TechNews Enterprise Approach Article December 2005
New IT SmartBuying configurations mean lower computer equipment pricing
What is SmartBuying?
SmartBuying is part of Gov. Christine Gregoire's overall effort to change the way state government goes about its business. The governor believes that state agencies can achieve significant savings by taking advantage of bulk discounts, making purchases that meet minimum standards to avoid rapid replacement, and other purchasing best practices. As part of this initiative, the state removed $50 million from its budget, and assigned all state agencies and educational institutions individual savings targets to help save money and change the state's purchasing practices.
SmartBuying provides an opportunity for state agencies to work cooperatively with vendors to provide the best value for the lowest cost. These lower priced purchases ultimately help create sustainable savings for taxpayers. The process considers costs for transportation, storage, disposal and administration.
How is DIS participating?
As part of the state's SmartBuying initiative, DIS created SmartBuying computer equipment configurations in partnership with eight other cabinet-level agencies. The new configurations created by this SmartBuying IT Sourcing Team provide state agencies with consistent choices to comparison shop for lower prices among the vendors. The SmartBuying IT Source Team is also providing computer equipment forecasting to vendors to further reduce costs and resolve potential delivery issues. This equipment, which will meet the needs of approximately 80 percent of general government employees, includes:
- Personal computers
- Laptops
- Monitors
- File servers
In addition to the computer equipment configurations, many of the products and services that DIS offers use the SmartBuying approach to provide quality and cost savings.
Why is it less expensive?
The DIS SmartBuying IT Sourcing Team, in cooperation with the manufacturing community, defined standard hardware features for the equipment, offering master contracts through which agencies can make purchases. Agencies that purchase from the SmartBuying computer equipment master contracts can expect a 10-15 percent savings off the already low priced Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) master contracts.
Where is the equipment available?
Leading manufacturers, such as Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, are participating in this program. State agencies may purchase the equipment through the DIS Tech Mall. From the Tech Mall, agencies can view the respective manufacturers' WSCA Web sites for additional information and pricing.
What's the value in purchasing SmartBuying computer equipment configurations?
By purchasing any of the SmartBuying computer equipment configurations, state agencies:
- get quality equipment that meets the personal computing needs of most general government employees
- take advantage of value pricing offered by IT master contracts
- experience SmartBuying flexibility - using these configurations as a baseline, agencies can research options that provide greater value or more closely meet their needs.
SmartBuying isn't about centralizing and dictating. If your agency finds a less expensive product that meets the SmartBuying computer equipment configurations, you should take advantage of it and share that information with the DIS SmartBuying IT Sourcing Team.
Will the features change?
The DIS SmartBuying IT Sourcing Team will review these features on a quarterly basis to make sure they are the best fit and price for agency purchases. They will consider technology advances, current agency business needs, and platform stability when establishing future SmartBuying computer equipment configurations. The team will also continually review the need for configurations for additional hardware and software categories.
What if SmartBuying doesn't meet my business needs?
The DIS SmartBuying IT Sourcing Team recognizes that approximately 20 percent of general government employees will have individual computing needs. If you find that SmartBuying doesn't meet your business needs, you may need to obtain approval from your agency management to make specialized purchases.
Will the state track agencies' use of this program?
Yes. This program is a significant part of the state's SmartBuying initiative, and manufacturers will report purchases of this equipment by agency. DIS will start reporting SmartBuying progress and usage during the first quarter of 2006 through its Government Management Accountability and Performance presentations to Governor Gregoire.
What other goods and services does SmartBuying cover?
The SmartBuying Partnership is focusing on the following categories:
- print services
- office supplies
- vehicles
- rental cars
- gloves
- kosher foods
- office equipment
- state purchasing card rebates
- Microsoft desktop software
- computer hardware and peripherals
For more information on the SmartBuying computer equipment configurations, contact Scott Smith, DIS Technology Brokering Services Manager at 360-725-4201 or via e-mail at ss@dis.wa.gov.
For more information about SmartBuying, visit the SmartBuying Web site.