PED Talks: March 2019

Lydia Dexter Author

07/24/2019 Added

12 Plays

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This is the March, 2019 PED Talks. The topic for this session is the software procurement process overview.

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[00:00:00.800]Good afternoon, everyone.
[00:00:02.310]Today's PED talk is going to be on
[00:00:04.827]the software procurement process overview,
[00:00:07.820]and Julie Synder and myself, Scott Stremick,
[00:00:10.570]will be your presenters today.
[00:00:13.120]As we go along, if there's any questions,
[00:00:15.210]feel free to put 'em in the chat.
[00:00:17.540]If you do wanna wait on your questions,
[00:00:20.650]we'll probably have a question period
[00:00:22.880]in the middle here, and then we'll do one at the end also,
[00:00:25.460]so that'll help that keep goin' along.
[00:00:30.000]The first part of it that I always kinda press on everybody
[00:00:32.980]is to be RED in your purchasing.
[00:00:37.240]You always have more success when you reach out
[00:00:39.770]to the representatives in IT procurement,
[00:00:42.040]ITS, or the contracts team.
[00:00:45.599]By us evaluating your software purchasing needs
[00:00:49.820]it gives you the most advantageous path
[00:00:51.880]that allows the university to purchase
[00:00:53.890]while following university guidelines,
[00:00:57.210]policy, state law, and federal law,
[00:00:59.250]and you're also keeping the university
[00:01:02.290]in legal correctness.
[00:01:05.240]And then the last part, the D,
[00:01:07.020]determine the best course of action.
[00:01:08.680]So, depending upon the dollar amounts,
[00:01:11.710]you can either join as an RFP, an RFQ,
[00:01:15.200]do competitive quotes, sole-source,
[00:01:17.840]or if you can just join a current agreement
[00:01:20.280]that's already in place with the university now.
[00:01:25.610]The next part is so you need to buy some software.
[00:01:28.830]The first step that you'd wanna take is
[00:01:30.550]you wanna talk to either your IT resource
[00:01:32.880]that's in your college or department,
[00:01:35.150]reach out to IT procurement,
[00:01:38.070]or talk to ITS strategic sourcing.
[00:01:40.490]And what you're kinda seeing there is a little breakdown
[00:01:43.120]of the yes, no, or unsure method.
[00:01:47.410]So, if we do have the software
[00:01:50.080]the first thing you wanna ask yourself
[00:01:51.730]is is it available in the Anywhere Store.
[00:01:54.970]From there, you could just make your purchase
[00:01:57.710]right through the Anywhere Store.
[00:01:59.420]If it's actually not in the store
[00:02:02.070]you're always welcome to reach out
[00:02:03.580]to IT procurement for next steps.
[00:02:06.060]Usually we can see what can be done
[00:02:07.810]to get you onto an existing contract,
[00:02:10.510]or have you fill out a quote order form
[00:02:13.710]that's in eSHOP there and get quotes
[00:02:16.750]and get you onto a software.
[00:02:18.900]If it's an unsure, we always want you to reach out
[00:02:21.990]to IT procurement and we can take a look at it
[00:02:24.510]and see if it's a software that we either
[00:02:27.190]have an agreement currently on,
[00:02:28.770]if it's in Anywhere Store but it's just not being shown
[00:02:31.830]for some reason.
[00:02:33.350]And if the answer's no, it's not something
[00:02:35.360]that the university has at this present time,
[00:02:38.760]basically reaching out to your IT resource above,
[00:02:42.150]or that person would probably end up reaching out
[00:02:45.830]to ITS strategic sourcing or IT procurement for help.
[00:02:50.080]From there, you'd have to fill out a quote order form
[00:02:53.310]or reach out to IT procurement and we can get you going
[00:02:56.670]down that method to purchase that software.
[00:03:03.235]Within the IT Anywhere Software Store,
[00:03:06.280]there are numerous titles that we already have out there
[00:03:09.000]that have gone through vetting for contracts,
[00:03:13.720]they have already been, for the most part
[00:03:17.230]most of the compliance reviews have been done on them.
[00:03:20.490]As you can see, there's a few that we have site licenses
[00:03:23.390]for all campuses: Adobe, Microsoft,
[00:03:25.940]Esri, IBM SPSS to name a few.
[00:03:30.170]There are some other ones that we are working on
[00:03:32.370]and we'll start putting those out there
[00:03:35.540]to the campuses as we get 'em.
[00:03:38.320]But keep in mind there's always an order form
[00:03:40.960]that can be filled out if there is software
[00:03:43.260]that you wanna request in the store.
[00:03:49.850]For the next part I'll let Julie kinda take over.
[00:03:57.020]Good afternoon, everybody.
[00:04:02.240]What if you need a contract to do this purchase?
[00:04:04.460]What do you need to do?
[00:04:06.150]Well, all contracts should route to
[00:04:09.160]ProcurementContracts@unl.edu
[00:04:12.510]regardless if they're IT or whatever.
[00:04:15.600]We will handle 'em there.
[00:04:17.950]We'll distribute them however they need to go,
[00:04:20.180]but it's always easier to just have
[00:04:22.310]one point of entry for a contract.
[00:04:26.030]Some of the documents, and this is a learning curve
[00:04:28.880]for everybody, but some of the documents
[00:04:30.700]that we would need included with the contract,
[00:04:33.400]especially to purchase software,
[00:04:36.240]could include things like quotes, or order forms,
[00:04:40.690]sometimes either one of those things
[00:04:42.780]may have a signature line on it, or two signature lines.
[00:04:47.290]Enterprise user license agreements
[00:04:50.470]need to accompany the contract if the vendor has one.
[00:04:56.290]Terms and conditions, obviously.
