Managed Technology Cooperative; IT, Telecommunications

Sourcing Office conducted a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) and awarded the contract to Hosted Technology Exchange (HTEx) to design, assemble, and operate a shared telecommunications managed services capability.  The purpose of this Program is to provide advanced and affordable telecommunications, IT, and software services to public sector, private sector, and not-for-profit organizations of all sizes (small, mid-sized, and large).

This shared telecommunications platform will serve as a mechanism for Participants to improve business processes, reduce ongoing monthly costs for telecommunications and IT services, defer or avoid capital expenditures for equipment and software, cost-effectively implement a wide range of applications (such as Unified Communications, Enterprise Content Management, etc.) over time, and accelerate the creation and implementation of collaborative activities (such as sharing of best practices, joint dispatch, shared accounts payable and accounts receivable functions, etc.).

Sourcing Office and HTEx have developed this Shared Telecommunications Managed Services program to address specific challenges facing our public sector, private sector, and not-for-profit participants. Our aim is to transform these challenges into a significant opportunity for our current and future Participants to reduce telecommunications operating costs, avoid telecommunications capital expenditures, improve internal telecommunications operating capacity and capabilities, and implement an outsourced, shared, and managed telecommunications technological and service platform to accelerate operational collaboration and coordination among our participants.

Some common challenges:

• Aging Telecommunications and Information Technology infrastructures:  Many Sourcing Office Participants utilize aging telecommunications and Information Technology infrastructures that are already at or are rapidly approaching end-of-life conditions.  As a result, these Participants have not deployed recent advances in technology that can significantly reduce their ongoing operating costs, eliminate wasteful spending, eliminate/recover historical overbilling, and utilize the improved technology tools, systems, and software capabilities that are available in today’s marketplace.
• Costs associated with implementing new infrastructures:  The costs associated with implementing new telecommunications and Information Technology infrastructures are significant.  These costs are simply prohibitive given the challenging economic environment and ongoing pressure facing many public sector, private sector, and not-for-profit entities to cut costs.  The net result is that many Participants’ only viable alternative is to do nothing.

Our Cost Effective Alternative
The advent of newer technologies such as cloud computing and Session Initiation Protocol technology (“SIP Technology”) combined with broadband connectivity, offers a cost effective alternative: leveraging the combined buying power and complementary needs of multiple Participants to implement a shared approach to telecommunications and IT infrastructure in a managed service environment.