La. Admin. Code tit. 34, § I-5509 - Procedures for the Procurement of Information Technology Software Maintenance

A. This Section will describe the procedures that all agencies in the Executive Branch must follow when seeking to acquire information technology software maintenance.

B. For the purposes of this Section, information technology software maintenance includes on-site, telephone and/or on-line troubleshooting, installation assistance, basic usability assistance, etc. Information technology software products and technologies to be covered include operating systems, application software and systems, application software, and systems and network management software, tools and utilities.

C. Procurements for information technology software maintenance under $100,000 may be handled non-competitively and are deemed to have the advance approval from the Office of State Purchasing and shall not be for a price greater than the vendor's published price. The Office of State Purchasing will assist any agency in the negotiation of contract agreements and any other procurement related functions.

D. It is the state's intent to compete information technology software maintenance with a total cost greater than $100,000 whenever possible.

1. Any agency or entity that does not use the competitive process or an established standard or statewide agreement for procurement of information technology software maintenance with a total cost in excess of $100,000 must fully justify its request to the Office of Information Technology and obtain concurrence prior to submission to the Office of State Purchasing for further processing.

2. Information technology software maintenance in which the software vendor is the only authorized entity to provide product fixes, patches, updates, or upgrades can continue to be handled non-competitively in accordance with R.S. 39:199.D. A letter from the information technology software vendor substantiating the above information is required.

3. Any other type of information technology software maintenance not covered in Paragraphs D.1 or D.2 must be competitively procured through the Consulting and Support Services Agreement (CSSA), Invitation to Bid (ITB) or request for proposal (RFP) process.

4. Information technology software maintenance with a cost of $100,000 or greater must have been included in an approved IT-10 from the Office of Information Technology.

5. Procurements shall not be artificially divided to circumvent the $100,000 threshold.

Notes

La. Admin. Code tit. 34, § I-5509

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, LR 10:77 (February 1984), amended by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of State Purchasing, LR 21:566 (June 1995), LR 29:2379 (November 2003).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 39:199.C and D.