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Executive
Summary:
This Supply Directive
supersedes CF/SD/2003/008 dated 28 October 2003. It explains the global
procurement strategy for IT hardware and software:
· Supply Division
implements global direct ordering arrangements for purchases of hardware
that complies with UNICEF global IT standards, for use by all Regional and
Country Offices.
· Regional and local procurement, within the monetary
limits for regional and local procurement, is authorised for the purchase
of:
s hardware items that comply with UNICEF global IT standards, for use
in UNICEF offices;
s accessories and disposables;
s spare parts for
UNICEF standard desktops, subject to prior consultation with the Regional
IT Officer on technical compatibility with existing hardware and
software;
s hardware items, accessories, disposables and spare
parts on behalf of host governments, NGOs and other
partners.
· Only globally certified and supported software may be
acquired for use by UNICEF offices and all purchases of such software
should be made through Supply Division (New York).
Local and regional purchases of IT items must follow
established local and regional procurement procedures.
Document Text:
Any queries or comments regarding the contents of this Supply
Directive should be directed to Alain Fortin, Contracts Officer, New York
Supply Centre, email: afortin@unicef.org.
To: Regional Directors/Deputy Regional Directors
Representatives/Assistant Representatives
All
Supply and Programme Officers (Regional and Country)
All Operations Officers (Regional and
Country)
All IT Officers (Regional and
Country)
From: Alan Court, Director, Supply
Division
Andre
Spatz, Director, Information Technology Division
Subject: Procurement of IT hardware and
software
This Supply
Directive supersedes CF/SD/2003/008 dated 28 October 2003, all copies of which should now be
destroyed.
PURPOSES
This Supply
Directive, issued jointly by Supply Division (SD) and Information
Technology Division (ITD) explains the organization’s global procurement
strategy for IT hardware and software. It establishes the criteria for
local purchases of IT hardware and the procedure to submit a request for
Local Procurement Authorisation (LPA) for IT hardware, when
required.
APPLICABILITY
The
Directive applies to all UNICEF offices when procuring IT hardware and
software.
BACKGROUND
ITD
develops and establishes global IT standards to ensure uniformity and
compatibility throughout the organization. They are at the core of
enterprise-level applications like the Programme Manager System (ProMS),
Notes/Domino, etc. The most important reason for having IT standards is to
ensure that all systems work harmoniously worldwide, and that no technical
issues arise that hinder the successful running of applications. The
second most important issue is cost. For example, non-uniformity of
hardware creates the necessity to test and “version” many more variations
of the same underlying software for applications like ProMS and
Notes/Domino. This can become very expensive. Standards allow UNICEF to
negotiate global agreements with lower costs. With a common set of
standards the organization is also able to provide standardised training
and support for all staff in all locations.
WHEN IS LOCAL PROCUREMENT AUTHORISATION
REQUIRED?
An LPA is required
when:
(a) the supply requisition
(PGM) will exceed the local blanket procurement authorisation, usually
US$50,000; or
(b) the PGM will include
non-standard hardware items for use by UNICEF offices.
Local procurement of software is not allowed. All
purchases of software must be made through Supply Division (New York
Supply Centre). (See below.)
STANDARDS
A list of
all hardware standards is available on the UNICEF Intranet >
Information Technology.
Only
globally certified and supported
software is considered “standard
software”. A list of standard software is maintained by ITD. This is
currently available to Regional IT Officers and will soon also be
available on the Intranet. All purchases of software must be made through
Supply Division (New York). Please consult CF/AI/2004-10 - Policy on IT software systems acquisition and
certification for further
details.
PURCHASES FOR USE BY
UNICEF OFFICES
Standard
hardware
All hardware items
purchased for use by UNICEF offices must comply with the latest UNICEF IT
standards. Whenever possible, Direct
Ordering should be utilised. The
Direct Ordering mechanism for standard hardware has been in existence
since 1994. It provides Country and Regional Offices with an efficient
method of procurement with favourable commercial terms and conditions.
Please consult the UNICEF Intranet > Supply > Direct Order Price
Lists.
If the Regional or Country
Office chooses not to purchase through Direct Ordering, it may proceed
with local or regional procurement, without requesting an LPA, if the
hardware items comply with IT standards and the value of the PGM does not
exceed the local blanket procurement authorisation.
Non-standard hardware
The purchase of any hardware for use by UNICEF offices that
deviates from the latest IT standards, as available on the Intranet, must
be submitted to the Regional IT
Officer prior to the drafting of a PGM. The Regional IT Officer will review it and carry out a technical
assessment. The request for deviation will be considered as “rejected” if
the Regional IT Officer does not endorse the request, and there will be no
further action.
If the Regional IT
Officer endorses the request for deviation, he/she will forward a report
to the Director, ITD, including a full written justification that
documents the application, the business case and the rationale for the
deviation. The Director will revert in writing to the Regional IT Officer
whether or not the request is accepted. The Regional IT Officer will then
forward a copy of the decision to the originator of the request. If
rejected, there will be no further action.
