Dell EMC holds this category — its storage array (PowerScale), hyperconverged platform (VxRail), and endpoint/server lines (PowerEdge, OptiPlex) all appear by name in CDCR purchase records, sold through Kovarus. VAST Data has zero purchases on file in this scope. The wedge is the PowerScale refresh: a $1,245,263 F600 buy from 2022-06-23 with no renewal date on file, sitting inside a Storage & Data Protection category CDCR is still actively funding ($32,801,279 across 191 POs, last dated 2027-11-01). Run this through a reseller that isn't already carrying Dell's book — Presidio Holdings, which already has a foothold here — rather than through Kovarus.
The only named unstructured-storage buy in the record is Dell EMC PowerScale, bought 2022-06-23 for $1,245,263, with no dated renewal anywhere in the file. That's the cleanest like-for-like displacement target for VAST — same workload class, aging asset, no visible re-up commitment locking it in.
The $2,031,521 VxRail buy (2021-07-19) bundles storage into VMware licensing that itself renews on multi-year terms (VCF Enterprise, $1,504,568 recurring 2023–2024). Displacing storage here means unwinding a compute+storage+license bundle, not a single line — workable, but expect resistance tied to the VMware relationship rather than the hardware itself.
With 191 POs and a category still active through 2027-11-01, there is ongoing appetite for storage spend generally — even where individual line items aren't named, this is where budget cycles through. Use it to justify a broader storage conversation beyond the single PowerScale asset.
Allied Network Solutions' Enterprise Vault purchase ($1,267,145, aging since 2021-07-01) is a different product category (archive/eDiscovery) than VAST typically competes in. Flag it only if VAST's roadmap extends into that use case; otherwise it's not this play.
Situation
The record shows three categories totaling $131,997,047 across 574 POs, but the storage-relevant evidence is concentrated in a small number of line items:
- Storage & Data Protection: 191 POs, $32,801,279, running through 2027-11-01. The only named storage hardware in the record is Dell EMC PowerScale — one PO, $1,245,263, dated 2022-06-23, via Kovarus Inc, with no renewal date captured anywhere in the dataset.
- Servers & Compute and the VxRail hyperconverged purchases sit adjacent: VxRail ($2,031,521, 2021-07-19) and PowerEdge server buys ($1,971,297, 2022-04-20; $3,523,695 OptiPlex, 2020-03-10) show a broader Dell EMC hardware footprint that a storage conversation will run into, since VxRail bundles storage into a VMware-licensed compute stack.
- VMware licensing recurs on its own multi-year cadence (VCF Enterprise POs of $1,504,568 dated both 2024-07-01 and 2023-07-01, same product code, same reseller — Kovarus Inc), which tells us Dell/VMware has an entrenched renewal rhythm here, not a one-time sale.
- Data protection software runs through a different reseller and, on this record, a different vendor lane: Allied Network Solutions carries Veritas Enterprise Vault ($1,267,145, aging from 2021-07-01, no renewal date on file). That's not Dell EMC and not adjacent to VAST's product — worth noting as a separate battle, not this one.
- Two Kovarus entities appear as separate suppliers — Kovarus Inc ($20,848,773, 30 POs) and Kovarus LLC ($4,359,890, 11 POs, last active 2021-03-25). The record doesn't say whether these are the same organization re-registered; if so, the reseller relationship with Dell/VMware in this account is deeper than either entity's own total suggests.
- VAST Data: no purchases on file in this scope. That is an absence in this record, not proof CDCR has never bought VAST product through a statewide contract vehicle that wouldn't surface here — worth confirming directly rather than assuming greenfield.
Questions to ask
1. Is the PowerScale F600 environment purchased in 2022 still the production unstructured-storage platform, or has it already been replaced through a vehicle we wouldn't see here?
2. What's the refresh cycle CDCR budgets on for storage hardware — is there a standing multi-year plan, or is each buy discrete?
3. Is Kovarus sole-sourced for Dell EMC/VMware renewals, or does CDCR run a competitive process at each refresh point?
4. How is the VxRail environment's storage tied to the VMware licensing term — would a storage swap require touching the VCF Enterprise agreement?
5. Has CDCR evaluated or purchased any VAST Data product through a statewide contract (e.g., CMAS, NASPO) that wouldn't show up in a department-level PO record?
