One Procurement
The Department of Administration (DOA) announced its One Procurement plan to agency procurement and administrative leaders on June 19. The concept for One Procurement, included in the Governor’s 2017-19 Executive Budget proposal, requires DOA “to identify procurement savings opportunities and enhance collaboration across executive branch agencies by administratively reforming state procurement delegation.”
One Procurement will create a collaborative culture of procurement activities across executive agencies through operational and structural reforms, training and consistent processes. To that end, the State Bureau of Procurement (SBOP) will strengthen its coordination with the current executive delegated agencies and expand the services it provides through CAPS. In addition, SBOP will also focus support of information technology and telecommunications procurement activities across the enterprise. All of this will be accomplished through existing laws, position authority and funding sources.
To ensure success of One Procurement, SBOP converted a training vacancy to a Deputy Bureau Director position to oversee delegation agreements and future activities. The position is posted on wisc.jobs here and will be open through July 5.
Get to Know SBOP: IT Sourcing Section
The following is the second in a series of articles highlighting the four sections of the State Bureau of Procurement.
The IT Sourcing Section develops competitive procurements and manages statewide contracts for computer hardware and peripherals, enterprise software, IT services, non-IT temporary professional services, internet services, all statewide printing and telecommunications.
The Section is responsible for highly technical, challenging procurements and works closely with the Division of Enterprise Technology (DET) and the Information Technology Executive Steering Committee (ITESC). It oversees master license agreements with Oracle, Microsoft and Adobe, as well as networking products and services, video conferencing and support of large procurements for the DET.
IT Sourcing analyzes requests for waivers for the bidding process and prepares case letters for the Governor’s signature. Additionally, the Section provides consulting to state agencies and campuses conducting procurement for their own needs, advises on policies and procedures and provides assistance with the development of highly technical, IT procurements.
The IT Sourcing section also runs training courses for negotiation skills, software licensing, cost benefit analyses and is the creator of the IT Procurement Playbook of best practices.
If you have questions about these contracts or ideas for new contracts, contact Sara Redford, Enterprise IT Sourcing Section Chief, at (608) 267-2706.
Strategic Sourcing System Coming Soon
This fall, the State will transition to the new Strategic Sourcing module within STAR PeopleSoft to streamline the solicitation process for state agencies. (Note: UW System campuses and municipalities will continue to use their current systems.) Agencies will create, post and manage bids online and bidders can respond within the Strategic Sourcing module. While this will be a change to the current processes used to do business with Wisconsin state agencies, the transition will ultimately provide many benefits for users.
One significant benefit will be the ability to build and use templates to create new bids and proposals. The inclusion of electronic libraries of commonly used text, images and bid factors will help ensure accuracy and consistency, as well as save time and effort. Additionally, workflow processes will enable approvals and notifications throughout a bid event, allowing agencies to better monitor the progress of multiple bids. Ultimately, SBOP expects significant time savings and a higher quality of solicitations as a result of the transition to Strategic Sourcing.
In the next few months there will be a number of training opportunities for users to begin to learn the system. Trainings will be tailored to the needs of the users and will consist of online computer-based trainings and in-person, instructor-led trainings that will include real-world exercises. Users will also be able to refer to a number of simple job aids to assist them in creating sourcing events.
More information will be shared as we near the transition date. For questions regarding Strategic Sourcing, please contact Sara Redford, Enterprise IT Sourcing Section Chief, at (608) 267-2706.
Save the Date: 2017 SBOP Conference
Mark your calendars to attend the second annual State Bureau of Procurement Conference on November 16, 2017 at the Alliant Energy Center’s Exposition Hall. Join other public procurement professionals for a day filled with information, practical tools and opportunities to network with peers.
In addition to attending general sessions that highlight updates within SBOP, conference attendees may attend several breakout sessions. Workshop topics will feature a variety that explore Strategic Sourcing, as well as topics relating to best practices and general procurement.
Registration is not yet open, however we will continue to keep you updated with new information as it is released. Contact Jessica Vieira, KIT Training Officer, at (608) 266-5452 if you have any questions.
Contract Spotlight
IT Vendor Managed Services Sourcing. The IT Vendor Managed Services Sourcing contract (505ENT-M12-SERVICESIT-01), presently awarded to TAPFIN, is set to expire on August 22, 2017. The State Bureau of Procurement recently released the Information Technology Vendor Managed Services and Solution RFP (28253-JW) for the management of a statewide IT contingent staffing program.
Please also note that the next contract will not be in place prior to the FY18 rollover. As such, agencies should plan to execute the purchase orders and other documentation required for contractor engagement in much the same way as they have done in the past. TAPFIN will continue to work with agency representatives to develop the necessary contractor files prior to the new fiscal year. Additional information will be forthcoming if any fiscal year processes are adjusted, and SBOP will communicate details of the transition to end users as more information becomes available. Questions may be directed to Jim Witecha, IT Acquisitions Analyst, at (608) 266-1954.
Conveyance Inspection Services. Contract 165CAP-M17-DS170707-00, formerly known as Elevator Inspection Services, is now titled Conveyance Inspection Services. The contract is for elevator, escalator, lifts and stair chair inspections and was awarded by district to ATIS Elevator Inspections (Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5) and NEIS (for District 2). The district map is available on VendorNet. Questions regarding this contract should be directed to Susanne Matschull at (608) 261-2298.
WISBuy
New Feature. WISBuy is excited to announce a new way to shop the PCard Marketplace: the WISBuy mobile app! Ideal for WISBuy users who are routinely out in the field and aren’t often at a desk, the WISBuy mobile app allows users to search for products, place orders and view documentation on their handheld devices. If you’re interested in downloading the app, please follow the instructions in the Mobile App User Guide. For more information, please contact the WISBuy team at doawispro@wisconsin.gov.
New Enablements. We are pleased to announce the Paragon Development Systems, Inc. (HP) catalog is now available with the other suppliers on contract 505ENT-M17-WICOMPUTER-00, Computer Equipment and Related Services. For questions about this contract, contact Brenda Derge at (608) 266-8613.
BSI Highway and Traffic and Interior signs now have a WISBuy catalog. Contract 505ENT-M06-SIGNAGECON-01, Signage, is a mandatory enterprise contract for state agencies; UW System and municipalities may also use this contract. If there are additional standard, stocked signs you would like to see available through this catalog, please contact the WISBuy team at doawispro@wisconsin.gov. Contact Jeannie McCarville at (608) 264-9590 for questions regarding the contract or your agency-designated Business Unit Administrator for questions about WISBuy.