We are in the process of creating, testing, ratifying and distributing new commercial enterprise OA-IT policies and procurement techniques. It is the desire of the Open Architecture Project to solicit case studies in the following area(s): Microprocessor policy and Standards. Vendor Selection Process and Formula. Vendor Grading Formula. Microprocessor Integration and Scheduling Strategy.


    The following commercial enterprise OA policy and procurement techniques were created by IT professionals and are detailed for your consideration.

    Step 1)

    IT Policy and Standards and Selection: If your policy or standards board names a single component vendor in its policy for the desktop/laptop microprocessor the action to take is to name the second best vendor in the marketplace. In the desktop/laptop microprocessor arena: AMD. You may also add another microprocessor vendor dependent upon the additional hassle-factor for procurement vs. the potential gain.



    Step 2)

    The Commercial Enterprise IT Vendor Selection & Grading Formula: Insert a significant Open Architecture Variable into the vendor selection/grading formula. You can list any number of components that you would like to see alternatives from; software and hardware. We have seen effective wording that looks like this: In recognition of the well known Open Architecture value(s) for both this enterprise, its valued suppliers and the global infrastructure we have awarded a value of up to 30 points for vendors which offer alternatives for desktop, internet, network operating systems and office product suites. In hardware we include the microprocessors for the desktops and laptops. For each component alternative offered the award will be between 3-10 points each.

    Step 3)

    The Quarterly Desktop Selection Process: This is broken down into two areas:


    1)    

    The current supplier has an alternative component desktop/laptop: Select one or more of the desktop/laptop with the AMD microprocessor. There will be concerns of standardization, the solution is to surround the newly selected desktop with IT caveats that prevent this new standard desktop from being used in concerned TCO areas. An example of this verbiage has been: IT services will not maintain this desktop solution at this time. This is to include: Configuration tasks. All individual procurement is to be direct with the vendor as is delivery. No Maintenance either from helpdesk support or internal IT resources. This model should only be used for the following IT categories; employee purchase, certain remote office locations (see IT OA microprocessor strategy), and home office. Next update is scheduled for Q2.

    2)   Yet, make this scenario as competitive as possible by developing a specific enterprise Open Architecture Microprocessor Integration Schedule: The strategy is for the enterprise to layout an integration path to continuously build a more competitive procurement scenario: The Open Architecture Microprocessor Integration Schedule Q1; Employee Purchase, IT Special Projects, Home office locations. Q2; Dependent upon qualification, testing and approval. Q3 Targets include; Laptops, Specialized servers, Remote office locations. Q4 Primary IT Enterprise Infrastructure building. It is important to recognize that a system that is not fully compatible for today serves the purpose of expanding the competitive landscape. And, as mentioned earlier, it can be anticipated to take up to 9 months to a year for the OEM to match components, test and standardize a new system for the enterprise.

    3)   Demand back to the supplier that this new desktop/laptop be fully qualified for enterprise building as quickly as possible. When they bring up the cost issue for testing bring in the new component vendor (AMD) whom will most likely be happy to cover costs of testing and qualification for your enterprise. Furthermore, it is prudent to bring in the new component vendor directly to discuss available resources. Hewlett-Packard has an AMD based commercial desktop line at this time.


    4)

       The current supplier does not offer alternative component, i.e.; Lenovo and DELL: There are several techniques to be used and are not limited to the following progression:

    a.      Announce to the supplier that a new Open Architecture variable will be placed into the supplier grading formula as soon as contractually possible.

    b.     Announce the microprocessor component vendor wanted.

    c.      Select a phantom desktop that has the new vendor and compare it to the contractual desktop selections to create more competitive tension with the supplier. Of course you want to select the most competitive scenario possible. Currently, in this case, that is the HP/AMD commercial desktop, no other AMD based desktop offers as competitive a scenario from cost/volume leverage, global delivery, standardization capabilities and Tier1 leverage. (It is also important not to go by just the HP web-page published pricing, contact HP and get the best possible price given your potential volume scenario.)