Overview
The City of Phoenix is the government of the fifth-largest city in the United States and the capital of Arizona, serving roughly 1.6 million residents across one of the nation's fastest-growing metros. City technology is run by the Information Technology Services Department (ITS), which delivers citywide IT under a federated model — supporting major operating departments including Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Water Services, Police, and Fire alongside general-government services.
The city's FY2026-27 budget is balanced, built on a General Fund of about $2.29 billion and supported by a preliminary five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) totaling $11.4 billion. Phoenix is a recognized smart-city and responsible-AI adopter: it operates an Office of Innovation, has published a Code of Conduct for the responsible use of generative AI, and has run AI-enabled pilots spanning traffic-signal optimization, water-system monitoring, and energy-efficient building systems.
For a technology seller this is a large, growth-driven municipal IT buyer with stable IT leadership (CIO Steen Hambric), a newer CISO (Mitch Kohlbecker, 2025), and a returning City Manager (Ed Zuercher, 2025). Phoenix buys through its own central procurement — vendor registration via procurePHX and solicitations through its OpenGov-based Procurement Portal — and leverages cooperative purchasing under its city code.
- ITS (CIO Steen Hambric) is the central technology buying center, running citywide IT under a federated model alongside major operating departments (Sky Harbor Airport, Water Services, Police, Fire)
- City Manager Ed Zuercher and the City Council shape and approve the budget that funds ITS and department-level technology spend
- procurePHX vendor registration plus the OpenGov-based Procurement Portal is the formal competitive-solicitation gate for city-specific buys
- Cooperative purchasing authorized under the Phoenix City Code (e.g., the COOP 24-0111 cabling and networking/telephony vehicles) is the fastest path to bypass a full city RFP
Where Dell Can Play
- Anchor the account on stable IT leadership — CIO Steen Hambric (since 2021) and CISO Mitch Kohlbecker (2025) — and align messaging to returning City Manager Ed Zuercher's FY2026-27 budget and modernization priorities.
- Sell into the federated IT model: pursue ISG, network, end-user compute, and managed-services refresh inside the large operating departments (Sky Harbor, Water Services, Police, Fire) as well as central ITS, mapped against the $11.4B five-year CIP.
- Lead AI infrastructure and data-platform conversations through the Office of Innovation and the city's responsible/generative-AI program — Phoenix's published AI Code of Conduct and live traffic/water pilots make a governed-AI motion credible.
- Bring municipal security offers (endpoint, network, identity, risk visibility) tied to the maturing CISO office under Mitch Kohlbecker, framed for a large multi-department estate.
- Confirm Dell's procurePHX vendor registration and standing in the city's OpenGov Procurement Portal, and verify which cooperative purchasing vehicles the city actively uses so catalog and competitive buys both have a clear path.
Budget & Fiscal
Phoenix adopted a balanced FY2026-27 budget anchored by a General Fund of roughly $2.29 billion (up about 4.5% year over year), with a one-time surplus of about $162.5M directed to priorities such as housing, homelessness services, child-care affordability, and employee compensation. Technology spending is embedded across ITS operations and the capital program rather than reported as a single headline line — the preliminary five-year CIP totals $11.4 billion, with the first year alone at about $2.7 billion.
- Phoenix does not publish a single citywide 'IT budget' headline; technology funding flows through ITS operations plus department and CIP capital — confirm the specific funding source before forecasting a given program.
- Large operating departments (Aviation/Sky Harbor, Water Services, Police, Fire) carry significant technology demand under the federated IT model — material refresh and modernization opportunity sits inside those departments, not only central ITS.
Initiatives & Priorities
Phoenix has published a Code of Conduct for the Responsible Use of Generative AI and routes approved Gen AI uses through a technical review and committee-approval process. AI is being applied operationally — including an AI-assisted traffic-signal pilot across roughly 30 intersections and a Water Services pilot using AI sensors to monitor sewer pollutants. A live lane for governed AI infrastructure, data platforms, and use-case enablement.
AI InnovationThe Office of Innovation (stood up in late 2021) co-creates pilots to modernize city processes, and Phoenix has been recognized as an IDC Smart Cities North America Awards finalist (2025). Work spans connected infrastructure, resident-engagement, and sustainability use cases — a recurring entry point for IoT, edge, and data-platform conversations.
Smart City DataITS supports a federated model spanning Sky Harbor Airport, Water Services, Police, and Fire. Infrastructure refresh, network, end-user compute, and managed services demand is distributed across these large operating departments as well as central ITS — position ISG and services against department-level capital, not only the central budget.
Modernization InfrastructureWith Mitch Kohlbecker promoted to CISO in 2025 (after nearly five years as deputy CISO), the security office is advancing risk management, compliance, and system/security architecture. Active appetite for endpoint, network security, identity, and risk-visibility tooling across a large, multi-department estate.
