Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
8e
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
March 14, 2023
DATE: March 6, 2023
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Krista Sadler, Technology Delivery Director
SUBJECT: Network Firewall Support Memo
Contract Value:
$3,500,000
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute a contract for Network
Firewall support for a period not-to-exceed ten years in an amount not-to-exceed $3,500,000
over the ten-year period. There is no funding request associated with this authorization.
SUMMARY
A network firewall is comprised of software and equipment that grants or rejects network access
between an untrusted zone such as the Internet and an internal network. The Port network,
through which our financial, human resource, maintenance, project management, and many
other critical systems communicate, is constantly inundated with cyber security threats and our
network firewalls are designed to protect our internal network resources from these external
security vulnerabilities and advanced threats. A long-term support contract is critical for
maintaining a healthy cyber security defense.
Annual support costs fluctuate depending on the age of our firewalls resulting in higher fees for
2023 due to the age of our system. A refresh project is planned in the next year that will again
reduce the estimated costs for a few years. The estimated ten-year cost for network firewall
support is $3,500,000. Annual costs will be budgeted in the Information and Communication
Technology Budget.
There are no attachments to this memo.
