Pennsylvania Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver and Secretary of General Services Reggie McNeil this week highlighted collaboration by their agencies to modernize procurement for information technology projects. By adopting innovative best practices from the private sector, streamlining processes, and engaging with the supplier community, the Shapiro Administration is making it easier for technology companies to do business with the Commonwealth, increasing competition for state contracts, and protecting taxpayer dollars from IT project delays and cost overruns.
“Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace, and we need the ability to respond quickly to new innovations and changes in the marketplace,” said Secretary Weaver. “The Shapiro Administration is implementing proven, commonsense solutions to speed up the IT procurement process and deliver faster results for Pennsylvanians.”
“This collaboration is about building a modern, transparent, and efficient IT procurement process that delivers better results for the Commonwealth and our vendors,” said Secretary McNeil. “By adopting best practices from the private sector and continually seeking input from the tech supplier community, we are ensuring the Commonwealth stays ahead of the curve, supports innovation, and delivers smarter solutions that maximize the use of taxpayer dollars.”
The Department of General Services Bureau of Procurement and the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) within the Office of Administration have teamed up to streamline and standardize IT procurement practices to increase speed, reduce costs, reduce risk, and improve transparency for vendors. Their work is guided by a steering committee of the Office of Administration, Department of General Services, Office of the Budget, Office of General Counsel, and leadership from six agencies.
Adopting Procurement Best Practices from the Private Sector
Rather than contracting with a single large vendor for a project, DGS and OA staff will identify opportunities to break down a project into smaller deliverables with clear, manageable scopes of work. This iterative and adaptive approach reduces potential costs and risk to the project if a vendor cannot deliver. Smaller contracts also create opportunities for more companies to do business with the Commonwealth.
Updating the DGS Procurement Handbook and Creating a New Invitation to Qualify for Digital Services Vendors
In July 2024, DGS published a new chapter of the Procurement Handbook for digital services acquisition. The chapter includes Agile best practices that emphasize flexible, user-centered approaches to building digital services with vendors, incremental development and rapid deployment of new functionality, and accessible design. CODE PA used the new chapter to craft multi-award Agile procurements to create a centralized system for permits, licenses, and certifications across state agencies.
CODE PA and DGS are also creating a new digital services Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) to streamline the selection of vendors experienced in user-centered approaches. The ITQ will allow vendors to demonstrate their qualifications to be considered for future contracts. This “pre-qualification” will allow vendors to receive requests for quotes (RFQ) for projects within a particular category of the ITQ rather than a full proposal on a specific project.
Optimizing the IT Procurement Process for Speed and Efficiency
DGS and CODE PA have also made improvements to the IT procurement process that are saving time and peeling away layers of unnecessary bureaucracy that slow the pace of progress and innovation. For example, DGS rescinded a policy that required agencies to negotiate a software license agreement with a vendor before finding out how much the software costs.
The IT procurement modernization review also examined how IT projects are requested, reviewed, and approved. Earlier this month, CODE PA and DGS launched a streamlined process resulting in a 75 percent reduction in the number of questions required to make an IT purchase while still gathering the necessary information. The new process will support faster decision making by eliminating repetitive steps, allowing reviewers to conduct their work concurrently, automating workflows, and enabling better tracking of pending requests. These improvements will further increase speed to market and the delivery of modern, secure, and accessible digital services to serve all Pennsylvanians.
Aligning IT Policies to Industry Standards and Harnessing Generative AI to Cut Verbiage More than Half
In concert with modernizing the IT procurement process to deliver better results for taxpayers, the Shapiro Administration is also focused on making it easier for companies to do business with the Commonwealth.
Previously, the terms and conditions for IT contracts required vendors to comply with the applicable Commonwealth’s 93 IT policies, which spanned over 500 pages. In January, OA consolidated the 93 policies into 34 and renamed them with simple, intuitive titles. Over the coming months, OA will review and rewrite its IT policies to align with common compliance frameworks that most vendors follow already. During this step, OA will pilot the use of generative AI to accelerate the drafting of revised policies for editing and review by subject matter experts. Through this effort, OA is targeting a 60 percent reduction in the volume of policy documentation to approximately 200 pages. These actions will make it significantly faster and easier for vendors to confirm their compliance and begin working on technology projects that improve the lives of our residents. Simplifying IT policies will also benefit Commonwealth employees by making them easier to understand and follow.
Engaging with the Vendor Community to Foster Innovation and Improve Communication
In August and October, the Shapiro Administration invited information technology vendors to demonstrate their cybersecurity and artificial intelligence products and services on designated “vendor days.” The demonstrations provided opportunities for the Commonwealth to learn about new capabilities available in the marketplace and for suppliers to engage with leaders from OA, DGS, and the Governor’s Office.
Last May, CODE PA collaborated with DGS, Department of State, and Department of Transportation to address a backlog of requests from businesses interested in learning how to do business with the Commonwealth. CODE PA automated the communication process and rewrote messages to be easier to understand, helping to clear a backlog of approximately 4,500 requests and keep pace with over 6,000 additional requests since then.