[00:04:59.120]We'd like for them to use our terms and conditions
[00:05:01.410]but sometimes that won't work,
[00:05:02.920]so if they have a set of terms and conditions
[00:05:07.840]we wanna see those too.
[00:05:09.520]If you skip down a couple where it says click-throughs,
[00:05:13.720]a lot of times a vendor or supplier's terms and conditions
[00:05:17.620]can be kind of hidden as a hyperlink within the quote
[00:05:22.260]or the order form, so we ask that you ask specifically
[00:05:26.810]for the terms and conditions that relate
[00:05:29.400]directly to the product that you're purchasing.
[00:05:33.270]Sometimes there will be the need for a license agreement,
[00:05:36.620]so we would want to see that.
[00:05:39.670]The scope of work tells us what we're gettin',
[00:05:41.960]the bang for our buck here, so what are our deliverables?
[00:05:45.880]What are we buying here?
[00:05:47.550]And then, whatever else you've been given
[00:05:49.430]by the supplier for signature.
[00:05:51.230]This is just an example of the most common ones.
[00:05:55.210]Often times too, you might have all of these.
[00:06:01.220]We ask that when the first inkling comes around
[00:06:05.440]that you're gonna buy some software,
[00:06:07.330]if you could please just ask
[00:06:10.370]for any of the necessary paperwork to get the ball rolling,
[00:06:14.850]and then that way we can have everything
[00:06:18.100]that we need when we start to review.
[00:06:20.140]Kind of streamlines the process a little bit.
[00:06:33.370]So, what do we need to start an engagement
[00:06:36.830]with the IT contracts team?
[00:06:40.330]The biggest thing that we need,
[00:06:41.460]and anyone that's gone through this
[00:06:42.817]has already seen it, or somebody has reached out to them
[00:06:46.440]and it's the checklist.
[00:06:48.370]Currently we are working on a new checklist
[00:06:51.470]that we're hopin' to have in April
[00:06:54.090]that'll be a little more user-friendly,
[00:06:56.170]but right now we do have a checklist
[00:06:59.410]and it isn't the greatest, but it does
[00:07:03.770]what we need it to do at this point.
[00:07:05.490]So we do ask that everyone complete a checklist.
[00:07:09.780]It's required in almost all engagements that we do
[00:07:13.160]when we have to review things within the workflow.
[00:07:16.400]And keep in mind if a PO is accepted
[00:07:20.090]without signature and mention of the quote number
[00:07:23.520]on the PO, then we don't need to go through
[00:07:25.630]the workflow process.
[00:07:27.360]If the vendor will actually accept our terms and conditions,
[00:07:31.380]and by accepting our PO without mention of the quote
[00:07:34.190]or signatures, we can move forward that way.
[00:07:40.060]We do always ask that you'll get,
[00:07:43.880]when you engage with one of us,
[00:07:45.480]and usually if you reach out to IT procurement at unl.edu,
[00:07:50.680]one of us can actually get you the checklist right away.
[00:07:55.960]Also, eventually we'll have a link
[00:08:01.490]within our website that'll actually offer you
[00:08:03.660]the ability to grab the checklist
[00:08:06.050]without having to engage with us,
[00:08:07.570]so you'll already be able to fill it out.
[00:08:09.300]And when you give us all the paperwork
[00:08:11.470]you'll also be giving us the checklist at that time.
[00:08:14.680]One thing I push on everybody is to remember
[00:08:18.440]that the majority of people can never sign a quote.
[00:08:22.890]There's a very strict university policy
[00:08:25.130]on signature authority, and that is one of the things
[00:08:29.000]that usually if paperwork comes to us
[00:08:31.300]and it's been signed by a department
[00:08:33.600]we do actually go back to the vendor
[00:08:35.470]and ask them for clean copies of that in order to ensure
[00:08:38.990]that when we do reach out to get contracts--
[00:08:44.610](microphone echo drowns out speaker)
[00:08:45.951]If it's the new wide agreement,
[00:08:46.860]legal's review on it that we do have
[00:08:48.590]all the correct signatures taken care of.
[00:08:53.493]One of the things that kinda goin' back a little bit is
[00:08:56.570]who will I work with when it comes to
[00:08:58.880]the different positions.
[00:09:01.010]So, within procurement contracts,
[00:09:03.400]the two people that you'd reach out to
[00:09:05.410]would be Jessica Mehrhoff or Julie Synder.
[00:09:08.660]Within the ITS strategic sourcing group
[00:09:11.863]you would reach out to Amy Metzger or Shanon Ehrisman.
[00:09:15.040]And within the IT procurement group
[00:09:17.180]you'd reach out to Scott Stremick or Sue Cuddeback.
[00:09:19.780]And any of these six people can point you
[00:09:21.690]in the right direction as far as what's needed
[00:09:24.820]and how to move forward with a contract.
[00:09:27.740]All of us can get you the checklist.
[00:09:29.640]We can help you out, but technically what we've tried to do
[00:09:32.360]is push a lot of the contracts and your requests
[00:09:35.830]for new software through the IT procurement
[00:09:41.270]at unl.edu website, and then from there
[00:09:44.440]it gets disbursed out to which one of us
[00:09:46.610]is gonna be working on it.
[00:09:47.770]and what needs to be done,
[00:09:48.910]we research the paperwork you have.
[00:09:51.730]But I do stress that when you reach out to us
[00:09:55.110]the best thing that you can do
[00:09:56.500]is have the checklist filled out
[00:09:58.810]and be able to tell us if it's in the renewal or not,
[00:10:01.827]and if there's past agreements.
[00:10:04.110]And if you have those agreements
[00:10:05.550]it's always good to, at least the first time
[00:10:08.040]through this process, is to be able to give us
[00:10:10.470]all of that paperwork 'cause we will need it
[00:10:12.680]as we go forward in reviewing the supplier's
[00:10:16.020]new terms and conditions.
