Specialization Certificate: Technology Procurement

Description

Increasingly, governmental entities are embracing technology and IT infrastructure solutions in their desire to interact more strategically and beneficially with the communities they support. As a result, procurement professionals are expected to procure and negotiate contracts and agreements with more complex terms and conditions. Performing these tasks, however, requires the procurement professional to evaluate a multitude of topic-specific factors that affect stakeholders and the governmental entity alike. Promoting an overview of technology procurements, NIGP’s Foundations of Technology Procurement Specialty Certificate provides learners with an introduction to terminology, research practices and opinions, solicitation methods, strategies for risk identification, and common mistakes procurement professionals encounter when negotiating and managing awarded IT contracts. This Specialty Certificate introduces and promotes IT best practices by identifying concepts, common risks and issues, and the precise role of the procurement function and public procurement professional in governmental entities, empowering procurement professional to achieve a legal, flexible, and fair agreements or contracts with confidence.

Objectives

Upon successful completion of the certificate, the certificate holder will be able to:

• Determine the appropriate procurement method for IT products, services, and/or solutions.
• Develop the solicitation document associated with IT products, services, and/or solutions.
• Identify proposal risk and evaluation methods for IT procurement.
• Develop an IT demo process.
• Develop final IT contract documents.
• Prepare for post-award activities unique to IT.

Intended Audience

This certificate is targeted to individuals who meet or exceed the following professional demographics:

• Public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.
• Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.
• Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.
• Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.

Pre-Work

Prior to entering the classroom environment, students will be enrolled in the following self-paced courses to learn and practice necessary concepts.

• Technology Fundamentals for Public Procurement
• Negotiating Technology Agreements