Capitals in the Clouds Part VII – A Case Study of Cloud Procurement: California’s Cloud Infrastructure

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NASCIO partnered with NASPO (National Association of State Procurement Officials) on a case study on California’s Cloud Infrastructure Initiative. The publication includes information and advice from the trenches from California officials. It is the first in a series of planned publications to be released by NASPO and NASCIO that will examine information technology procurement projects in states.

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Capitals in the Clouds Part VI: Cloud Procurement: From Solicitation to Signing

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As first reported in the NASCIO/TechAmerica/Grant Thornton 2013 State CIO Survey, The Enterprise Imperative: Leading Through Governance, Portfolio Management, and Collaboration, states continue to turn to cloud solutions, with services such as email and storage remaining the most popular. 74% of respondents said that their state has some applications in the cloud. For several years now, the NASCIO has discussed the transition in the state information technology environment as state CIOs sought new approaches to traditional delivery models. The recession prompted state leaders to examine new approaches and leverage technology opportunities. The use of cloud services by state government is the most obvious manifestation of this transition. In 2011, NASCIO launched its Capitals in the Clouds series on this topic. Three years later, states continue to investigate and to leverage cloud solutions, software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service, with services such as email and data storage remaining the most popular.

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Rethinking the Dynamics of the RFP Process for Improved IT Procurement

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The RFP process is multifaceted with a broad set of stakeholders including state CIOs, agency heads, state procurement officials, state procurement attorneys, private sector vendors, and many others. Taking this information into consideration, NASCIO has continually sought ways to encourage collaboration between CIOs, chief procurement officials and private IT sector vendors. As such, NASCIO identified the RFP process as one to which special attention must be paid.

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Procurement: Avoiding Risky Business

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The NASCIO Procurement Modernization Committee, in partnership with TechAmerica and the National Association of State Procurement Officials, continues to focus on state IT procurement reforms and highlight best practices at the state level. This brief is the third in a series of recommendations set forth by this collaborative. The purpose of the brief is to highlight some of the strategies used to first identify, then to avoid, transfer, mitigate, and ultimately accept the risks associated with the procurement of IT products or services. Although not all risks can be identified, the goal should be to understand how much risk is associated with a specific IT procurement and what tools, processes, benchmarks, and methodologies are available to uniquely address IT procurement risks.

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Limitations on Liability Infographic

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NASCIO’s 2004 publication NASCIO on Unlimited Liability – Gaining Traction on the Road to “Win-Win” recommended changes to the state IT procurement policy regarding limitations on liability, and research from 2010 and 2012 show subtle changes have occurred in the states. This infographic indicates which states have limitations on liability in statute, which states have none, and which states are able to negotiate limitations on a case by case basis, and compares the current situation to previous NASCIO research.

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Leaving Performance Bonds at the Door for Improved IT Procurement

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This is the second in a series of briefs on IT procurement modernization. The brief focuses on performance bond trends for state IT projects and is intended to give an overview of how the surety market has significantly changed because of a wave of factors external to the IT industry. The amount of readily available performance bonds has become a challenge and, in some instances, bond companies have begun to require companies to partially or fully collateralize performance bonds with bank letters of credit. In order for states to lower costs and create a competitive procurement pool, states need to consider finding ways of leveraging existing protections and adjusting performance bond requirements if necessary. This brief was developed in partnership with TechAmerica and with contributions from the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).

 

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Gaining Traction on the Road to Win-Win: Limitations on Liability in State IT Contracting

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As state CIOs continue to deploy IT solutions, it is important to recognize the fiscal benefits of transforming the procurement process to meet the needs of a smaller workforce, budget constraints, and consolidation efforts. Because of current economic factors the state CIO is faced with not only budget constraints for needed IT goods and services, but also advocating for procurement reform that meets the needs of the 21st century. Gaining Traction on the Road to Win-Win presents the challenges associated with unlimited liability, and encourages the inclusion of risk management strategies for state IT contracts. The report also calls attention to the fact that state CIOs are better equipped to provide services to the state when flexible terms and conditions for procurement provisions are in place.

 

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IT Procurement and Enterprise Architecture: Recognizing the Mutual Benefits

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This brief highlights the benefits of a closer alignment between IT Procurement and Enterprise Architecture (EA), which includes improving and streamlining IT investment decisions in a way that supports the state’s overall strategic goals and intent. It also identifies “touchpoints” at which these two disciplines can establish stronger ties and concludes with recommendations on how states can start down the path to greater EA-IT Procurement alignment.

 

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