Third Annual Wisconsin State Procurement
Conference a Hit!
The State Bureau of
Procurement hosted the Wisconsin State Procurement Conference at the Alliant
Energy Center on October 31. The conference had over 160 attendees and featured
ten unique breakout sessions on topics ranging from tech procurement trends, enterprise
systems, the newest tools and the Bureau’s plans for shared services and other
initiatives addressed by Executive Order 288. There was also active networking
and new panels called “What’s Your Solution” where attendees shared their
expertise and best practices from within their agencies. Morning and afternoon
keynote speakers talked about the benefits of positive thinking and
collaboration when managing projects. Conference materials can be found on the Procurement
Conference website. Questions or feedback regarding this year’s
conference may be addressed to Jessica Vieira
at (608) 266-5452.
Ho Ho NO! Gifts from
Suppliers
It’s the
time of year when suppliers may want to show their appreciation by offering
gifts to you or your agency. As State procurement professionals, we may not
accept any gifts from suppliers. It is our duty to avoid the perception of
impropriety and adhere to the personnel section on ethics for employees (Chapter ER-MRS 24
and s. 19.45(2),
Wis.Stats.). If a supplier attempts to offer you a gift, simply
refuse it and explain the need for procurement professionals to remain
independent. If a supplier mails or brings a gift to your agency and leaves it
without talking to anyone, best practices are:
Notify the supplier to retrieve the gift immediately.
Redirect the gift anonymously as appropriate to a local food pantry, homeless shelter or other charitable organization. Flowers may be donated anonymously to assisted living centers, hospitals or other charitable organizations.
Discard the gift.
Electronic Signature
System Coming Soon
Effective
November 1, the State Bureau of Procurement has signed an agreement with
DocuSign to implement the use of electronic signature on procurement,
purchasing and other related transactions. The Bureau will work with agencies
over the next month to develop policy for how this agreement will be managed
and to discuss training implementation. Contact Dan Kramarz at (608) 267-2715 with questions.
$150K IT and Private
Consultant Purchase Request Form Changes
The required request
form for $150,000 IT and private consultant purchases, per Executive Order 288,
has been modified. Specifically, DOA-3310
has added fields that are specific to VMS contractor requests, and levels of
criticality of a request have now been standardized. Other modifications to the
policy guidance, PIM 18-003, have also been made. State agencies should use the
most current version of this form and policy, both of which are available on
VendorNet. Questions about these changes can be directed to doawispro@wisconsin.gov.
Contract Spotlight
Language
Translation/Interpretation Services. The Department of Children
and Families contract for Language
Translation/Interpretation Services expired on October 31 and has
been replaced by five mandatory Department of Administration contracts:
Written Foreign Language Translation Services: 505ENT-M18-WRITFORLANG-00, initial contract term from 9/1/18 through 8/31/20 with five awarded vendors;
Telephone Interpretation Services: 505ENT-M18-TELEINTERP-00, initial contract term from 10/1/18 through 9/30/20 with five awarded vendors;
VRI (Video Remote Interpretation) Services: 505ENT-M18-VRIFORASL-00, initial contract term from 10/1/18 through 9/30/20 with four awarded vendors;
In-Person ASL (American Sign Language) Services: 505ENT-M18-ASLINTERP-00, initial contract term from 11/1/18 through 10/31/20 with five awarded vendors; and
In-Person Foreign Language Services: 505ENT-M18-FORINTERP-00, initial contract term from 11/1/18 through 10/31/20 with three awarded vendors.
These
contracts are mandatory for State agencies and optional for UW campuses. A
waiver process is in place for emergency purposes only; end users will need to
complete the newly created official form, DOA-3727 Waiver
Request for Language and Translation Services. Contact Cathy Neidner at (608) 266-3620 for
information regarding these contracts.
RPA Justifications: A
Practical Guide
RPA
Justifications: A Practical Guide is now available within the RPA
automated system (https://RPA.wi.gov).
This document is intended to provide helpful guidance on how to prepare a
comprehensive justification when an agency is preparing a Request for
Procurement Authority packet and responding to the standard questions/prompts.
To access
the document, users will need to login to the website and enter the RPA portion
of the system. The link to the document will be under the “New RPA” button. If
you have any questions or would like to see additional tips addressed in this
document, please email doawispro@wisconsin.gov.
Strategic Sourcing:
Tips and Tricks
Registered
Bidders List Queries: The following two queries can be especially
useful when attempting to identify potential respondents to your solicitations.
Access them by logging into PeopleSoft and navigating to Main Menu >
Reporting Tools > Query > Query Viewer:
Looking
for additional resources for Strategic Sourcing? STAR agencies can access a
variety of job aids, tools and resources on STARConnection
(STAR Connection > Resources > Finance and Procurement > Job Aids >
Search for “Strategic Sourcing”). If you would like to share a Strategic
Sourcing tip or trick you’ve learned, please email your ideas to Jessica Vieira.
Staffing Updates
Cheryl
Edgington is now the Deputy Director of the State Bureau of Procurement. Cheryl
has spent the last five years as the Section Chief for the Enterprise Sourcing
section and has a wealth of procurement experience from the Bureau and from the
Department of Children and Families. Cheryl has experience managing in some of
the most challenging markets including banking, financial and social services,
among others.
Dan Kramarz joins
SBOP as the new leader of the Knowledge Management, Improvement and Training
(KIT) section. Prior to joining DOA, Dan worked as a project and portfolio
manager at the Department of Health Services. Dan has significant experience in
the public and private sectors leading training programs, strategic
communications, process improvement and project management. Dan has a master’s
degree from Northern Illinois University and a master’s certificate from the
UW-Madison School of Business.