6. Who owns the technical requirement for the next storage refresh — is it the same team that ran the 2022 PowerScale buy?
7. Is Presidio Holdings an approved vendor CDCR would consider expanding beyond its current single PO ($4,138,300, 2025-02-12), or is that relationship narrowly scoped to networking?
8. What's driving the Storage & Data Protection category's activity through 2027-11-01 — a specific program, or general infrastructure sustainment?
Who to talk to
- Ken Kojima, Chief Information Security Officer — any new storage platform touching inmate/case data will need security sign-off; no email on file, so this contact needs to be sourced separately.
- Norman Lim, Branch Chief — likely the operational owner of infrastructure decisions at the branch level where storage refreshes get scoped.
- Austin Uwakwe, Associate Director — director-level sponsor for infrastructure spend of this size.
- Georgia Johas-Darnell / Karen Reed, Chief Deputy Administrators — either could be the executive sponsor; the record doesn't distinguish which owns IT infrastructure versus other administration, so both are worth an initial approach.
- Robin Ramirez — 61 POs, $18,652,766, most recent 2027-06-01. Highest PO count and an active, forward-dated buyer — likely the person actually cutting current infrastructure orders.
- Kamran Khalid — 24 POs, $12,762,576, most recent 2027-07-01. Second-highest active buyer by recency; worth confirming whether his POs skew toward storage or cloud.
- Robin Adams — 22 POs, $7,216,551, most recent 2027-11-01 — the single most recent PO date in the entire scope, making this a live relationship worth prioritizing for timing.
- Ana Sirb — 30 POs, $8,552,328, but most recent 2023-11-18 — likely no longer active in this buying role; lower priority unless confirmed otherwise.
Route to market
Presidio Holdings Inc is the recommended reseller to carry this deal. It already appears as a supplier of record in this exact scope (1 PO, $4,138,300, dated 2025-02-12, for networking gear — not Dell EMC hardware), meaning CDCR has existing vendor registration and procurement plumbing with Presidio without Presidio being one of the resellers currently carrying Dell's book (Kovarus, PC Specialists, Granite Data Solutions all show Dell-branded line items in this record). That avoids asking an incumbent Dell reseller to sell against its own installed base.
Do not route through Kovarus Inc or Kovarus LLC — both are the visible Dell EMC/VMware channel here (VxRail, PowerScale, VCF Enterprise licensing all transact through one or the other), and neither has a demonstrated non-Dell line in this record.
AbleGov Inc (22 POs, $4,601,205, most recent 2027-07-01) is active and recent but its product lines aren't identified in this record — worth a diligence call before ruling in or out as a second-track reseller.
Action items
| What | Who | By when |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm current production status of the 2022 PowerScale F600 environment (still running? refresh planned?) | Rep, via Robin Adams or Robin Ramirez | Next 2 weeks |
| Verify whether VAST Data has any presence via a statewide contract vehicle not visible in this dataset | Rep, internal channel/contracts team | Next 2 weeks |
| Register/confirm Presidio Holdings' appetite and lead time to add VAST Data to their line card for CDCR | Rep, Presidio account manager | Within 30 days |
| Request meeting with Ken Kojima or his office on security review requirements for new storage platforms | Rep | Within 30 days |
| Ask Robin Ramirez/Kamran Khalid directly whether Kovarus is sole-sourced or competitively rebid at next refresh | Rep, in discovery call | First customer conversation |
| Track Storage & Data Protection category activity through its 2027-11-01 latest PO date for signs of a near-term refresh cycle | Rep | Ongoing, quarterly check |
What this rests on
- Dell EMC's presence is confirmed only for the specific named line items (PowerScale, VxRail, PowerEdge, OptiPlex); the bulk of the $32,801,279 Storage & Data Protection total and $55,728,208 Servers & Compute total has no product-level detail in this record, so the true scale of Dell's footprint is inferred, not proven.
- Kovarus Inc and Kovarus LLC appearing as two separate suppliers is treated here as likely the same reseller relationship, but the record does not confirm corporate linkage.
- Zero VAST Data purchases in this record is evidence of absence from this purchase history only — it does not confirm CDCR has never evaluated or bought VAST product through a statewide vehicle.
- This is a purchase-order record, not a current install base: the 2022 PowerScale and 2021 VxRail buys may already be decommissioned, extended, or replaced by activity that wouldn't appear here.