Get ready for an increase in procurement activity, folks! Kicking off the new calendar year also launches a new budget season for many state and local governments. The drafting of budgets prompts the creation of IT strategic plans, capital improvement plans, and project development planning.

 

Due to holidays and vacation time taken by government procurement personnel, only 997 IT-related general government solicitations were identified in Deltek’s Govwin IQ database in December, which is a 14.4 percent decrease in the number of solicitations from November, and a 24.2 percent decrease from the 2012 average number of solicitations released per month. We’ve highlighted the top 10 most common procurement categories below:

 

·         Software/Applications  – 148 solicitations

·         IT Development/Consulting/Management Services – 133 solicitations

·         IT Hardware/Computers/Peripherals – 106 solicitations

·         Telecom/IT Maintenance and Support Services – 129 solicitations

·         Telecom/IT Implementation/Integration Services – 44 solicitations

·         Content/Document/Records Management Systems – 12 solicitations

·         Telecom Solutions/ Equipment – 18 solicitations

·         Data Warehouse and Data Management/Collection – 14 solicitations

·         ERP/Human Resources/Financial Systems – 12 solicitations

·         BI/Analytics/Performance Management Solutions – 11 solicitations

 

Here is a look at a few key opportunities tracked by Deltek:

 

The Washington Department of Enterprise Services’ commercial card solution RFP released five addendums in December. The state originally estimated the total value of the project to approach $10 billion, but then decreased the estimate to $1.8 billion.

 

On December 13, the state of Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS), Procurement Division, released two RFPs: one for information systems consulting services, and another for computer hardware/software and telephone equipment, services and maintenance. Proposals for both opportunities are due by January 16.

 

The New York Office of General Services and Information Technology Services released a solicitation last year for IT office equipment, mostly focusing on printers. While Lot 1 for this opportunity was awarded in December, due to insufficient or incorrect responses from all proposing vendors, no awards were made for Lots 2 and 3 for multifunction and light production printers. As a result, the state will be putting out another solicitation to fulfill remaining requirements.

 

Here is a look at current tracked education IT opportunities:

 

The University of Northern Colorado released an RFP for an e-transcript software solution on December 5. Selected vendors are scheduled to conduct presentations to the evaluation committee by the end of the month.

 

The School Board of Orange County, Florida, released its evaluation rankings and recommendations for the advisory consulting services needed for a student information system. Three vendors were shortlisted: Center for Educational Leadership and Technology; Plante & Moran, PLLC; and Elert & Associates Networking Division, Inc. The board recommended the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology as the selected vendor, but an award has yet to be finalized.

 

The University of Louisville announced it has extended current contracts for cellular voice services with AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint through December 31, 2013. This will push back the potential of a rebid solicitation to Q3 2013, by Deltek estimates.

 

Notable awards:

 

In line with the multifunction printer opportunity, New York awarded the first project to come out of the IT transformation project to Oki Data America and Lexmark International for printers and IT equipment. Of the six RFIs released under the IT transformation project, this is the first (and only) to go out to bid so far. Lots 2 and 3 under this procurement are scheduled to be rebid at a later date.

 

Vermont awarded a contract to Corning Inc. to provide fiber optic cabling from Newport to Hardwick at a value of $500,000.

 

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts awarded a contract to Creative Breakthroughs, Inc. for a data loss prevention solution valued at $668,079.

 

Further analysis

 

Analyst Derek Johnson published a blog and an extended analyst perspective on the NASCIO Top Ten CIO and technology priorities for 2013.

 

What’s on tap?

 

Deltek’s General Government team will host a guest blog from Microsoft Corporation on cloud computing technologies in the state and local government market. Also, a data analysis of FTE numbers related to teachers and administrators will be published in late January or early February.

 

Until next time, stay connected to the General Government team via Twitter @GovWin_GenGov for real-time updates on trends, analysis and opportunities in the state and local IT market.