Press Releases

Washington D.C. –The Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the leading trade association for the global information technology industry, today released a new report that highlights challenges encountered in the state health and human services (HHS) procurement process and provides solutions to improve the process of investing in technology solutions.

The report, titled “The Case for Procurement Reform: Achieving a Shared Vision,” was prepared by members of CompTIA’s Health & Human Services Technology Committee, which is part of the State & Local Government and Education (SLED) Council.

“Procuring technology products and services within the state health and human services market is challenging,” said Jordan Kroll, Director of Public Sector at CompTIA. “States are constantly pressured with rapid changes in technology, ever-shrinking administrative budgets and federal policy directives mandating or encouraging modular, rather than monolithic, solutions to shorten the time to production and lessen reliance on a single vendor. Recognizing these challenges, we offer solutions on how states and their vendor partners can improve SHHS procurement to keep pace with technology and better deliver critical client services for our most vulnerable populations.”

The report points out that a shared vision by both the public and private sector is needed for state procurement efforts to be successful. State procurement officials need to identify the best solution via fair and open competition while adhering to an established procurement process.

The report goes on to provide details and suggestions for seven key areas where the state HHS procurement process can be improved. These areas are communications, procurement methodology, terms and conditions, requirements, roles and responsibilities, budget, and evaluations.

“National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) compliments the CompTIA Health & Human Services Technology Committee on their efforts in developing this resource,” said Matt Oyer, Deputy Chief Learning Officer at NASPO. “It includes some excellent recommendations on areas of improvement and highlights some of the ongoing challenges related to IT Procurement.”

To download a copy of the report, go here.