4 Tips for Doing Business With LA County

If you’re a tech vendor seeking to do business with Los Angeles County government, some key decision-makers have four pieces of advice for you:

1. “Do your homework.” Jeramy Gray, assistant executive officer of the Executive Office of the Board of Supervisors, spells it out: Understand the priorities that the Board of Supervisors has set, and offer services and products that align with those goals. For instance, he cited a massive renovation of the Board of Supervisors meeting room, and the county’s desire to do more than just offer audio or video of meetings. Do you have something to pitch that will make live-streaming, preferably in multiple languages, feasible?
2. Keep up with change: The sprawling Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is undergoing seismic change in procurement, policy and procedure, and “We’re going to have an influx of funding like we’ve never had before,” says Dean Gialamas, division director of the department. The department’s legacy systems are so outdated, he said, “It’s best to just tear it down rather than rebuild.” To that end, vendors shouldn’t try to sell patches or patchwork solutions; they should confer with Gialamas and his staff to determine overall enterprise strategies and then come up with solutions.
3. Sign up, qualify, THEN make your pitch: If you’re a vendor and you haven’t signed up yet to do business with the county, go here. If you’re not taking part in the Information Technology Support Services Master Agreement (ITSSMA) program with the county, Gray advises, “Please rectify that immediately.” Ditto for other county master agreements, a breakdown of which is available on the county’s procurement web page.
4. Play nicely with others: Dave Wesolik, general manager of IT Services for the county, notes that the county is moving toward consolidation in data centers and emphasizing data analytics as the key to digital government. “There are lots of partnerships for the vendor community,” he says. “We’re looking to partner with vendors in data leadership.” That includes business and academic alliances with tech students — a ready-made pipeline to future IT recruitment.

The advice from Gray, Gialamas and Wesolik was part of a Techwire Industry Briefing with Los Angeles County IT leaders, held Thursday in Los Angeles — one in a series of virtual and in-person Techwire briefings, forums and other events.