The University of Sheffield
Corporate Information and Computing Services

Purchasing

Description of Service

The purchase of software and hardware and the negotiation of associated licences and support agreements.

Client Groups/Eligibility for Services

University departments and related groups.

Provider Responsibility

  1. To assist with the purchase or lease of hardware used by CiCS to provide central services including equipment for Student Computing Rooms.
  2. In special circumstances, to arrange the purchase of locally installed hardware, as requested by and on behalf of individuals and University departments. The cost of these purchases will normally be charged against the requesting individual or department.
  3. To purchase or rent all software used centrally to support the provision of central services.
  4. To purchase or rent core software and other widely used software that is distributed by CiCS.
  5. To arrange the purchase/rent of specialist software on behalf of user departments, where necessary, e.g. under CHEST deals. The cost of these purchases is charged against the requesting department, who would normally place the order.
  6. To create and maintain good purchasing arrangements and relationships with suppliers of major items such as computers and mainstream software.
  7. To negotiate the most favourable prices, licensing and support terms that are available for the University, taking into account any other constraints.
  8. To negotiate hardware and software support contracts as appropriate.
  9. To work with the Procurement Office within the University's purchasing directives for all these purchases, wherever possible using preferred suppliers selected locally or by outside negotiating bodies.
  10. To work with existing software purchasing arrangements where appropriate ones exist, e.g. CHEST Code of Conduct for the Use of Software and Datasets.
  11. To obtain from suppliers and make available in a timely manner any new annual 'key' codes which may be required for specific software, e.g. SPSS.
  12. To negotiate, where appropriate, site- or bulk licences for widely used and general purpose software to obtain best value for money and to relieve departments of the need to buy individual copies. Where practicable, licences may include personal use by staff and/or students.
  13. To make information on recommended purchases - purchasing guidelines - available to the University community and to keep it up to date.
  14. To give advice to potential purchasers when requested.

User Responsibility

  1. To work within the recommendations of the purchasing guidelines and the University's Financial Directives.
  2. To consult CiCS and/or the Procurement Office, in a timely manner, over any serious issues with preferred suppliers
  3. To avoid damaging University purchasing relationships, e.g. by misuse of software, defamation of suppliers, witholding payments, etc.

Availability of Service

During core service hours.
Purchasing guidelines and recommended product price lists will be available on the web.

Service Statistics/Outputs

Purchase and sales records.
Details of equipment and software purchased from major suppliers.
Usage data on core software obtained via the network metering system is available to CiCS staff.
Reports on hardware support and maintenance calls are provided to CiCS by major hardware suppliers.
Records of complaints.

Service Measures

The buying guide will be updated at least every 6 months.

Dependencies

Suppliers honouring agreements.
Continuation and/or renewal of existing deals.
Timely information from suppliers, e.g. on technical changes to computers.

Feedback and Monitoring

Feedback from purchasers on perceived quality of products and services and prices from recommended suppliers will be assessed regularly. This information will be discussed between CiCS and the suppliers where appropriate.
Liaison meetings, where purchasing may be discussed.
All information mentioned above is reported to University committees as appropriate and is available on (reasonable) request.

Benchmarking

See Section 7 of the Introduction.
Comparisons are also carried out through the Procurement Office.

Exclusions

As detailed in the University's Financial Directives, departments are expected to place their own orders with suppliers where there is no good reason for the purchase to be made centrally by CiCS.
Datasets handled by the Library.

Location of Service

Charges

Departments pay for their own hardware and software unless it forms part of the central services or has been defined as a core software product.
CiCS will recoup media and administration costs by charging for copies of site licensed software.
Where maintenance contracts are negotiated centrally and cost savings are passed on to the departments, an administration charge of 10% will be levied.

Failure Response

Problems between purchasers and suppliers will be investigated by CiCS, where appropriate, with the aim of reaching solutions acceptable to all parties.
Where products or services fail to meet agreed standards, purchasing agreements may be renegotiated or terminated and alternative recommendations may be given.