Cybersecurity ModernizationProcurement
Phoenix buys two main ways, and a seller should confirm both. It runs its own central procurement — vendor registration through procurePHX and competitive solicitations through its OpenGov-based Procurement Portal (in use for new solicitations since April 2025) — and it leverages cooperative purchasing authorized under the Phoenix City Code. Confirm Dell's standing in procurePHX and which cooperative vehicles the city actively buys technology through for a given category.
| Vehicle / gate | What it means for Dell |
|---|---|
| procurePHX vendor registration | The city's vendor registration application, tied to its financial system. Any awarded vendor or payee must be registered in procurePHX — confirm Dell's registration and the relevant commodity categories before pursuing city-specific buys. |
| Phoenix Procurement Portal (OpenGov) | The city publishes competitive solicitations (RFP/RFQ/IFB) and receives offers through its OpenGov-powered Procurement Portal, used for new solicitations since April 2025. The path for city-specific competitive technology procurements. |
| Cooperative purchasing | Phoenix City Code authorizes cooperative procurement, allowing the city to buy off pre-competed contracts without a separate RFP. Confirm which national/cooperative vehicles Dell holds and which the city actively uses for hardware, software, and services in the target category. |
Spend Signals
GovSpend · as of Sep 21, 2026Dell vs. competitors (spend, payee)
Expiring contracts (re-compete)
| Contract | Vendor | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Cooperative Purchasing Agreement COOP 24-0211 - Communications Cabling Systems | Bpg Technologies Llc Bpg Designs Llc | Oct 15, 2026 |
- GovSpend's line-item fields for this city are payment/accounting-category boilerplate (e.g. "Com/Compnent<Cap Lmt," "Computer Services") rather than actual product descriptions — sampled SHI/CDW records to confirm this, so a product-text "Dell footprint," brand footprint, and LineItem.Category breakdown could not be computed and are omitted rather than reported as zero.
- Dell's direct PO payee spend at the city is negligible (Dell Marketing LP: ~$4,209, below the $100K reporting floor) in this window; because of the note above, Dell hardware resold through SHI/CDW/WWT is not separately visible in this dataset.
- vendorSpend reflects only the central "City of Phoenix" GovSpend agency record; large operating departments (Aviation/Sky Harbor, Water Services) carry separate GovSpend agency IDs and are not included here.
- Treat the vendor figures as a coverage floor, not the city's IT spend. Phoenix's published PO feed is dominated by risk, benefits, legal, and healthcare payees — over the same window the largest payees citywide are Marsh (~$63M), JP Morgan Chase (~$53M), AHCCCS (~$28M), Minnesota Life, and outside counsel — indicating the city publishes finance and insurance transactions to GovSpend but not the bulk of its technology purchasing. The expiring contracts and open bids below are the more reliable signal for this account.
- Window reflects Arizona's July–June fiscal year (PO issued 2022-07-01 through 2025-06-30).
- Bid and contract panels refreshed 2026-09-21 from GovSpend (agencyId 20797): 0 open bids due on or after 2026-09-21 and 1 contract ending on or after 2026-10-05 (two-week runway), IT-relevant only. No IT-relevant open bids (answering service, micromobility, transit operations only).
Power Structure
| Decision-maker | Why they matter |
|---|---|
| Ed Zuercher City Manager | Returned as City Manager in November 2025 (previously City Manager 2013-2021), succeeding the retiring Jeff Barton. Leads city operations, budget, and contracts — the top of the house and owner of budget priorities. |
| Steen Hambric Chief Information Officer (ITS) | CIO since 2021, leading the Information Technology Services department and federated IT across Sky Harbor, Water Services, Police, and Fire. Background: ~18 years in IT leadership with the U.S. House of Representatives. The primary citywide IT relationship. |
| Mitch Kohlbecker Chief Information Security Officer | Promoted to CISO in February 2025 after nearly five years as deputy CISO; succeeded Shannon Lawson (departed for the private sector, later San Antonio CISO). Owns the city's security strategy, risk, and compliance — the lead for security-tooling motions. |
| Michael Hammett Chief Innovation Officer | Phoenix's first Chief Innovation Officer (appointed 2021), leading the Office of Innovation, performance/dashboard programs, and smart-city pilots. The relationship for AI, smart-city, and resident-experience use cases. |
News & Signals
Sources
- City of Phoenix — Information Technology Services (About ITS)
- City of Phoenix — Phoenix City Council Approves 2026-27 Budget
- City of Phoenix — Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
- City of Phoenix — Smart Cities (Office of Innovation)
- City of Phoenix — Appoints New Chief Information Security Officer
- GovTech — Newly Appointed Phoenix CISO Rises from City's Security Ranks
- GovTech — Phoenix City Manager Appoints CIO, First Innovation Officer
- City of Phoenix — City Manager Jeff Barton Announces Retirement
- PR Newswire — Phoenix launches ambitious Quantum Strategy, taps ASU's Panchanathan to lead
- Axios Phoenix — Gallego wants Phoenix to be quantum computing hub
- City of Phoenix — Mayor Kate Gallego State of the City Address (April 21, 2026)
- City of Phoenix — Procurement
- City of Phoenix — procurePHX Vendor Registration
- City of Phoenix — SEMICON West Announces Long-Term Partnership with Phoenix
- U.S. Army — Army FUZE Brings Nation’s Leading Quantum and Photonics Innovators Together for xTech|Phantum Finals
- AZFamily — How Phoenix is Using AI to End Chase Field Game-Day Gridlock