The Supply Section will raise a PGM, including the
description of the approved non-standard item(s) and attaching a copy of
the written approval from the Director, ITD, using ProMS catalogue “452010
- Non-standard IT processing equipment (LPA is required)”. The PGM, once
approved, will be automatically transmitted to Supply Division as a
request for an LPA. Supply Division will review the request, consult with
field and headquarters colleagues and either authorise local or regional
procurement or will proceed with offshore procurement, as the case may
be.
Standard
software
Only globally certified
and supported software should be acquired and all purchases of software
must be made through Supply Division (New York). Supply Division
negotiates global software licenses to support the standardisation of
software across the organization and take advantage of economies of scale.
The global licensing agreements cover software required by the majority of
users (i.e. Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes, Oracle, etc.) Please consult
CF/AI/2004-10 for
further details.
From a budgeting
perspective, Country Offices are not required to provide a budget code to
ITD for the use of software covered by global licenses. However, the
Country Office will be required to provide a budget code when requesting
more copies than are covered by a given global
license.
Non-standard
software
A request for the
purchase for non-standard software for use by UNICEF offices must be
submitted to the Regional IT Officer
prior to the preparation of a PGM,
using the form contained in CF/AI/2004-10. The request for deviation will
be forwarded to the Regional IT Officer, who will review the request for
deviation and carry out a technical assessment. The request will be
considered as “rejected” if the Regional IT Officer does not endorse the
request and there will be no further action.
If the Regional IT Officer endorses the request for
deviation, he/she will forward a report to the Director, ITD, including a
full written justification that documents the application, the business
case and the rationale for the deviation. The Director will revert in
writing to the Regional IT Officer whether or not the request is accepted.
The Regional IT Officer will then forward a copy of the decision to the
originator of the request. If rejected, there will be no further action.
If accepted, the originator of the request shall forward a copy of the
acceptance to the Supply Section for the purchase of the approved
non-standard item(s).
The Supply
Section will raise a PGM, including the description of the non-standard
item(s) and attaching a copy of the written approval from the Director,
ITD, and using ProMS catalogue “458000 - IT Software”. The PGM, once
approved, will be automatically transmitted to Supply Division as a
request for offshore
procurement. Local procurement of
software is not authorised.
Accessories and disposables
Regional or local purchases of items for use by UNICEF offices,
such as printer toner, ink cartridges, labelling equipment, paper, patch
cords, power cables, CD/DVD media, diskettes, and accessories such as
ergonomic keyboards, cordless mice, USB “drive keys” or “memory sticks”,
equipment stands, mounting mechanisms, laptop carrying cases, CD/DVD
containers, cleaning kits, etc., do not require an LPA if the value of the
PGM does not exceed the local blanket procurement
authorisation.
Spare parts for
standard desktops
Regional or
local purchases of items for use by UNICEF offices, such as memory
modules, hard disks, keyboards, mice, floppy or CD drives, etc., to either
upgrade an existing part or replace a defective one in an existing
standard desktop do not require an LPA if the value of the PGM does not
exceed the local blanket procurement authorisation. However, spare parts
from third party manufacturers can impact the proper functioning of the
Windows XP standard on the existing desktop. The Regional IT Officer must
therefore first be consulted on the technical compatibility of such spare
parts with the existing standard desktop
environment.
Personal Digital
Assistants
There is currently no
standard for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). ITD is working with users
to identify a standard that will be acceptable across the organization. In
the meantime, purchases of PDAs must support either the Pocket PC or the
Palm OS operating system. ITD will shortly publish a list of recommended
PDA hardware that meets this requirement. However, no technical support
can be expected from ITD until a PDA standard is agreed
upon.
PURCHASES FOR USE BY
GOVERNMENTS, NGOS AND OTHER PARTNERS
Hardware
Hardware items, accessories, disposables and spare parts purchased
for use by Governments, NGOs and other partners must meet the needs of our
partners and there is therefore no obligation for these to comply with the
UNICEF IT standards. However, ITD cannot be expected to provide
installation, training, technical support, “system interfaces” or any help
desk services to our partners. These purchases do not require an LPA if
the value of the PGM does not exceed the local blanket procurement
authorisation.
Software
Such purchases
must be made through offshore procurement. Software is not authorised for
local procurement.
RETURNING HARDWARE
FOR REPAIR
ITD and SD are aware
that some Country Offices experience difficulties when returning equipment
to local suppliers for repair under warranty. ITD and SD are working with
the manufacturers to improve the service level locally. Country Offices
should report difficulties to Supply Division (Alain Fortin
afortin@unicef.org or Giselle
Lassalle glassalle@unicef.org) for
follow-up with the manufacturers. ITD and SD are also working towards a
global pricing structure with the major suppliers (HP for PCs and servers,
Toshiba for laptops, Microsoft, etc.). This may include selected suppliers
in the regions.
IAPSO IT
CATALOGUE
The Inter-Agency
Procurement Services Office (IAPSO) has recently issued an IT catalogue
accessible through UN WebBuy. This can be a useful source of technical
information, but must not be a substitute for UNICEF’s IT standards and
procurement guidelines. Note – UNICEF staff are not authorised to
procure items through UN WebBuy.
QUERIES
Contact Alain
Fortin, Contracts Officer, New York Supply Centre, tel. +1 212 326 7484,
email: afortin@unicef.org.
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