[00:10:19.670]At this point, I gotta kinda hesitate for a second
[00:10:22.830]and ask if anyone has questions.
[00:10:25.340]If not, we can kick back up again.
[00:10:27.770]So if you have questions just put 'em through
[00:10:29.360]the chat message there.
[00:10:31.660]I'll give it about a minute.
[00:10:32.770]If there's nothing there we'll just keep goin' on.
[00:10:45.460]Will something be sent out
[00:10:46.500]to all faculty and staff making them aware
[00:10:48.650]of these new guidelines?
[00:10:50.040]It is important that faculty staff
[00:10:51.490]realize these requirements are not being required
[00:10:54.170]by the individual department, IT specialist--
[00:10:57.503](microphone echo drowns out speaker)
[00:12:45.381]PO at all, they would be accepting
[00:12:47.070]our terms and conditions.
[00:12:47.987]And that would only be considered if it was a renewal.
[00:12:52.700]That was a lot of talking.
[00:12:55.377]Sorry, I've been talking to myself
[00:12:57.200]for the last couple minutes.
[00:12:58.715](laughing)
[00:12:59.548]Okay, so David's question was could you repeat
[00:13:01.800]the conditions of when a PO is enough.
[00:13:03.640]Yes.
[00:13:05.450]Basically a PO would be accepted
[00:13:07.680]if it was a software renewal and the vendor
[00:13:10.810]wasn't requiring us to sign off on anything,
[00:13:15.930]that we didn't have to mention the PO
[00:13:17.860]or the quote number on the PO,
[00:13:20.270]and if the university had already accepted
[00:13:23.520]the terms and conditions from past purchases.
[00:13:28.270]If it's a new software it does go through
[00:13:30.920]the compliance review.
[00:13:32.430]No matter what it will go through a compliance review.
[00:13:36.660]If it's a renewal for software, right now
[00:13:40.610]if the vendor's asking us to sign anything
[00:13:44.630]then it will go through the workflow process
[00:13:47.280]in order to facilitate the signatures
[00:13:50.950]and review all of the terms and conditions
[00:13:52.970]that are out there.
[00:13:55.073](Julie speaking away from microphone)
[00:13:59.823]Not everybody heard it.
[00:14:00.870]Which one?
[00:14:02.758](Julie speaking away from microphone)
[00:14:10.690]Just to kinda go back about, okay so,
[00:14:15.160]for Kathy's part of it, whether or not
[00:14:16.830]we will communicate, yes, we will be doing
[00:14:19.480]communications for the campuses.
[00:14:24.190]We've done it with IT leadership already.
[00:14:26.210]We do plan to do other ones throughout the PED talk
[00:14:29.940]and through just talking to the individual
[00:14:33.419]software buyers as we touch base.
[00:14:37.740]We have been requesting if anybody wants the same talk
[00:14:42.350]on a more personal level at either at a meeting
[00:14:45.230]or with the college that
[00:14:47.660]They go ahead and let us know that.
[00:14:50.260]Julie Snyder, Amy Metzger, and myself
[00:14:52.210]have been pretty open to coming to departments, campuses,
[00:14:56.140]or just doing it via Zoom, and doing the same talk
[00:14:59.030]and going over the process to what's involved
[00:15:01.940]and what's needed when it comes to the campus's need
[00:15:06.770]for more information, or just having more specific questions
[00:15:11.650]as far as how the process is to be run,
[00:15:15.910]and what paperwork is needed, and things like that
[00:15:18.140]from all of us.
[00:15:22.250]Okay, and then we've got a question
[00:15:24.210]from James that says, well, first of all can you hear me?
[00:15:30.200]Here we are talking about technology
[00:15:32.090]and I'm a little technologically hampered, but anyway.
[00:15:35.940]So James asks how do you handle it
[00:15:39.300]when the vendor requires a faculty signature
[00:15:42.650]on the contracts to verify it's being used in a class.
[00:15:48.230]Well, we can allow the faculty just to acknowledge,
[00:15:54.390]but faculty typically do not have signature authority
[00:15:58.920]as delegated by the president of the university.
[00:16:02.870]And so, for them to sign would not be appropriate
[00:16:08.100]and it would not be a binding signature.
[00:16:12.800]You know, there are some cases in some contracts
[00:16:16.330]where there's a place for faculty to sign
[00:16:18.660]so that it acknowledges that we're using it
[00:16:22.760]in a classroom, or yes this is what we want.
[00:16:25.950]But in order for the contract to be executed,
[00:16:29.410]for the purchase to go through in a compliant way,
[00:16:32.900]it has to be signed by one who has
[00:16:35.360]delegated signature authority.
[00:16:39.350]So, any other questions about signature authority?
[00:16:53.534](Julie speaking away from microphone)
[00:17:04.350]You'll have to ask him.
[00:17:06.231]Go ahead.
[00:17:08.438]And Chris Evans.
[00:17:12.194](both speaking away from microphone)
[00:17:21.820]The other question that we had out there
[00:17:23.420]was perhaps we could request that
[00:17:25.240]UNL faculty senate rebroadcast a message
[00:17:28.360]to their constituents who may not be in the loop
[00:17:31.110]on, or, and claim to watch PED talks and so on.
[00:17:39.500]Go ahead.
[00:17:42.610]This is Maggie, everyone.
[00:17:44.250]I'm joining and appreciate everybody putting up with
[00:17:47.160]our technology challenges in this conference room
[00:17:49.800]over in the business services center.
[00:17:53.270]So, hopefully everyone can hear,
[00:17:55.130]and if someone wants to chime in if you can't,
[00:17:57.910]or let us know that you have.
[00:17:59.140]We've got three other people here
[00:18:01.100]helping us monitor the audio.
[00:18:06.720]From a standpoint of having faculty senate
[00:18:08.580]rebroadcast the message, we are in the process
[00:18:11.580]of working with ITS leadership
[00:18:14.050]to begin getting the word out on these process changes,
[00:18:19.730]which we are, along with other universities,
[00:18:24.400]particularly in the big Ten and others that we've talked to,
[00:18:28.310]facing similar challenges with the compliance review
[00:18:33.180]and analysis protocol.
[00:18:36.310]The biggest challenge is we don't have a complete,
[00:18:43.050]I guess I would say, record of all of the software
[00:18:46.750]that has been procured over the years
[00:18:50.660]in various departments that may or may not still be in use.
[00:18:54.790]Sometimes it's bought and only used one time,
[00:18:57.210]it didn't come through a purchase order,
[00:18:59.820]there's a lot of things that this compliance requirement
[00:19:03.180]has made a change in how we buy,
[00:19:06.340]so we've worked with ITS as Scott and Julie
[00:19:10.210]have shared with you today to come up with a process
[00:19:13.270]that we think helps ensure that
[00:19:14.930]we're catching these things now
[00:19:17.000]at the procurement or renewal phase.
[00:19:20.250]Having the faculty senate rebroadcast this message
[00:19:23.040]is likely part of our communication strategy going forward.
[00:19:27.910]I do believe that we still have
[00:19:29.850]a number of leadership personnel to be reached
[00:19:32.880]to ensure that they're comfortable with
[00:19:34.440]the manner in which this process has been developed.
[00:19:38.870]Again, this is still fairly new
[00:19:41.230]in that I think we've just been working on this
[00:19:45.230]in the last I'd say nine months.
[00:19:47.730]And Scott, or Julie, I stand corrected
[00:19:51.420]if you need to clarify that as far as development
[00:19:54.220]of this process.
[00:19:55.400]Well, the process is an ongoing process
[00:19:59.130]and I feel very strongly that everything
[00:20:01.920]should be flexible at this point in time
[00:20:04.600]because our technology is probably
[00:20:07.530]not exactly what we need in order to do
[00:20:10.100]the best that we can with it,
[00:20:11.880]and that is on our radar, and that is something
[00:20:14.000]that we're looking at improving.
[00:20:18.720]This has been something that evolved
[00:20:20.750]since one IT was formed, and then all of a sudden
[00:20:24.620]maybe an auditor comes in, or somebody complains
[00:20:27.530]about something not being in compliance
[00:20:31.150]and it caused sort of a mad scramble
[00:20:34.330]to make sure that we actually did have a process in place
[00:20:37.510]that was going to be not only a compliant process
[00:20:43.040]but something that would work throughout the system,
[00:20:47.440]because you have to keep in mind, with one IT
[00:20:50.070]we're talking about all four campuses here.
[00:20:52.910]So it's been a little bit bulky, a little bit cumbersome,
[00:20:56.200]and we've all admitted it, and we've morphed and changed
[00:20:59.670]as we needed to, but this will allow for us
[00:21:03.710]to not only be compliant like I was saying,
[00:21:06.810]but also to protect our university,
[00:21:09.060]our students, our faculty, our staff,
[00:21:11.890]the people that are using various products.
[00:21:14.390]We have to be mindful that there are
[00:21:17.220]a number of different things that involve software
[00:21:22.290]when you're buying it.
[00:21:24.160]I would add to that,
[00:21:25.890]now that we have begun this process,
[00:21:29.060]Scott, you might wanna add on this too.
[00:21:30.880]I know that we have now begun keeping an inventory
[00:21:34.300]of those products that are being purchased,
[00:21:37.186]and we know of their compliance effective dates,
[00:21:40.732]or the remediation plan to meet those requirements,
[00:21:44.580]and if you wanna clarify anything I just said,
[00:21:46.530]maybe I'm not using the proper verbiage.
[00:21:49.313]We keep a very crude method of it right now.
[00:21:53.530]We do hope that at some point in time
[00:21:56.010]through with ITS's help that there will be in a way
[00:21:59.540]a system that'll help track it a little bit more.
[00:22:02.530]But, between Julie, myself, we have been able,
[00:22:07.360]we do know what's gone through the system now,
[00:22:10.480]and we know how it fared as it came in and out of there.
[00:22:12.920]So, we do keep records of it,
[00:22:15.230]of everything that's been done,
[00:22:16.830]and the notes that have been taken.
[00:22:18.500]And a lot of this stuff, especially when you go
[00:22:20.130]into the compliance reviews, a lot of that stuff
[00:22:22.270]is added into the contracts already.
[00:22:24.321]Right. Correct.
[00:22:25.154]So, if you do have issues
[00:22:27.680]that pertain to your particular software,
[00:22:30.390]a lot of that stuff is already embedded
[00:22:32.400]into the contract itself.
[00:22:33.740]There are remediation plans that vendors have to stick to.
[00:22:38.470]They do have different milestones
[00:22:40.690]that are all added into those contracts,
[00:22:42.410]and we do keep, obviously keep records of those
[00:22:45.030]both within, obviously, the contracts group
[00:22:47.170]but also IT procurement keeps the same records
[00:22:50.350]so that we know what's happening.
[00:22:54.720]But the general idea, I think,
[00:22:56.340]with ITS strategic sourcing help I think the general idea
[00:23:01.400]is that we do wanna eventually start building
[00:23:03.580]a formal database for software.
[00:23:07.420]Where all of it has been vetted
[00:23:08.880]by the university?
[00:23:09.780]Yep, so building something that's more formal
[00:23:11.877]and that's accessible to everybody.
