Beginning in January 2016 the Department of General Services will be asking for more feedback from the private sector on the state’s special terms and conditions for cloud computing, according to state Chief Procurement Officer Jim Butler.
Butler said the input will eventually lead to what he called a “cleanup” of the first version of the provisions, which he said the state considered a beta when they were released in fall 2014.
“It’s not a radical rewrite. There are a few sections that consistently don’t apply anymore that we’ll take out,” Butler said.
The state also wants to expand the Cloud Computing Special Provisions beyond Software as a Service (SaaS) – the only category in place today. DGS also would like to add terms and conditions for Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service, Butler said, so that departments and agencies have what they need in case they need to go procure something outside of the state’s private cloud in order to meet their needs.
As many as 1,000 firms have signed the state’s special provisions for cloud, Butler said, through the California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS) program and the Software Licensing Program (SLP).
The state has learned a lot through the process, Butler said, and although the terms and conditions that were put out in 2014 were, in his words, “really good,” there are some sections that no longer apply that can be taken out.
“I just want to extend my appreciation to everyone because [they’ve] actually taken a bit of a leap of faith with us because some of those [provisions] were new to everyone, and you’ve really supported the program and we’ve been able to provide almost all the tools we need today under those T&Cs,” Butler said.
Carol Henton of the IT Alliance for Public Sector said industry supports “slimmed-down” terms and conditions in part because they can help bidders and the state negotiate with each other.
State CIO Carlos Ramos, meanwhile, challenged private industry to alter its service delivery model as necessary in order to meet the unique needs and statutory requirements of government. Public sector and private sector are continuing to evolve on cloud, he said.
“As we grapple with new technology models, we need to be able to rely on you [vendors] as partners to work with us on that,” Ramos said.
