![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/google-300x157.jpg\" "\\"google\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nCity negotiations with Google to use Google Apps for Government as the city\u2019s email provider have hit a snag \u2014 but it\u2019s unclear yet exactly what is causing the problems.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Raleigh City Council voted to allow City Manager Russell Allen to negotiate a contract with SADA Systems to implement Google Apps for Government as the city\u2019s email provider. The move is expected to save the city $480,000 during the next three years.<\/p>\n
In a Technology Committee meeting last week, the IT Department\u2019s Chief Information Officer, Gail Roper, said negotiations with Google are ongoing, but sticking points remain.<\/a><\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a deadline has now passed. In last week\u2019s meeting, one city staffer said the end of January was the \u201cgo, no-go point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roper said that deadline is based on a \u201cmajor network upgrade that would have to happen if we don\u2019t move the network into the clouds. [That\u2019s] cost savings related to not having to upgrade that equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storing items in the \u201ccloud,\u201d means the city would not store the data on its own local servers, but instead will upload the data through the Internet to servers they do not control.<\/p>\n
Roper later told the Record stipulations in North Carolina law require the city to have a direct contract. That may mean the city cannot use SADA Systems, but she did not give any other details on the issue and referred the Record to the City Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Attorney Tom McCormick refused to comment on the issue, saying he does not comment on ongoing negotiations. Attorney Brandon Poole said the issues are all \u201clegal related,\u201d but offered no further comment.<\/p>\n
Google representatives also said they could not comment on a specific contract.<\/p>\n
Other entities in North Carolina use Google Apps for Government, including North Carolina State University. Marc Hoit, a member of NC State\u2019s IT department, said a university has different provisions for contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did not run into a snag with that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I understand that provision … my understanding is if they can show a cost savings … then that is a way to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roper told the Technology Committee other North Carolina users \u201cjust signed on the dotted line,\u201d something Raleigh cannot do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe variances are who they are contracting for, so it\u2019s not a cookie-cutter solution,\u201d Roper told the Record.<\/p>\n
Google officials refused to confirm which North Carolina entities or municipalities are using the program.<\/p>\n
NC State launched the program in stages starting in 2010. Hoit said it has \u201cbeen phenomenally good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt saved us a very large amount of expenditures, which was good because the budget was cut last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The full City Council will discuss the issue at a technology retreat Monday.<\/p>\n
If the city makes the switch, Gmail will provide the city\u2019s email system, but all email addresses will still have the same ending. Employees who are unfamiliar with Gmail will still be able to use Microsoft Outlook to maintain their email, contacts and calendars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Negotiations with Google to use Gmail as the city’s email provider have hit a snag over a point in the contract. City officials aren’t saying much on the topic, but said the stall could eventually affect the expected cost savings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24025,"featured_media":7773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,15,23],"tags":[364,330,430,429],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24025"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}