By DALE HOGG
Barton County Media Consultant
Following a steep and unanticipated price increase, the Barton County Commission ratified a $16,856.64 expenditure Tuesday morning for the renewal of the county’s critical VMWare licensing.
Information Technology Director Dereck Hollingshead presented the purchase for ratification, explaining that the VMWare software is necessary for the county's virtualization computing, which allows the IT Department to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server and is essential for seamless operations.
Hollingshead noted that VMWare, which was acquired by Broadcom in 2023, eliminated the entry-level licenses previously used by smaller entities like Barton County. This change forced the county into a significantly higher-tier license. The $16,856.64 quote from vendor SHI of Somerset, N.J., for 2025 represented a dramatic leap from the $1,100 paid in 2023 and $3,268.80 paid in 2024.
Hollingshead secured a slight reduction from an initial quote of $17,222.40 but emphasized that the renewal had a deadline of Sept. 28. Failure to renew would have caused the county’s servers to no longer have support and or receive updates.
Given the immediate need, the IT Department proceeded with the purchase. The Commission moved to formally ratify the payment, with Hollingshead stating that the department would explore long-term options, including potentially replacing the county’s servers, to avoid such unexpected increases in the future.
He said he might have been able to source a less costly option this year, but the deadline was so tight he didn’t have time. He had contacted local vendors, but they could not sell the software needed.