Procuring cloud

Procurement of cloud is unlike traditional technology purchasing. Traditional public sector procurement and contracting approaches that are designed to purchase products, such as hardware and related software, can be inconsistent with cloud services. A failure to modernize contracting and procurement approaches can reduce the pool of competitors and inhibit customer ability to adopt and leverage cloud technology. Well-designed procurement strategies and cloud-centric contract vehicles make a significant difference. Getting procurement right can lead to accessing a vast portfolio of cloud technology and services that truly achieves organizational digital transformation goals.

As the adoption rate of cloud computing grows, many public sector entities have established approved publicly awarded contract vehicles to purchase cloud services. Taking advantage of existing contracts can help accelerate deployment.

If your organization should choose to proceed with the development of a cloud procurement and issuance of a cloud contract vehicle, this presents an opportunity to reevaluate existing procurement strategies so you can create a flexible acquisition process that enables your organization to access cloud. There are best practices and considerations for cloud procurement from avoiding overly prescriptive requirements to incorporating a utility pricing model (such as pay-as-you-go). Your organization should leverage third-party accreditations for security, privacy, and auditing, and define cloud evaluation criteria for bidders.

Writing cloud-friendly requirements and RFPs

Do:

Don’t: