CCI has a long tradition of providing management and analysis consulting for major corporate clients as well as recent success with Public Entities. A few examples from our Procurement Consulting portfolio include:
CCI presented analysis of statewide procurement response requirements to Governor Gregoire of Washington State. Our analysis was forwarded on to both the Office of General Administration and Department of Information Services. Both organizations agreed to CCI’s recommendations to reduce the number of mandatory hard copies of responses and to remove any requirement for three-ring binders and internal tabbed dividers. This had three benefits: first it is more environmentally friendly by reducing waste, and second by reducing the cost to submit a proposal it removed barriers to participation by small businesses (like those owned by women and minorities), which brought about the third benefit in the form of increased competition on state procurements.
For a Washington State Agency, CCI recommended improvements to the methodology they used to check references. CCI’s recommendations reduced the burden of effort on all responders as well as providing time savings and reduced waste. This benefited both the State and its Vendors.
For the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) and National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) Cooperative Purchasing Organization, CCI was authorized to provide Procurement Consulting Services to public entities across the country for the full lifetime of the Cooperative Purchasing Organization. This includes all 50 States as well as Washington DC and the 5 organized territories (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa).
In the Corporate Sector, CCI has negotiated purchases of goods and services for major clients including Microsoft, Toyota Financial Services, Wellpoint, T-Mobile, and more. These range from small purchases of Web domains and hosting to major procurements measured in hundreds of millions of US Dollars.
Benefits of Participation
In recent years many Public Entities and Corporations have cut back on staffing via early retirements, hiring freezes, and other cost saving measures. One field that has been hit particularly hard has been Procurement, where today it is often Project Managers instead of trained Procurement Specialists performing the creation and evaluation of RFPs. CCI is able to provide expert Procurement Consultants to help prepare procurement documentation, perform market analysis, as well as support the evaluation and contract negotiations resulting from these RFPs.
Procurement Process Best Practices Training
CCI has prepared both 1- and 2-hour lectures for Procurement Officers that review best practices in procurement. This includes a discussion of efficient RFP construction, terms and conditions, maintaining a master rate card for services, the efficient use of technology in the procurement process, and how to leverage the modern national workforce efficiently. We provide examples of best practices from multiple states across the country.
These reasonably priced training sessions are a perfect introduction to show your PMO the potential efficiencies to be gained through working with CCI and give your procurement officers, or project managers in charge of procurement a view of how your peers around the country have solved the same problems and issues you are facing every day. If you are interested in more in-depth consulting, then CCI stands ready to provide Procurement Consulting end-to-end through the procurement lifecycle.
Obtaining Quotes and Placing Purchase Orders
Public Entities and Corporations who wish to procure services from CCI can use our online form to send us a message. CCI’s administrative support team will respond within 1-2 business days.
When our administrative staff contacts you we will help you define and clearly document the tasks that need to be completed, and identify the correct minimum qualifications of the consultant required for your work. We will also identify your target budget and timeline and the maximum number of consultants that you wish to review for the project. Our administrative team will identify the best candidate or candidates and a fully loaded hourly rate for each one. We will coordinate with you for interviews and once you have selected the candidate who is the best fit we will confirm the start date.
If you have any questions about our services, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.