Battleford town council at Tuesday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Seeing savings

Town approves new IT services contract

Sep 21, 2022 | 1:13 PM

The Town of Battleford has approved a contract for a new IT services provider.

Council accepted administration’s recommendation for a combined IT provider agreement, with SaskTel Business Solutions and Bralin Technology Solutions together, at Tuesday’s meeting.

In the proposal Bralin Technology Solutions will be the town’s main IT contact, working with SaskTel, to provide a very secure system.

Chief Administrative Officer Ash Alam said the town was concerned about cybersecurity so was focused on quality more than the actual dollar value in recommending the service providers.

As well, he said town administration was not satisfied with its current provider after experiencing some major interruptions, so they wanted to see what other options were available.

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“Quality, safe, and secure IT services are very important,” Alam said. “Administration is seeking approval to establish a bullet-proof IT system at this point.”

The town received four proposals and a joint offer for the contract, ranging from $8,804 to $4,842 in total monthly service charges.

After reviewing the submissions, council selected the combined agreement from SaskTel Business Solutions and Bralin Technology Solutions at a cost of $6,675 in total monthly service charges, which is lower than the current contract.

For the financial impact, Alam said by using these two providers together as proposed, the town will save about $26,000 yearly.

Mayor Ames Leslie said he appreciates administration’s work on the matter.

“Ash [Alam] brought this to council almost a year ago. It’s good to see it finally come on paper,” he said. “I faced a lot of frustrations with our present IT supplier, just trying to get some work done in this office. I can imagine how frustrating the employees are on a weekly and daily basis.”

Leslie said he is glad the town can finally amend the agreement now and move on.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW