005-600 Project

005-600 Project Why define a project? (1) Each ITS Express Products List (EPL) specifies a maximum spending limit per project. For projects costing up to the designated amount, ITS has delegated to the purchasing entity the authority and responsibility for selecting the lowest and best vendor for the specific project from among the offerings on the EPL. Projects with total project lifecycle costs above the EPL limit are beyond the scope of this delegated process and are subject to full ITS review and authorization. See Handbook Section 005-400 for the definition of lifecycle cost. [Note: with ITS participation and approval, EPLs can be utilized as the procurement instrument for projects above the EPL spending limit via the Planned Purchases process (Handbook Section 013-080) or by submitting a Competitive Procurement Request for ITS to issue a Letter of Configuration based on the appropriate EPL. (2) For information technology projects involving the expenditure of funds above a specified limit, state law generally requires: (a) that the acquisition be based upon competitive specifications; (b) that the acquisition be publicly advertised; and (c) that sealed proposals be received and evaluated to determine the lowest and best respondent [Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 25-53-5 (o)]. State law further specifies that it is unlawful to split purchases in order to circumvent the requirements for advertising [Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 31-7-13 (o)]. ITS policies and procedures use the total project lifecycle cost to determine whether a given acquisition is above the bid threshold and to further determine the procurement mechanisms that can legally be used for that acquisition. See Handbook Section 005-400 for the definition of total project lifecycle cost and ITS Procurement Limits Policies in Section 015-010 (State Agencies) and Section 015- 020 (IHLs) for an overview of procurement mechanisms by lifecycle cost range. Note: The current bid threshold is the expenditure of funds in excess of the dollar amount established in Section 31- 7-13(c). (3) Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 25-53-5 (k) requires that contracts for information technology purchases be approved by the ITS Board. The Board is authorized to delegate this approval to the ITS Executive Director for projects costing less than a specified amount. See Handbook Section 018-030 for current Executive Director thresholds and Board Approval requirements. The total project lifecycle cost is used to determine whether a contract can be approved by the ITS Executive Director or must be submitted to the ITS Board for approval. (4) Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 31-3-21 requires that any contractor submitting a bid for a public project that (a) involves erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work and (b) will cost in excess of $50,000, possess a Certificate of Responsibility issued by the Mississippi Board of Contractors. This section of the code also requires that all bids submitted for such projects contain, on the exterior of the bid envelope, contractor’s current certificate number. Projects involving inside or outside cabling fall within this category and are under the purview of ITS. The total project lifecycle cost is used to determine whether the project requires a certificate of responsibility, which in turn determines who can bid on the project and whether the bid must have the certificate number on the exterior of the bid envelope to be accepted. Guidelines for defining a project: A project has a specific objective or desired accomplishment and defined starting and ending dates (even if these are rather flexible!). A project is not “business as usual,” but a process that is outside the normal flow of work. Projects have a defined scope and a predefined budget and are often executed by contractors or by staff members who are acting outside their everyday work roles. ITS gives our customers some flexibility in defining a “project,” based on the customer’s procurement process and guidelines from their auditors. ITS does not make a final ruling but has developed the guidelines below for determining whether expenditures should be considered a single project. The primary “rule of thumb” is that the purchaser document and consistently apply a valid and defensible methodology for defining a project and that the purchaser look at each project separately in regards to vendor selection. ITS suggests the following factors that may determine the definition of an information technology project: 1. A project might be defined by the time frame of the purchases (e.g. all agency workstation procurements for a fiscal year might be a single project; a technology training class would typically be a single project). Note: The 2-way radio EPL specifically defines a "project" for the purpose of the EPL purchase limit as the total expenditures for equipment and services made by an agency from this EPL per fiscal year. 2. Funding source might define a project (e.g. if the funding sources place different requirements on the purchasing entity, separate projects might be needed to accommodate these requirements). 3. In some cases, location of equipment might determine a project (e.g. if each district office can consider a different vendor and/or a different technical solution, these acquisitions could be considered separate projects.) 4. Technical requirements can define a project (e.g. acquisition of several variations of desktop workstations for an agency might be a single project, while the acquisition of desktop workstations for the central office and of ruggedized laptops for the same agency’s mobile units might be separate projects). 5. Potential for volume discount can define a project (i.e. Will aggregating requirements for hardware, software, or services across time, locations, or funding sources potentially result in significant cost savings to the state? Will using a competitive process potentially result in better pricing? Note that the instructions for EPLs specify that published prices are not-to- exceed amounts based on a quantity of one. Customers are encouraged to aggregate purchases in order to negotiate for volume discounts from EPL vendors where applicable.) 6. Business functionality and proposed utilization of hardware, software, and services can define a project. (e.g. multiple scanners purchased for general use across an agency might be a stand- alone project; a scanner purchase for a specific application system for which other hardware, software, and services are also being procured should probably be considered a part of the larger project.)