009-070 Procurement Process: Deadlines for Submitting Requests

009-070 Procurement Process: Deadlines for Submitting Requests Each year, ITS sends a reminder to our customers of approximate turnaround times required to conduct IT procurements, as well as the corresponding deadlines for submitting projects that must be completed during the current state and federal fiscal years. These timelines are intended to help ensure procurement requests are submitted to ITS in time for completion within the customer's desired time frames and in time to receive approval for any expenditure with a funding deadline or other external time constraints. This handbook shows an estimate of projected time required for processing each procurement type and dollar amount (Procurement Limits Policies: Section 015-010 and 015-020). Unless you have already had specific discussions with ITS procurement staff regarding a project schedule, the high end of each range should be used as a guideline for when requests should be submitted to ITS to ensure the procurement is completed in time to meet your needs. In addition, the associated deadlines for State and Federal Fiscal Year acquisitions are listed in the table below. Note that requests for personnel services and maintenance contracts under the purview of ITS that are to be paid from either the old or new fiscal year funds and that begin on or near the beginning of the state or federal fiscal year should also be submitted by the fiscal year deadline. (e.g. maintenance that should be renewed effective July 1) Continually review your state and federal funding and your information systems needs and submit all procurement requests to ITS according to the deadlines and timeframes shown. Some complex requests, such as those requiring extensive systems analysis or engineering surveys prior to RFP development, take more time than indicated on the schedules below. ITS will work with you to develop a project plan and timetable to address these types of requests. ITS will work with you to have all other requests submitted by the deadline dates completed within the timeframes shown and by the June 30 and September 30 funding deadlines when applicable. We believe the schedules shown below give you and our staff sufficient time to ensure each project receives adequate attention for the size and complexity of the acquisition. Each June and September, procurement requests are at risk of not meeting the funding deadlines because they were not submitted in time to complete the purchase in compliance with state and federal laws. When the procurement timeline is too compressed, ITS staff cannot complete procurements that (a) meet all legal requirements for competitive proposals; (b) provide a thorough and legally defensible evaluation of vendor proposals; and (c) develop project contracts that adequately protect the customer’s interests. Also, ITS develops staffing plans based on the requests we have received and may not have adequate staff resources available to process requests received after these deadlines. ITS understands that our customers sometimes don’t have information concerning the availability of funds for technology acquisitions until after these deadlines. ITS is committed to assisting you at any time, to the best of our ability. The options (we are aware of) for helping you to complete your purchases with tighter timeframes and/or those submitted after these deadlines are: (1) you can use your own staff and/or contract staff for more of the preliminary research and preparation of the request and to assist available ITS staff throughout the procurement; or (2) you may request an exemption on a Procurement Request Form and, with ITS’ approval, make the purchase yourself, assuming the responsibility for following all purchasing laws. ITS assistance for projects requiring a tighter timeframe or received after the deadlines may be charged at a higher hourly rate to cover our additional expenses. If you are unable to have the formal request prepared by the scheduled submission date but are aware of upcoming purchases that have a funding deadline, call Lynn Ainsworth at 601- 432-8150 or Tina Wilkins at 601-432-8161 on or before these deadline dates. We will work to help you meet your objectives in the required time frame. Category Time Required for Procurement Process: Submission Deadline for June 30 Funds: Submission Deadline for September 30 Funds: Requests requiring Board approval and an RFP 3 - 8 months January 1 April 1 Requests not requiring Board approval but requiring an RFP 2 - 5 months February 1 May 1 Exemption requests requiring ITS Board approval; Requests for sole source certification; Competitive procurements not requiring Board approval and using existing procurement instruments 1 - 3 months April 1 July 1 All other procurement requests 1 month +/- June 1 September 1 Notes: (a) The lifecycle cost includes all costs associated with obtaining the item or service and with maintaining and operating it for its projected lifecycle. Examples of costs in each category include: (1) Initial and/or one-time costs: purchase price, freight, installation, and cost to exercise purchase option; (2) Ongoing costs: maintenance, lease, rental, associated personnel costs, and telephone line charges. Lifecycle costs are computed over a three to five year period, unless factors relevant to a specific project dictate a different time period. (b) Contact ITS to see if there is an existing procurement instrument that can be used for your acquisition.