[00:23:14.100]I will add that from the Big Ten
[00:23:17.160]Academic Alliance perspective,
[00:23:19.050]also the procurement leadership group
[00:23:21.530]is working with the IT leadership group.
[00:23:25.350]These are two distinct groups within the BTAA,
[00:23:29.530]and we are working to come up with
[00:23:31.540]some collaborative informational resources
[00:23:35.930]where if a software has been vetted
[00:23:38.500]there should be some type of a query database
[00:23:41.350]that we can determine if it's prequalified already.
[00:23:46.280]But, again, I add that we're not the only ones
[00:23:49.530]that have been caught in this challenge.
[00:23:54.240]Everyone sort of got caught by this
[00:23:56.050]about the same time.
[00:23:57.630]Couple of universities in the Big Ten
[00:23:59.620]were a little ahead of us and several others,
[00:24:02.070]but many of us are just getting our processes in place.
[00:24:06.070]And we are drafting a guide.
[00:24:09.450]I think we're gonna talk a little bit later about that--
[00:24:12.082](microphone echo drowning out speaker)
[00:24:14.090]And the Advisory group, so I'll save those comments
[00:24:18.790]for a little bit later as we get through that
[00:24:21.990]'cause we have a few more slides
[00:24:23.070]we wanted to talk about the actual strategic group
[00:24:27.480]and the process that you've developed.
[00:24:29.830]Yeah, Chris, to your comment, thank you.
[00:24:31.940]We think it's pretty awesome too.
[00:24:34.540]We think that having an inventory
[00:24:37.810]is gonna be so helpful to everybody involved.
[00:24:42.280]So, that's high on our wish list
[00:24:45.610]and actually coming to fruition.
[00:24:48.010]And I know I've had the question
[00:24:49.410]from several other leaders that I've talked with
[00:24:51.610]about this process 'cause we've been having dialog
[00:24:54.730]about it, which is part of the reason
[00:24:56.550]we're talking about it today.
[00:24:57.720]We want to make sure everyone's hearing the same thing.
[00:25:00.760]But, others have said hey,
[00:25:01.950]aren't other schools facing the same challenge,
[00:25:04.330]or hasn't this already been pre-vetted.
[00:25:07.650]I've used this example before,
[00:25:09.510]so if everyone's heard it you can just plug your ears,
[00:25:12.210]but for those of you that haven't heard it,
[00:25:14.750]you probably wouldn't think another example parallel
[00:25:17.880]of buying an electrical appliance for your home
[00:25:21.610]that doesn't have a UL approved tag on it.
[00:25:24.840]The challenges back in the day,
[00:25:26.660]and I've been in procurement for way too many years,
[00:25:29.751]but there used to never be UL approval,
[00:25:32.660]Universal Laboratories approval,
[00:25:34.510]on all appliances, or an expectation of a standard.
[00:25:38.990]We're facing the same challenge with software.
[00:25:41.390]Many of these companies are just developed,
[00:25:46.340]they're new organizations that are developing
[00:25:48.280]something very new and innovative,
[00:25:50.170]and they need to get their product marketed
[00:25:51.880]but they aren't necessarily going through this v-pad,
[00:25:54.990]all the required reviews and security approvals
[00:25:58.910]to get their product on the market.
[00:26:00.650]And because the market doesn't demand it,
[00:26:03.180]but it puts us in a situation sort of playing the police.
[00:26:06.790]Pardon me, but we all own a responsibility here,
[00:26:10.450]and we are working to develop some thresholds as well,
[00:26:13.480]but this is definitely a leadership decision,
[00:26:16.546]not yours truly or the group that's sitting here
[00:26:19.440]on the call talking with everyone today.
[00:26:21.840]So, thanks for your feedback,
[00:26:23.160]and I know we've got more slides.
[00:26:26.050]Okay, so I guess you're probably thinking
[00:26:30.990]okay, they got all of their paperwork
[00:26:33.130]and all that kinda stuff, what happens next.
[00:26:36.380]Well, the workflow process begins.
[00:26:39.070]And so, as you can see, this is not just
[00:26:42.530]a simple straight line.
[00:26:45.210]I wish it were.
[00:26:46.200](laughing)
[00:26:47.210]But, first of all, procurement contracts,
[00:26:49.980]things come in to us and we begin the review,
[00:26:52.780]and the edits, and the negotiation with the supplier,
[00:26:55.950]and we have three entities that we have to
[00:26:59.070]keep in the back of our minds
[00:27:00.450]as we are looking at contracts and negotiating them,
[00:27:04.060]and that is the board of regents purchasing policy,
[00:27:07.060]state statutes, and federal laws.
[00:27:09.830]Which a couple of the things that we,
[00:27:11.630]you know, a lot of people are sometimes concerned about
[00:27:17.990]has to do with accessibility, or has to do with
[00:27:23.720]PCI compliance, or some of those things.
[00:27:26.330]And a lot of people I think just think
[00:27:28.300]we make this stuff up, but those are federal regulations
[00:27:31.178]that we are bound to make sure that we are compliant with.
[00:27:35.960]Once procurement contracts gets everything in
[00:27:38.940]and they start to look at it,
[00:27:41.010]the last thing that we would do would be to send it to
[00:27:44.530]our contact over at general counsel.
[00:27:47.180]So, an attorney needs to look at it.
[00:27:49.790]At the same time, so in tandem with procurement contracts
[00:27:54.080]reviewing and editing the business relationship,
[00:27:56.750]the terms and conditions of the agreement,
[00:27:59.380]the ITS subject matter experts are looking at
[00:28:03.300]the various different parts of the software purchase
[00:28:07.310]as it pertains to them.
[00:28:08.760]Doesn't always pertain to all of them,
[00:28:10.670]but sometimes it does.
