Crawford County approves $13,680 VMware support renewal; IT director outlines migration plan

Crawford County commissioners on Friday approved a one-year renewal of the county'wide VMware maintenance contract at a cost of $13,680.

Brandon Sport, the county's IT director, told commissioners the price jump from past years stems from VMware's acquisition by Broadcom and a new minimum "core count" licensing requirement. "It's at $13,680," Sport said during his presentation. He added that the renewal includes improved support — for example, 24-hour assistance that in prior years could cost $1,000 just to access.

Sport said the county previously paid roughly $1,000 a year for similar services but now faces a required minimum core count in vendor pricing that raises the bill substantially. "That's the catch 22," he said, explaining that the vendor's minimum core count is higher than the county's needs and that Broadcom's pricing left little room to negotiate.

The presentation flagged several near-term technology costs: Sport said servers will need replacement by October 2027 and estimated that work at about $40,000. He recommended a long-term migration to a Microsoft-based hypervisor (commonly called Hyper-V) and noted that many county services will shift toward cloud-hosted systems over time. Sport said he will consult department heads about their specific needs before recommending changes to infrastructure or licensing.

Commissioners asked whether the county must renew support immediately; Sport said that without renewal the county would lose vendor support on Jan. 1. "Without the renewal, if there is an issue, we're dead in the water," he said.

A commissioner made the motion to approve the $13,680 quote; the chair seconded and the motion passed by voice vote. County staff said the expense will be charged to County General Miscellaneous.

Next steps include Sport meeting with department heads to map applications and storage needs and providing the commission with updated migration and replacement cost estimates.