Primary Department: Purchasing
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Kimberly J. Williams, JD
Secondary Department: District Attorney
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Sean Teare
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Contract - Award
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Freeit Data Solutions, Inc.
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: Exempt - Interlocal/Cooperative Agreement
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of the Purchasing Agent for approval of a State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Cooperative Contract award on the basis of low quote and that the County Judge execute an addendum to an agreement with Freeit Data Solutions, Inc. in the amount of $2,211,189 for data storage array, data communications & networking equipment services for the District Attorney’s Office for the period of May 14, 2026 - May 13, 2032, Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: Exempt - Interlocal/Cooperative Agreement.
end
Background and Discussion:
The agreement upon execution will allow DAO to replace end of support [EOS] storage systems. Key activities will include installation of 2 storage arrays - one at 406 Caroline data center, and the other at the Fibertown data center.
The shift toward high-performance computing and seamless data accessibility requires a robust storage
architecture that not only supports our current operational demands but also scales with our evolving data
footprint. This project is a critical prerequisite for maintaining business continuity and system availability.
Upgrading to the iXsystems TrueNAS M50 storage array ensures our data infrastructure is high-performing,
resilient, and fully aligned with our long-term technical roadmap.
Expected Impact:
The M50 provides enterprise-grade redundancy and significantly higher throughput, ensuring that our data-driven decision-making processes are not hindered by legacy hardware bottlenecks.
Alternative Options:
DAO’s current storage array has reached the end of its manufacturer support lifecycle. Operating on "End of Support" hardware introduces significant security vulnerabilities and leaves the organization without technical recourse in the event of a critical hardware failure. Without this upgrade, we face imminent data "lock-out" scenarios, preventing the ingestion of new data and stalling project workflows.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: E: Increase efficiency across the legal system.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): E1: Modernize data and technology architecture across the legal system.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
3/19/2026 |
139 |
Commissioner’s Court approved a Final Investment Memo for the DAO Technology Advancement Initiative project in an incremental amount of $2,539,200 for a total authorization of $2,839,200, and request for approval of commercial paper funding in the amount of $2,540,000 for a total allocation of $2,840,000. |
Location: N/A
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$782,672.58 |
$782,672.58 |
$ |
|
Commercial Paper |
$ |
$1,428,516.60 |
$1,428,516.60 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$2,211,189.18 |
$2,211,189.18 |
$ |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
|
CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
|
CAO Review Completion Date |
Click or tap to enter a date. |
Anticipated Court Date: 5/14/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Christopher Le, District Attorney’s Office; Jared Beatty, Buyer, Purchasing
Attachments (if applicable): Letter, Bid Table, Addendum