[00:28:12.390]So, we talked about PCI and ADA, which is accessibility,
[00:28:17.320]but there's also enterprise architecture,
[00:28:19.820]there's data, there's security, there's identity management.
[00:28:24.550]Those things all have to be looked at
[00:28:26.800]to make sure that once it's on our network
[00:28:30.010]or in our system that it's not going to be
[00:28:32.820]detrimental to us.
[00:28:34.200]And so, the subject matter experts have to review,
[00:28:38.780]and revise, and edit, and negotiate that as well.
[00:28:42.430]And so, I put the supplier facing procurement contracts
[00:28:46.190]and the subject matter experts because
[00:28:48.870]they're involved heavily in this,
[00:28:51.030]and, like Maggie said, a lot of them are startup companies
[00:28:54.120]who are very innovative and creative
[00:28:55.990]but maybe don't have a legal department.
[00:28:59.070]And so, sometimes it takes time because their legal
[00:29:03.330]is hired out, and sometimes they're not as available
[00:29:06.890]as a big company that has a whole team of attorneys.
[00:29:11.880]So, once all of the edits, and the contract review,
[00:29:15.240]and the subject matter expert language
[00:29:17.640]has been negotiated, and pretty much
[00:29:20.480]everybody feels pretty good about it,
[00:29:24.240]our CFO and our vice chancellor of business and finance
[00:29:29.110]have asked that general counsel take a look
[00:29:32.440]and review it before any signatures go on it.
[00:29:37.150]So, we always have to send it over to general counsel
[00:29:40.740]to make sure that we in fact have caught
[00:29:43.560]what we needed to catch.
[00:29:45.530]We answer any questions.
[00:29:47.147]Sometimes we have to get on a call
[00:29:48.850]with our attorney from general counsel,
[00:29:51.250]and the supplier, the supplier's attorney.
[00:29:54.330]So, it's unfortunately not a straight line process,
[00:29:58.660]but it is what it is,
[00:30:00.470]and we're making the best of it for now.
[00:30:06.470]Here's just a little sample of who works on your contract
[00:30:11.130]and what is involved.
[00:30:13.710]Currently, the tools and technology that we use
[00:30:17.180]just in order to process a contract
[00:30:19.460]is the Outlook Shared Email Boxes
[00:30:21.880]where we would ask that you would send your contract request
[00:30:25.730]to ProcurementContracts@unl.edu.
[00:30:29.200]We use Box to create a folder where we store
[00:30:32.090]all of our documents so that everybody
[00:30:33.870]that's involved in this workflow
[00:30:35.970]can have access at any given time,
[00:30:38.500]or even be working in tandem on any particular contract.
[00:30:42.660]We have a project workflow tool that Konrad Ingle
[00:30:48.810]developed for us to use.
[00:30:50.880]In the meantime while we seek out some technology
[00:30:55.070]that will be a little bit more transparent
[00:30:58.000]to the campus at large, and smoother,
[00:31:00.270]more of a straight line workflow.
[00:31:02.710]We use DocuSign because it is a time saver
[00:31:07.110]and it's also very secure.
[00:31:10.410]It's the only electronic signature tool
[00:31:15.750]that is actually approved by the State of Nebraska to use.
[00:31:21.600]We checked all of that out before we signed up.
[00:31:25.230]We use Adobe Pro in order to route contracts
[00:31:30.750]through DocuSign and make sure that everything is secure
[00:31:35.450]and stays the way that it needs to.
[00:31:37.040]And when it comes back we have to convert it
[00:31:39.900]so we can redact certain items from the contract
[00:31:44.580]before we upload it using the IonWave repository tool,
[00:31:50.260]which also links with the State of Nebraska's website
[00:31:55.210]for taxpayer transparencies.
[00:31:57.740]Some of you might remember a few years ago
[00:31:59.550]when we were around training on LB429,
[00:32:03.050]which states that every expenditure contract
[00:32:06.610]of any dollar amount made on behalf of the university
[00:32:12.070]needs to be uploaded to the State's
[00:32:13.810]taxpayer transparency website.
[00:32:18.450]That's a lot to say.
[00:32:19.780]And then, we have the workflow collaborators
[00:32:23.360]that we talked a little bit about already.
[00:32:25.140]But, we've got the contracts team,
[00:32:27.690]and the IT buyers, and we have
[00:32:30.590]the ITS strategic sourcing team,
[00:32:34.210]then we have the subject matter experts,
[00:32:36.070]which you can see over there on the right.
[00:32:39.440]Enterprise architecture, identity management,
[00:32:42.240]security, ADA, PCI, general counsel,
[00:32:47.980]the one that isn't over there
[00:32:49.340]that I should've added in is data.
[00:32:51.560]That's a new one that we'll be vetting.
[00:32:55.930]And then, we also have the stakeholder.
[00:32:57.680]So, if you are purchasing on behalf of faculty,
[00:33:01.620]or whatever, then they are the people
[00:33:03.930]that sort of are the subject matter expert
[00:33:06.550]about the software itself.
[00:33:08.980]So, we always are interested to know
[00:33:11.200]why we're purchasing something,
[00:33:12.710]what the purpose of it is, and what does it do.
[00:33:17.040]I just wanna say a little bit about understanding
[00:33:19.860]very, very clearly what a software product does.
[00:33:25.830]Contracts isn't here to make your life miserable,
[00:33:28.220]but we do need to be able to assess the risk
[00:33:33.020]for the money that we're expending
[00:33:34.850]and for a software that we might be bringing
[00:33:37.010]onto our system.
[00:33:38.670]And if we don't understand exactly what it does,
[00:33:42.670]it's very difficult for us to assess the risk
[00:33:45.570]of purchasing something.
[00:33:47.080]So, the more you can tell us about it,
[00:33:48.950]the better off, the quicker it'll be.
