A cross-section of vendors that do business with the state of California have joined a newly formed advisory council that will weigh in on IT procurement, the state’s services portfolio, emerging initiatives, as well as other hot topics.
Those in attendance at the advisory body’s first meeting Sept. 1 in Rancho Cordova described the discussions as introductory in nature.
“I think it was a great kickoff. I know my members that were in the room — the companies — are really looking forward to diving more into the issues. I think it was really high-level and set a good direction, but where I think the rubber is going to meet the road is when we start to form some subcommittees to look into different issues and different problems the state is having,” Jennifer Saha, director of public sector councils for tech industry group CompTIA, told TechWire.
Representatives from at least 30 vendors are involved on the new council, representing a mix of large, medium and small firms; and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises. The come from a variety of business verticals, such as system integrators and telecom companies. The identified companies were suggested to the Department of Technology by tech industry groups CompTIA, ITAPS and TechNet.
Committee members from state government include Amy Tong, Department of Technology (CDT) director and state CIO; CDT procurement officer Marnell Voss, and several other Department of Technology executives. Department of General Services officials also are involved, along with representatives from other state agencies and departments.
The Department of Technology has met regularly with tech industry groups in recent years, but those gatherings have been informal. The new vendor Advisory Council formalizes those communications and relationships.
Saha noted that other states have successfully convened their own advisory councils of vendors.
“I think what vendors can bring to it are perspective on what’s happening in other states. There are some lessons learned that other states have been success in making some changes,” Saha said.
Procurement reform and California’s interest in adopting a vendor performance scorecard are examples of issues that vendors continue to be interested in, Saha said.
The new Vendor Advisory Council, which will meet as least twice a year or as needed, has been added to the Department of Technology’s existing governance structure. The department also is considering the addition of a new “Local and Civic Entities Council,” which would invite participation from local and civic business entities.
Tong said Wednesday during a conversation with Sacramento-area media that she’s been “bombarded” with requests from local and civic organizations and business people.
“Some are retired from the public sector; they simply want to give back to help the state of California to be successful. Some smaller nonprofits that are in the leading edge of doing a lot of this transformation work,” Tong said about the concept for a Local and Civic council.
