Background
Every year ITS manages procurement of millions of dollars’ worth of computing goods and
services essential to the teaching and research mission of the university. Everything from
computers and related equipment like printers and monitors, to enterprise‐wide and individual
software applications, to maintenance contracts, to services such as Internet connectivity and
outside phone lines, to smartphones, are purchased either for ITS use or on behalf of users
across the university and beyond. The ITS procurement unit efficiently coordinates and
manages thousands of transactions annually—it is one of our busiest service departments,
ensuring UNB gets the best IT products, at the best prices, in the least amount of time, and in
accordance with university policy.
Policy framework
IT procurement is conducted within a clearly defined policy environment. UNB’s
Procurement
Policy and
Procedures are the primary reference documents, supported by the
Personal
Reimbursement Policy. Given the large scale of IT procurements, the
New Brunswick Public
Purchasing Act is also relevant, as are the
Atlantic Procurement Agreement and the
Agreement on Internal Trade. Normal practice—in place for many years—is to issue periodic
requests for proposals (RFPs) to the market for commodity items such as network equipment,
servers, desktop computers and laptops, printers, printer toner, anti‐virus software, Internet
service, and, most recently, cellphones and smartphones including voice and data plans. When
UNB, through ITS, enters into a contract with a vendor as a result of an RFP process and
negotiation, everyone at the university benefits with access to high quality products proven to
work within the university’s computing environment, at the most advantageous terms and
conditions possible. Once such a contract has been entered into, it applies to all. UNB—and
ITS—are obligated to enforce contractual conditions such as exclusivity, standard models and
configurations, and payment terms. All faculty and staff are required to purchase IT items
within this framework. There may be occasional exceptions, but these are rare and must be
well documented and follow rigorous procedures.
Major IT procurement areas
- Internal to ITS – ITS itself consumes, as might be expected, a great deal of hardware and
software. We purchase all the components and applications that make our networks and
enterprise infrastructure and programs run smoothly.
- External to ITS, internal to UNB – ITS orders, configures, and manages all computers and
software paid for by operating funds, and much of that funded by research dollars as well.
- External to UNB – ITS purchases equipment, software, and services for the Educational
Computing Network (ECN), the consortium of higher‐ed institutions in New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island delivering research and education computing resources and expertise
across the region.
April 9, 2014 ‐ Terry Nikkel, AVP, ITS