[00:33:58.100]Okay, so here's the process.
[00:34:03.030]We start with all of the contract documents
[00:34:05.080]being collected by being sent to procurement contracts,
[00:34:10.850]IT strategic sourcing, and the IT buyer.
[00:34:13.330]We all have access to that.
[00:34:15.490]Once we load those into a Box folder,
[00:34:18.010]everybody's got access to start work on it.
[00:34:21.300]The workflow is created in the project workflow tool.
[00:34:25.450]And, in tandem, the subject matter experts
[00:34:28.420]and procurement contracts can start reviewing the language.
[00:34:32.280]Keep in mind that my contracts team
[00:34:34.310]is looking more or less at the traditional
[00:34:37.590]terms and conditions of doing business,
[00:34:39.580]the business relationship of it like the length of time,
[00:34:43.240]the amount of the purchase, liability, warranty,
[00:34:47.080]all that kinda stuff.
[00:34:48.660]And then the subject matter experts
[00:34:50.330]are looking specifically at things that address security,
[00:34:57.520]data, PCI, any of those things.
[00:35:02.670]Contract negotiations will at some point
[00:35:06.170]be complete with the supplier.
[00:35:07.820]There's a lot of back and forth in there.
[00:35:09.810]You never can tell how long it's gonna take
[00:35:12.680]and how much pushback you're gonna get with the supplier,
[00:35:15.610]but once it's completed then we route the contract document
[00:35:20.310]for signature in DocuSign, and then a PO is created
[00:35:24.100]and released, and the contract is uploaded to the State.
[00:35:35.270]And, Scott, oops, I will let you talk about this.
[00:35:39.510]So, the last part that we wanted to talk about
[00:35:41.624]a little bit was the IT Strategic Sourcing Advisory Board.
[00:35:45.750]Basically, this consists of reps from the various campuses
[00:35:49.200]and those reps are in various positions
[00:35:51.760]within those campuses.
[00:35:55.230]The group primarily focuses on identifying opportunities
[00:36:00.080]for strategic movement, developing processes and procedures,
[00:36:05.190]and they support the contract review process
[00:36:09.380]and work with helping develop communication strategy,
[00:36:15.060]and lastly, advising on various
[00:36:17.820]strategic technology initiatives.
[00:36:21.020]The group itself meets about every two weeks
[00:36:23.790]at this point in time as it's still in the infancy stage,
[00:36:28.810]but we are working on right now how to deal with
[00:36:32.440]accessibility, paperwork that's involved in accessibility,
[00:36:36.670]things like that.
[00:36:38.560]The general idea was that eventually the board itself
[00:36:41.410]could also look at if there were problems
[00:36:43.270]with the software what could be done
[00:36:46.550]from a higher position about being able to move forward,
[00:36:51.210]and even looking at combining softwares within categories.
[00:36:56.845]So, you have anything to add?
[00:37:03.287]Hey all, this is Maggie.
[00:37:05.100]Yeah, to add to what Scott just shared with you,
[00:37:08.860]and speaking I'd like to add too a missing party today
[00:37:12.980]because she had a conflict, is Amy Metzger.
[00:37:16.550]But she sends her good will and support of this.
[00:37:21.915]This board is a collaboration not only between
[00:37:25.127]ITS and procurement, it's really about
[00:37:29.600]doing the best things, and right now
[00:37:31.710]software's the hottest topic.
[00:37:33.610]But it's about doing the best things
[00:37:35.060]and procuring our relationships with our suppliers
[00:37:38.410]because when you buy a software
[00:37:39.770]you're not just buying the software,
[00:37:42.550]you are buying, it's a bit like a marriage
[00:37:44.810]depending on the nature and the complexity of the software.
[00:37:48.800]We understand that, and I see somebody commented
[00:37:52.230]there's a lot of echoey-ness.
[00:37:53.203]Does it sound better now?
[00:37:55.290]Good, okay.
[00:37:57.430]There's just more to it than that,
[00:37:59.940]but at the end of the day the board is focusing right now,
[00:38:02.430]as Scott said, on software and the process
[00:38:06.120]around that procurement.
[00:38:07.730]We want the group to evolve, and probably even
[00:38:11.190]we'll be including some subcommittees and groups of that
[00:38:15.873]that will be developed along the way
[00:38:17.140]depending on situations that arise.
[00:38:19.950]I think we have about, am I gonna say this right,
[00:38:23.000]about 10 members today, Scott?
[00:38:25.481]About a dozen.
[00:38:26.458]Yeah, about a dozen members.
[00:38:27.980]And as we're brand new, we just got kicked off
[00:38:32.440]late last year, and this particular topic
[00:38:38.070]is something that we are all collaborating on,
[00:38:41.080]and we're open to answer more questions,
[00:38:44.650]and if you'd like to get more involved,
[00:38:46.020]or have some ideas or thoughts,
[00:38:47.770]we're very open to your feedback.
[00:38:49.360]We would really appreciate it.
[00:38:53.800]The last part of it that I had for everybody--
[00:39:00.200]If there are any other questions,
[00:39:01.940]before I kinda open that up
[00:39:03.270]I did wanna actually include one thing,
[00:39:06.000]that once you go through the workflow process one time
[00:39:10.560]with your agreements, renewals after that
[00:39:13.300]become much, much simpler.
[00:39:14.700]So, it is a positive that you go through this
[00:39:18.200]'cause the idea is is that you pretty much
[00:39:20.780]wouldn't have to go through it again.
[00:39:22.710]The terms and conditions if they should change
[00:39:24.950]within a given time period, you know,
[00:39:26.850]we would have to look at again,
[00:39:28.200]but, for the most part, as a group we make an effort
[00:39:31.270]to do master agreements with our vendors,
[00:39:34.790]and so it would make it easier
[00:39:36.150]as we purchase other items, we renew items,
[00:39:39.280]things like that with them.
