Fast Track to Technology Procurement
Technology’s role in the success of public sector organizations has never been more essential. To help the community keep pace with technological change and more readily access solutions that will drive organizational success, Edge created EdgeMarket to provide safe, simple, and smart procurements that deliver positive outcomes. Among these solutions is the Technology Catalog for Hardware, Software & Services (TeCHS) through SHI, providing one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking technology hardware, software, and services procurement vehicles available in the U.S.
In the spring of 2021, Edge conducted a competitive request for proposal process (RFP) for a technology and services catalog provider with two main goals in mind. The first was to deliver massive scope, scale, and unsurpassed value in technology and service purchasing to Edge members and co-op participants everywhere in the country. The second goal was to harness the innovative capabilities and global capacity of an IT solutions partner who could deliver truly transformative solutions, built upon their extensive catalog, deep talent, scalable logistics, and state-of-the-art facilities. “Our awarded partner, SHI, did a fantastic job presenting capabilities to facilitate ease of purchasing with scope, scale, and value, but also some really outstanding strategies and delivery capabilities for truly transformative solutions,” shares Dan Miller, AVP, EdgeMarket. “The EdgeMarket TeCHS contract offers SHI’s full line of products, services, and solutions, and it’s no surprise that this solution is one of our most popular master contract vehicles in our co-op.”
A Smarter Approach to Technology Deployment
Before issuing the RFP, Edge spoke with member institutions, including Rutgers University, about the frustrations of state contracts and the procurement challenges they were facing. Sue Ryan, Strategic Sourcing Manager, Information Technology Services, Rutgers, was an important source of information as Edge began to develop the RFP. “Sue provided valuable insight into the process, where organizations would commonly have to self-assemble the sourcing of elements for a strategic move,” explains Miller. “We learned through COVID that our members and Edge needed to move on a dime, making key decisions and activating on those decisions effectively. We knew the criteria for the contract would be breadth, scope, and scale of solution; including hardware, software and services. We also wanted a partner that had a vision for the future pathways, and who was making investments to deliver transformative solutions. They needed the ability to adapt to any new adverse reality or take advantage of any new opportunity. Edge was so impressed with the SHI proposal, as they far exceeded our expectations.”
The TeCHS contract provides quick and easy access to hundreds of hardware, software, and service categories and groups that are conveniently organized into categories. “SHI has a great catalog, deep talent, scalable logistics that are extremely impressive, and state-of-the-art facilities that they continue to invest in and grow from,” shares Miller. “All of these assets help our members gain access to tools that can fundamentally alter how they do business and enhance their day-to-day operations.”
Partnering with their customers, SHI helps organizations take a smarter approach to technology deployment and running efficient and effective IT operations. “When this bid was released, SHI was very excited to respond because we felt very strongly and passionate about the value we could provide to Edge members, our customers, and New Jersey as a whole” shares Dom Fama, District Manager, NY/NJ Higher Education, SHI. “We work with our customers to strategically understand what they’re trying to solve. We then determine how to address those challenges through the use of IT and how we can help them streamline the acquisition of those goods and services in a cost-effective manner. SHI helps pinpoint what technologies our customers need and then we transform their approach. Whether an institution needs esports capabilities, hybrid classroom solutions, to modernize their data centers, or create collective classroom spaces, we can create a holistic approach to achieve those goals.”
“We work with our customers to strategically understand what they’re trying to solve. We then determine how to address those challenges through the use of IT and how we can help them streamline the acquisition of those goods and services in a cost-effective manner. SHI helps pinpoint what technologies our customers need and then we transform their approach. Whether an institution needs esports capabilities, hybrid classroom solutions, to modernize their data centers, or create collective classroom spaces, we can create a holistic approach to achieve those goals.”
— Dom Fama
District Manager, NY/NJ Higher Education
SHI
Unifying Technology Procurement
The TeCHS catalog was designed to provide an all-encompassing solution that makes thousands of trusted technology partners and solutions available for streamlined cooperative procurement. Rutgers is using the TeCHS contract to simplify and unify technology procurement across their institution. “TeCHS affords Rutgers the ability to develop IT strategies and then use one contract to source all elements required to support those strategies at lower cost and greater ease than any other contract, including State contracts—which we walked away from,” explains Ryan. “The TeCHS contract also allows us to avoid all the terms and conditions that you constantly have to negotiate. Additionally, Rutgers has a catalog through our marketplace system and TeCHS affords us better pricing. Because of this contract, we were able to receive an additional layer of discounts on top of the normal discount that SHI would put on our catalog. As my RFPs become much more complicated, we need to have a contract where we can approach the design more holistically and have access to a wider breadth of technology partners.”
