Utah Leads Move Towards Large-Scale Cloud Purchasing Agreement Through NASPO
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Cooperative agreement clears path to cloud services for more than 30 states.
In a ground-breaking collaboration effort, Utah is leading the way to establish a large-scale cloud purchasing agreement that will create a clear path to cloud services for more than 30 states, according to Government Technology. It marks the largest cloud hosting services agreement to date.
The collaboration is made possible through the National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) ValuePoint program, which is allowing state officials and their partners to negotiate the details of the collective procurement agreement that will benefit more than 34 states. NASPO ValuePoint is a cooperative purchasing program that facilitates public procurement agreements using a lead state model.
When finalized later this summer, the cooperative agreement will help the participating states move forward with the adoption of cloud services via a cohesive cooperative bargaining agreement using vetted contractors, Christopher Hughes, assistant director of contract review for the Utah Division of Purchasing, told Government Technology.
“Other states were really excited about this possibility of cloud solutions because I think all those states want to move into the cloud ... to not only store information, but do a lot of other things,” Hughes said. “A lot of states are still in the process of having legislation created for them to be able to use cloud because in some ways it’s a different payment structure than what they are used to. And, some states have already had legislation enacted where they have to do a cloud-first sort of scenario.”
It has been a long road to this agreement, however; the process has taken more than two years and earlier efforts to procure cloud services were derailed by legal restrictions and incompatible terms and conditions language. “In reality,” Hughes stated, “this started five or six years ago in that the state of Utah put out a public cloud solicitation, but it wasn’t well received. One of the reasons was, I think, it was just ahead of its time and the other was that the industry hadn’t had a chance to really get around how to work with public entities dealing with all the restrictions and all of the laws and regulations that go around contracting with public entities like a state.”
This time, the process worked, and more than 60 contractors submitted proposals throughout the project. NASPO ValuePoint was formed in October 1993 by the state purchasing directors from fifteen NASPO western states. According to Esri, NASPO ValuePoint was created primarily to establish the means by which participating states could join together in cooperative multi-state contracting. All governmental entities within NASPO ValuePoint states as well as authorized governmental entities in non-NASPO ValuePoint states are welcome to use the approved agreements.