6/6/12 – Updated with video from hearing:
According to the daily file, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee Number 4 on State Administration will consider extending the authority to negotiate IT procurement to the California Technology Agency.” The hearing is at 9:00 a.m. in Room 444. Listen live here.
From the Subcommittee Website, agenda information for this item is below:
0502 CALIFORNIA TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
ISSUE 1: NEGOTIATIONS OF IT CONTRACTS
The Subcommittee will consider extending the authority to negotiate IT procurement to the California Technology Agency.
BACKGROUND
Public Contract Code Section 6611 provides the Department of General Services (DGS) the authority to use “negotiated process” for new and existing procurements for goods, services, information technology, and telecommunications procurement. If certain preconditions are met, DGS is granted authority to use this procurement mechanism in lieu of existing state procurement processes.
In 2010, TechAmerica released a White Paper entitled “State of California Utilization of Public Contract Code Section 6611 for Negotiations of Contracts”, which argued for expanded use of the flexible Section 6611 procurement process. The paper included a survey, which found that DGS most frequently used the Section 6611 provisions for activities related to IT projects that were at risk of failure, like the 21st Century Project. The paper concluded that expanded use of this provision would save costs and improve the success of state IT projects.
STAFF COMMENT
The Subcommittee could take the first step to expand the use of this innovate procurement model by expanding the current authority for Section 6611 contracts to the California Technology Agency. This expansion would hopefully encourage the California Technology Agency to consider expanding the use of Section 6611 procurement for future IT projects.
Staff Recommendation: Adopt Placeholder Trailer Bill Extending Public Contract Code 6611 to the California Technology Agency.
