Procurement and disposal of ICT products and services (IS13) policy

For emergency procurement of ICT products and services during the COVID-19 pandemic (Opens in new window) (Opens in new window) (Opens in new window) a Queensland Government Short Form Contract is now available.

Customers must refer to the accompanying Guidance Notes for information regarding when to use this contract.

Purpose

This Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture (QGEA) policy seeks to ensure a structured, effective and consistent approach to the acquisition, management, maintenance and disposal of ICT products and services.

Policy statement

The Queensland Government will adopt a consistent approach to the procurement and lifecycle management of ICT products and services.

Policy benefits

Structured and consistent lifecycle management for ICT products and services across the Queensland Government ensures:

• there is a transparent and informed process for ICT procurement, maintenance and disposal decisions
• there is consideration of contractual and risk issues when procuring ICT products and services through adoption of the Queensland Information Technology Contracting (QITC) framework
• early engagement with industry which allows all suppliers (including local and regional) to access, prepare for and better respond to current government procurement requirements
• ICT products and services are sourced, maintained and disposed of in an accountable, sustainable, cost effective and environmentally friendly manner.

Applicability

This policy applies to all Queensland Government departments (as defined by the Public Sector Act 2022 (Opens in new window) (Opens in new window) (Opens in new window) ). Accountable officers (not already in scope of the Public Sector Act 2022) and statutory bodies under the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 must have regard to this policy in the context of internal controls, financial information management systems and risk management. Please see the Applicability of the QGEA for further information.

Policy requirements

Policy requirement 1: Departments must conduct forward procurement planning

Departments are required to prepare significant procurement plans for all products and services identified as being high expenditure and/or having a high degree of business risk.

Departments should also incorporate independent reviews at set points within their initiatives lifecycle as outlined in the Digital Investment Governance Framework process.

As custodians of this review process, the Office of Assurance and Investment (OAI) advocates departments consider how to derive maximum value from Queensland Government investments and digital assets with a whole of government perspective. Procurement planning should consider the use or re-use of common platforms, including assets that are owned and/or maintained by the Queensland Government. Departments should design proposals, to deliver cross government functionality, as well as meet unique departmental needs.

Policy requirement 2: Departments must ensure effective contractual arrangements are in place

Government procurement processes must comply with the Queensland Procurement Policy (QPP).The use of the Queensland Information Technology Contracting (QITC) framework is the basis of all contracts established for the procurement of ICT Products and/or Services as defined in the glossary of terms located on the QGEA website.

Departments have four options within the QITC framework to choose the most appropriate contract type based on risk and value.

Government buyers must also comply with the wider intent and standardised approach to managing and administering ICT contracts as outlined in the Queensland Government Contract Management Framework (QGCMF) and the Contract management plan template

Policy requirement 3: Departments must ensure industry has equitable access to procurement processes

When inviting public offers, departments must ensure all ICT suppliers are provided with the opportunity to access and respond to ICT offer information on the Queensland Government QTenders website in a timely manner. Outside of public offers, this requirement recognises that local and regional suppliers can be specifically approached by government buyers to participate in procurement opportunities as outlined in the Queensland Procurement Policy (QPP).

Advice

From the Queensland Governments perspective, early engagement with ICT suppliers is an important step in the procurement process. Market sounding and early market engagement activities are encouraged as part of an informal approach to industry to gather valuable intelligence and understand the capability and capacity of suppliers before developing a procurement strategy.

A departments procurement process must meet the requirements of the ICT SME participation scheme policy and standard. The scheme is intended to assist ICT SMEs access to the Queensland Government market.

Policy requirement 4: Departments must implement appropriate ICT product lifecycle and services management

Departments must maintain and dispose of government-owned ICT products and services in an accountable, sustainable, cost effective and environmentally friendly manner.

Furthermore, departments need to consider strategically sourcing ICT as-a-service options from the market, whilst divesting existing assets to decrease the overall cost of ICT within government.

Advice

For further advice on this policy and policy requirements, see the Procurement and disposal of ICT products and services implementation guideline. Departments need to also consider options for:

• strategically sourcing ICT from the market as per the ICT-as-a-service-policy
• managing digital and ICT assets as part of ICT resources strategic planning

Issue and review

Issue date: January 2022
Next review date: January 2024

This QGEA policy is published within the QGEA and is administered by the Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group. It was developed by the ICT Strategic Sourcing Transformation and Enabling Technologies, Department of Communities Housing and Digital Economy and approved by the Director General, Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy.

Implementation

This policy comes into effect from the issue date.