DIR Plans for Hewlett-Packard Contract Vehicle

The Department of Information Resources (DIR) has published a pre-solicitation notice to let the vendor community know that the agency plans to release a request for offer (RFO) for Hewlett-Packard hardware, software, cloud and related services.

DIR will use the resulting RFO to create contracts for HP-branded products, but the documents state this will be the last solicitation for these products. Projects are listed in the document and include various types of computer hardware, peripherals, mainframe and servers, accessories, supplies, office machines, management and operation services, maintenance and repair, and rentals or lease services.

The projected timeline:

• March 15: Publish RFO
• April 3: Optional pre-proposal conference and deadline for questions
• May 15: Deadline for submissions
• May 30 until completion: Response evaluations, presentations if requested, negotiation and contract execution

As part of the agency’s cooperative contracts program, selected vendors have the opportunity to sell to multiple state agencies and various public agencies as defined in the Texas Government Code. Cooperative contracts help DIR customers receive discount pricing and allows one avenue for purchase.

The pre-solicitation notice is for vendor planning purposes and doesn’t guarantee an RFO to follow. It is No. Pre-DIR-CPO-TMP-589, and the contact is Julia Klingermann.

DIR publishes opportunities at the Texas SmartBuy website; however, DIR uses a vendor information system called BidStamp for which vendors need to register.