybersecurity landscape that is becoming more challenging and threats ever evolving; the volume of threat intelligence (millions of events per day) has exceeded the capacity and capability of BTS internal staff to analyze and respond timely and efficiently.
• In addition, this purchase authorization is necessary to evaluate and analyze the volume of events and assist BTS with prioritization of response activities in the most fiscally responsible manner to protect County information assets.
• Pricing is per State of Florida NASPO agreement NASPO Cloud Solutions Contract No. 43230000-NASPO-16-ACS.
• The County Administrator has authority in any amount to award contracts competitively procured through the State of Florida, per Code Section 2-185.
Contract No. 22-0191-S(SCB) in the annual not to exceed amount of $305,993.60 through February 13, 2023. Funds are available for this purpose in the FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget.
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Strategic Plan:
Deliver First Class Services to the Public and Our Customers
5.2 Be responsible stewards of the public’s resources
5.3 Ensure effective and efficient delivery of county services and support
5.4 Strive to exceed customer expectations
Summary:
This purchase authorization provides a mechanism to monitor and respond to security events on a 24x7x365 basis. The Security Operations Center will manage and monitor logs, devices, cloud services and networks for security incidents. An inhouse solution would outweigh the costs of purchasing services from a third-party reseller (Arctic Wolf, LLC) utilizing the NASPO Cloud Solutions 43230000-NASPO-16-ACS contract through SHI. All agencies will participate in the funding of enterprise security. Without this contract there is a risk to the number of security incidents such as ransomware, delayed response time, and recovery from security incidents that the current BTS security staff can reasonably respond to during regular business hours.
Background/Explanation:
Cybersecurity threats such as malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, and data breaches increase year over year; BTS has identified the need to establish a Security Operations Center (SOC) that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are two critical drivers for this need. The first is recognizing the risk and limitations of the current BTS staffing model. The contracted service is scaled to accommodate the necessary attention the County requires to protect information technology assets beyond the capabilities and capacity of BTS staff resources. The second is adapting timely to an ever changing and challenging cybersecurity landscape and threat response. Outsourcing this to a third-party will overcome these limitations.
BTS evaluated expanding internal staff to accomplish this recuring need; outsourcing to a third-party managed service provider is more economical and provides for greater service delivery.
Fiscal Impact:
Year 1 initial with zero cost setup and first year service fees of $305,993.60.
Note: Services are anticipated to be recurring and future amendments to add time and funds to the agreement will be needed. If renewed and agreement is amended, Year 2 will have an estimated annual recurring cost of $327,413.15 w/an anticipated 7% increase annually upon future year renewals.
This purchase authorization is consistent with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Adopted Budget and will also be part of the FY23 Budget Request. Funding is derived from BTS Cyber Security Service cost center within BTS Fund.
Delegated Authority:
Authority for the County Administrator to approve this Purchase Authorization is granted under Code Section 2-185.
Staff Member Responsible:
Jeff Rohrs, Chief Information Officer, Business Technology Services
Merry Celeste, Division Director of Purchasing and Risk Management, Administrative Services
Joe Lauro, Director, Administrative Services
Partners:
N/A
Attachments:
Purchase Authorization Agreement