New Non-Mandatory Computer Equipment Contract Benefits UH Departments by Naomi Okinaga In conjunction with the State Procurement Office (SPO), the University of Hawaii has joined the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA). This allows UH departments to purchase computer equipment from any of the five WSCA contractors: Compaq Computer Corporation CompUSA Dell Marketing L.P. Gateway Companies, Inc. and IBM As the contract was awarded after a rigorous competitive bid process done by a committee coordinated by the state procurement director in New Mexico, the UH community has the advantage of being able to purchase computer equipment similar to the UH bid contract for Intel computers which was awarded to PDC Systems. Some basic highlights of the contract: Allows purchase of computer equipment, including peripherals, software, maintenance, and support services from price agreements established by WSCA as a result of a request for proposals (RFP) issued to manufacturers of computer equipment. Orders are placed directly to the manufacturer with service (installation, maintenance, and other support services) provided by a choice of manufacturer-authorized local resellers. Participants may purchase from any of the five WSCA contractors without competitive quotations and waivers from the contract will not be required; since Participants in the WSCA contract are NOT MANDATED to purchase from the five WSCA contractors. Participants are allowed to purchase computer equipment from other sources, however, procurement rules will apply to purchases outside of the contract. Benefits: savings due to price discounts from volume purchasing; administrative savings resulting from the State of New Mexico's role as lead agency in administering this contract. Information such as history of the RFP, evaluation of offers, FAQs, and links to the WSCA contractor's price schedules and agreements are available at the following Web site: www.state.nm.us/spd/WSCAmain.html In addition, our PC Intel contract with PDC Systems is still in effect and prices are available at: poi.pdcsystems.com/uh All purchases from the WSCA and PDC contract are voluntary and non-mandatory. However for alignment with ITS's Support strategy, please refer to the following links: ITS Microcomputer Recommendations: www.hawaii.edu/itsdocs/gen/itsrec ITS Microcomputer Support Policies: www.hawaii.edu/its/micro In addition to PDC computers, ITS will also be adding support for Dell computers for administrative and academic computing. Dell has consistently received high ratings in terms of computer service and reliability (PC Magazine, July 2000; PC World, January 2001). ITS is interested in your experiences with the quality of service you receive from any of these vendors. Please send comments to pchelp@hawaii.edu.

Information Technology Services Maintained by: editor@hawaii.edu		©2001 University of Hawaii Updated: April 04, 2001