The state technology department has spent millions on IT goods so far this year, with its five most expensive purchases combined reaching nine figures.
Through Dec. 15, the California Department of Technology made 424 purchases of IT goods — and 92 of those purchases, or nearly 22 percent, were with Crayon Software Experts LLC, a familiar vendor to the state. And it spent $156,750,516.46 on its top five most expensive purchases — all of which were with Crayon Software Experts.
Each of those top five purchases appears to be through Microsoft Volume Licensing, most likely for Microsoft Office 365 government community cloud E5 shared servers for all languages. Three of the purchases happened March 1 and are for a five-year term ending Feb. 28, 2026. They range in value from $23,121,372.70 to $29,909,685.60. The fifth and largest, at $41,810,982.07, is for nearly as long a term. It took place June 1 and ends March 31, 2026. Information on past state purchases is available through the State Contract and Procurement Registration System.
CDT’s top five purchases of IT goods in March and through much of June looked much the same. A CDT spokesman said in late June that the year-to-date purchases were tied to the department’s main Microsoft Office 365 E5 five-year shell contract. In response to questions in April, a CDT spokesperson said the cost of the department’s top five purchases of IT goods the previous month was due to a longer contract term that reduced the unit costs, as well as an upgrade to Microsoft’s product suite focused on security, compliance and communication.
Crayon Software Experts, which is based in Oslo, Norway, was also the destination for CDT’s single most expensive IT goods purchase of 2020, a purchase of nearly $16 million made in February that appeared to be a volume licensing purchase of Microsoft 365 E3 government community cloud shared servers. The company has more than 2,000 employees in more than 50 offices in 35 countries, and 12 U.S. locations.
Here Are State Tech Department’s Top 5 IT Goods Purchases This Year
The California Department of Technology’s five most expensive purchases of IT goods in 2021, through mid-December, were all made with the same vendor, a familiar presence in state IT, and were quite costly.
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