For organizations who are looking to bid a complex strategy, Ryan says you can leverage this type of contract with multiple components to help create a comprehensive approach. “For us, the Edge TeCHS contract afforded us the ability to have a vehicle that we can build a strategy design, rather than just buying software and hardware. The software is always the easy piece, but this allows us to look holistically at what avenue we can use to combine all these components and successfully build out strategies. With this contract, we’ve been able to develop some of our bigger projects.”
To help make the procurement process successful for institutions, SHI also offers professional services, adding expertise and support to each stage of the technology life cycle. “Oftentimes you have to bid out the professional service or consulting piece apart from where you are buying the products,” explains Ryan. “As you build strategic projects, having a contract like TeCHS where professional services are included, makes the process much easier and more streamlined.”
“For us, the Edge TeCHS contract afforded us the ability to have a vehicle that we can build a strategy design, rather than just buying software and hardware. The software is always the easy piece, but this allows us to look holistically at what avenue we can use to combine all these components and successfully build out strategies. With this contract, we’ve been able to develop some of our bigger projects.”
— Sue Ryan
Strategic Sourcing Manager, Information Technology Services
Rutgers
Efficiently Meeting Technology Needs
SHI’s Customer Innovation Center (CIC) is located at the company’s New Jersey headquarters and allows organizations to plan, design, explore, and validate their technology needs. Along with product and integrated solution demonstrations, the CIC offers workshops and events where individuals can explore new ideas, gain insights on the latest trends, obtain hands-on experience with new technologies, and receive guidance from SHI experts. In addition, SHI operates two IT integration centers which combine hardware and software components from multiple manufacturers into ready-to-deploy rack systems. Faced with datacenters that were becoming increasingly complex, Rutgers now utilizes the SHI Ridge Integration Center to access scalable and cost-effective services, including rack and stack services, pre-installation testing, and installation activities.
SHI has been working with Rutgers on a 10-year master network refresh project and has utilized the SHI Ridge Integration Center to bundle services and put them under one SKU in Rutgers’ e-procurement catalog. “Rutgers is in the middle of a large network master plan, where lots of pieces to the puzzle are involved,” explains Lou Malvasi, Account Executive, NY/NJ Higher Education-R1 Universities & Academic Medical Centers, SHI. “Cisco is one piece, but there are also UPS data-center racks that they are refreshing across New Jersey. At the SHI Ridge Integration Center, we procure all the data-center equipment and bring it into our warehouse. We have quality-control experts that will actually rack and stack, and we send configuration files to the Rutgers team. Upon Rutgers’ review and approval, we rack, stack, and cable the equipment under the TeCHS contract and deliver the equipment to locations across New Jersey.”
To meet the procurement needs of a greater number of institutions, Edge architected the agreement to allow for adjusted terms and customization. “We want to help our members get the solutions they need, not just another component-based contract, hence the services dimension,” says Miller. “We also wanted to introduce any additional terms and conditions that can help an organization improve upon the baseline agreement so they can move forward with clarity and confidence.”
— Dan Miller
Associate Vice President, EdgeMarket
Edge
Helping Organizations Achieve their Goals
To meet the procurement needs of a greater number of institutions, Edge architected the agreement to allow for adjusted terms and customization. “We want to help our members get the solutions they need, not just another component-based contract, hence the services dimension,” says Miller. “We also wanted to introduce any additional terms and conditions that can help an organization improve upon the baseline agreement so they can move forward with clarity and confidence.”
The TeCHS contract is available to all institutions, large or small, and SHI will gladly help any organization build out a catalog. “Even if you do not have an e-procurement platform like Rutgers, we can still set up a SHI.com website for you to purchase from using a username and login,” says Fama. “We can publish quotes, create landing pages, and work with facilities to understand the equipment you are buying from year to year.” Malvasi adds, “SHI already has TeCHS pricing integrated within our catalog team, so once this is set up for the customer, the pricing will feed into that automatically. Integration with eCommerce platforms like ServiceNow and Jaeger is a little more work on the backend, but if you want a simple SHI.com catalog, you can benefit from the TeCHS pricing almost immediately.”
Looking for a streamlined solution for procuring the latest technology? Learn more about the SHI TeCHS Catalog at edgemarket.njedge.net/home/shi-techs-catalog.