[00:39:40.990]So, I'm gonna leave it open,
[00:39:42.440]look and see if there's any other questions.
[00:39:44.620]But, other than that, let's see what we got.
[00:39:47.960]So, I see David's got a question
[00:39:52.260]where it talks about the full compliance review
[00:39:55.490]for renewals.
[00:39:56.890]And I'm looking to see,
[00:40:03.610]but that doesn't cover the area
[00:40:06.613]outside of contract language,
[00:40:08.020]the things that this needs review.
[00:40:11.140]Would renewals at some point be subject to
[00:40:13.580]subject matter expert review
[00:40:16.640]as is required for new software?
[00:40:19.560]And, yes, and sometimes they are at this point in time.
[00:40:23.850]Part of the issue is sometimes in the past
[00:40:29.400]contracts have been signed by people
[00:40:32.200]that did not have signature authority,
[00:40:34.840]or the contract is so old and antiquated
[00:40:37.960]that we need to take another look at it.
[00:40:41.380]I know all of you understand that laws change
[00:40:44.559]and policy changes, and so if we are receiving something
[00:40:49.360]that is a renewal but it's very old,
[00:40:53.370]or maybe it wasn't signed by somebody
[00:40:55.130]who could legally sign it, we take a look at it.
[00:41:01.970]We try to move things through as quickly as we can.
[00:41:08.030]And, hopefully, like I was saying earlier
[00:41:10.170]at some point in the near future
[00:41:12.240]there will be a little bit more transparency
[00:41:14.940]about all of this.
[00:41:17.090]Part of the hiccups I think that we've seen
[00:41:19.060]is the fact that a lot of times
[00:41:21.340]we're not getting all of the documents that we need
[00:41:23.660]up front, and so we wait.
[00:41:27.800]But then there are just times when things have changed
[00:41:33.340]that we need to really take a good, strong look at
[00:41:36.810]when it comes to one of the areas of vetting and compliance.
[00:41:41.140]I don't know if that answered your question, David.
[00:41:47.090]This is Maggie.
[00:41:47.923]I don't know if I can be heard,
[00:41:48.870]but I'm speaking through Julie's microphone here.
[00:41:51.420]I'm gonna add the renewal process has been questioned
[00:41:57.150]quite a bit by the committee, the advisory board,
[00:42:00.560]and there isn't a hard and fast rule.
[00:42:05.080]This group does not wanna stop business.
[00:42:08.260]We want to try to find ways
[00:42:11.080]to manage and monitor compliance
[00:42:15.110]even in the face of situations
[00:42:18.310]where perhaps a supplier's software
[00:42:21.630]hasn't quite met compliance.
[00:42:23.350]I know they have found situations
[00:42:25.020]where they're able to develop a remediation plan
[00:42:28.160]while the renewal is being engaged,
[00:42:30.950]or even with a new software.
[00:42:32.520]But, to Julie's point, with renewals
[00:42:35.640]the key is when we sign supplier documents,
[00:42:40.490]we're, in essence, accepting their terms and conditions.
[00:42:43.820]And the question is at what risk is that to the university.
[00:42:48.500]Which is something that's different for every situation,
[00:42:52.290]so it becomes kind of a question of
[00:42:56.010]well, why would I care about a $2,000.00 purchase
[00:43:01.410]of a product here and turn around and find out
[00:43:04.100]it might be being used and required for use
[00:43:07.220]by a set of students.
[00:43:09.450]And the key here is just mitigating our risk
[00:43:13.020]as a university and finding a standard protocol
[00:43:16.450]to document how that risk is being mitigated
[00:43:19.000]if the software isn't compliant.
[00:43:21.540]And that's probably the biggest challenge,
[00:43:24.840]particularly since the university is self-insured.
[00:43:27.940]And that's why I said earlier that this does
[00:43:31.160]and will be taking higher level review.
[00:43:33.950]There have been discussions with the CIO,
[00:43:37.263]the CISO, the new officer, the compliance officer.
[00:43:42.610]Not trying to drop names, this really is
[00:43:44.840]a hot topic right now in our senior leadership group,
[00:43:48.260]not including the CFO and the provost for the university.
[00:43:52.230]So, I want everybody to understand
[00:43:55.010]we're trying to talk to you in the most logical manner
[00:43:58.600]that we can before the process really existed,
[00:44:01.280]now we have it.
[00:44:02.430]We can at least start talking about the holes in it,
[00:44:05.600]and working with you to try to shore it up.
[00:44:08.140]I stress early engagement with the people
[00:44:12.010]that are speaking with you today
[00:44:14.270]and the names that were mentioned earlier in the slides.
[00:44:18.120]Julie, Scott, any other comments?
[00:44:21.120]Do we have any other questions?
[00:44:24.216]Okay.
[00:44:26.720]We know we haven't got it perfect,
[00:44:30.230]but we do know we're headed in the right direction.
[00:44:34.270]Other universities are suggesting
[00:44:39.500]that they're struggling with some of the same issues.
[00:44:46.850]If there's no other questions,
[00:44:48.934]I think if you have questions
[00:44:49.767]you're always welcome to reach out.
[00:44:53.950]So, if there aren't any other questions,
[00:44:55.420]you're always welcome to reach out to Julie Snyder,
[00:44:57.790]myself, or Amy Metzger, and we'll do all we can
[00:45:01.020]to help you out and answer the questions that you need.
[00:45:05.410]For the most part, like I said,
[00:45:06.670]that should be it.
[00:45:07.503]If there's nothing else, everyone have a great day,
[00:45:09.780]and have a nice day, rest of the week.
[00:45:15.100]Thank you.

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PED Talks: March 2019

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