Kentucky’s State Government is one of the Commonwealth’s largest consumers of Information Technology (IT) resources and its purchases represent a broad range of goods and services. IT purchases made by the government follow the Commonwealth’s established procurement statutes, detailed in the Kentucky Model Procurement Code, which prescribe the methods by which Kentucky State Government must bid, negotiate and award contracts. The preferred and most commonly used method of procurement is by competitive sealed bidding via the Request for Bids (RFB) process. Procurements involving technical or complex requirements may be bid as competitive negotiations by utilizing the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. In either situation, a formal bid request will be issued by an open, competitive solicitation and awarded in accordance with the Kentucky Model Procurement Code.
Vendors
Vendors wanting to do business with the Commonwealth of Kentucky should begin by visiting the Finance and Administration Cabinet's eProcurement Web site. Vendors may register to do business with the Commonwealth, browse current bidding opportunities, view recent awards and participate in online bidding when permitted. During the registration process vendors will be given the opportunity to select the Commodity Codes that appropriately identify the goods and services provided by the organization. While this step is optional it is highly recommended as it is key to receiving notifications when solicitations for those commodities are posted. Assistance is available from the Customer Resource Center (CRC) at Finance.CRCGroup@ky.gov or phone (502-564-9641 or toll-free 877-973-HELP). The CRC is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time Zone).
Government Agencies
Government agencies that want more information about IT procurements and the established required documentation can refer to the Finance and Administration Cabinet's Procurement Resources and Support website that includes information referencing the Governor’s issued Executive Order 2008-011 (E01) process.
The Commonwealth Office of Technology has staff trained on various components of the IT procurement process available to assist you, including but not limited to:
- Requirements Gathering
- Project Management
- Solicitation Writing/Consulting
For more information, contact COT Solicitation Support.
Enterprise Contracts
The Commonwealth Office of Technology and the Office of
Procurement Services have established a number of statewide enterprise service
contracts that should be useful to agencies and educational entities across the
state. Additional details can be found here.
In addition to IT purchases, the Commonwealth’s Finance and Administration Cabinet is responsible for procurements including the construction of state facilities, property management, expenditure control, and postal and printing services. For Requests for Information (RFI), Requests for Bids (RFB) and Requests for Proposals (RFP) please contact the Office of Procurement Services at 502-564-4510.