So, you want to purchase software for your department or yourself for business use. There are a few items you will need to know when starting this process to ensure ease of purchase.
To begin with, engage with either IT Procurement or ITS Strategic Sourcing. The individuals here can help in facilitating the review of the terms and conditions, acquiring the signatures of both parties and managing the software compliance review if needed. Next, keep in mind that no department has signature authority to sign for software or agree to vendor terms for software. This must be brought to IT Procurement to follow the proper method to be reviewed (https://go.unl.edu/evxg). Finally, all new software (software that has not been used by the University system in the past or currently) must be reviewed through the University Compliance Review to ensure it meets guidelines for enterprise architecture, security, accessibility, identity management, data and PCI. At this time, renewal software is not following this particular review.
With all this in mind, let’s look at what is needed for a software purchase. IT Procurement and ITS Strategic Sourcing need information from you in order to complete the process of purchasing of software at the University. As stated earlier, the best practice is to engage with either of these groups from the beginning. They may already have a license for the software title that you could be included on. If there is no current license, then they will help you to collect the necessary paperwork to begin the process.
IT Procurement and ITS Strategic Sourcing will always request the software checklist to be completed by the department stakeholder, as this will give them an overview of the information needed to proceed. All new software will require a compliance review to ensure all University policies and guidelines are met with this purchase. A copy of the most recent VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is required from the supplier so IT Procurement and ITS Strategic Sourcing can review the product accessibility claims. In addition, a supplier needs to complete the University Security Assessment Questionnaire, which IT Procurement will supply once they receive a completed checklist). This questionnaire will be reviewed by University subject matter experts to ensure compliance.
For new and renewal software, stakeholders must provide a copy of the formal quote, the scope of work, all paperwork from the supplier for the current purchase and, if it is a software renewal, the past paperwork. In most instances, the University IT Procurement team has a technology appendix and master agreement that we want to use in the purchase, and IT Procurement will forward this information to the supplier.
Once all the paperwork has been completed and collected by the stakeholder and the supplier, the compliance review team, IT Procurement, and University Procurement Contracts will review the documents to ensure the University is protected for the purchase, negotiate changes to documents, facilitate the signatures and finalize the upload of the contract to the State of Nebraska contract website. When the signatures are completed, a copy is sent to all pertinent parties, and the stakeholder is requested by IT Procurement to complete an eSHOP purchase order and attach final paperwork to the requisition.
If there are any questions, please email itprocurement@unl.edu.