021-010 How to Do Business with the State of Mississippi

021-010 How to Do Business with the State of Mississippi Question: How do I sell technology products and services to state entities? Answer: It depends upon: (1) The type of products or services you are selling to the State The Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) is the Mississippi state agency established by law to oversee the State's information technology. The procurement of information technology equipment, software, and services for all state agencies and institutions of higher learning is under the jurisdiction of ITS. There are two Mississippi agencies involved in the statewide purchasing function. Purchasing of items NOT related to information technology equipment and software is coordinated through the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) Office of Purchasing, Travel, and Fleet Management (OPTFM). Purchasing of computer supplies falls within DFA oversight. The Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB) Office of Personal Service Contract Review (OPSCR) Rules and Regulations governs the solicitation and selection of personal and professional services that do not involve information technology. (2) What type of government entity you are selling to State agencies and institutions of higher learning are required to follow ITS procedures to make information technology procurements. Governing Authorities (such as county boards of supervisors, community/junior colleges, K-12 school districts, or cities) are not required to use ITS procurement procedures when making information technology purchases, but are allowed to use certain ITS procedures if they choose to do so. When not using ITS procurement procedures, Governing Authorities must use general purpose State Purchasing Laws and procedures coordinated through DFA-OPTFM. Procurement procedures for agencies and institutions of higher learning to follow when making information technology purchases are contained in the ITS Procurement Handbook. Purchases of information technology are coordinated by ITS in compliance with 25-53 of the Mississippi Code. This law requires the solicitation of proposals for the majority of information technology purchases. The Mississippi Code is online. (3) The dollar amounts of the purchase and what type of proposals might be in place to handle the purchase Agencies, institutions of higher learning and governing authorities (K-12 schools, community/junior colleges, city and county government, etc.) may make purchases in accordance with ITS Law and Public Purchasing Law as follows. • Up to $5,000 - May purchase without advertising or otherwise requesting competitive bids, unless the purchasing agency or entity has established more stringent procedures. • $5,000.01 – up to but not over the dollar amount established in Section 31-7-13(c). - May purchase without advertisement for bids, provided at least two competitive written bids have been obtained. You must select the lowest quote. (Note an Express Products List cannot be used as one of these bids.) • In excess of the dollar amount established in Section 31-7-13(c) - Advertise, issue written specifications and receive sealed bids or proposals. Some agencies have established additional procurement procedures; check with the individual agency or institution to determine if there are other requirements. Question: What types of proposals does ITS use? Answer: ITS does NOT set up "state contracts" for routine purchases of information technology purchases. ITS does not maintain a "bidder's list". All ITS RFPs are advertised on the ITS website. RFPs typically fall into one of the following categories: • Individual Requests for Proposals are typically for the procurement of large dollar, complex, and/or unique acquisitions, usually for a single acquisition by a single agency or institution. • Special RFPs typically are used by a specific group of agencies/institutions. The terms and intended users and uses are spelled out in the RFP document. Often these proposals are for repetitive or longer term use, as opposed to a more limited time use in an Individual RFP. • General RFPs are used by ITS for the routine acquisitions by multiple entities of items such as microcomputer equipment and software, printers, cabling, telephone equipment, mainframe/midrange components, small UNIX/Internet servers, and IT consulting services. ITS advertises these RFPs and updates them periodically mid-cycle. General RFPs can only be used by ITS staff. They are not published. ITS uses General RFPs in conjunction with procurement requests received from agencies/institutions to acquire information technology products and services in accordance with state law. • Express Products Lists (EPLs) are evaluated proposals covering routine configurations of such items as microcomputers, servers and LAN components, printers, software, and two-way radios. Agencies, institutions and governing authorities may use an EPL in compliance with ITS procedures to make purchases that fall within the scope of the EPL. The most popular EPL is the IT Hardware EPL. ITS publicly advertises each time proposals for EPLs are solicited. See Procurement Instruments: EPLs, Section 011-030 of the ITS Procurement Handbook, for procedures the agencies and institutions are required to use when purchasing from Express Products Lists. The complete list of EPLs is found on the ITS website. More details for information technology vendors interested in doing business with the State of Mississippi are available in the Procurement Information for Vendors, Section 021-020 of the ITS Procurement Handbook. Topics covered in this section include: • More details on ITS RFP advertising procedures • Suggestions for marketing to state agencies • Procurements of information technology that state agencies and institutions may make without prior coordination through ITS • Legal and funding issues when submitting proposals to the state • IT purchases by governing authorities using ITS procedures