Lexington, KY – The Wisconsin Bureau of Procurement was presented the 2021 National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO®) Gold Cronin Award for Procurement Excellence at the NASPO Annual Conference held last week in Austin, Texas. The Gold Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Cronin Award Committee, and it rewards exemplary service in public procurement. Wisconsin was honored for its submission, “Interagency, Data-Driven Collaboration: Wisconsin’s Innovative Approach to Specification Development.”
In 2020, recognizing that less than 1% of computer purchases used standard configurations, the Wisconsin Bureau of Procurement collaborated with end-users and IT experts to develop and update new standard configurations. “We had a mandatory computer contract that wasn’t providing agencies with as much value as it should because the highest discounted computers weren’t aligned with agency needs. We brought agency users to the table to develop standard computer configurations that would meet their needs, and we negotiated substantial cost savings on those configurations, ultimately increasing the purchase of standard configurations at a significantly reduced cost to the state,” said Cheryl Edgington, Chief Procurement Officer.
The new process allows users to get the equipment they need and provides a value that can only be achieved through deeper discounts available through standard configurations. The cost reduction for FY 2020 was over $5 million and is over $3.5 million to date for FY 2021.
Each year NASPO recognizes outstanding and innovative procurement initiatives and the state personnel behind them with the presentation of the Cronin Awards. The Cronin Awards, named after the first NASPO President, George Cronin, recognizes states for projects that have resulted in distinct benefits to their state economy and the efficient delivery of services to their taxpayers.
For more information about the Cronin Awards for Procurement Excellence, please visit the NASPO website. Additionally, a short video highlighting Wisconsin’s project is available online.
