The SLED Council’s TX Procurement Committee met at CompTIA ChannelCon 2017 to discuss the end of the Texas legislative session, updates to the state’s contract management manual, and vendor performance scoring. Jette Withers, newly appointed Chief Procurement Officer for the state walked the group through plans to roll out enterprise training and make improvements to how agencies contract with the vendor community.
The SLED Council’s TX Procurement Committee met at CompTIA ChannelCon 2017 to discuss the end of the Texas legislative session, updates to the state’s contract management manual, and vendor performance scoring. Jette Withers, newly appointed Chief Procurement Officer for the state walked the group through plans to roll out enterprise training and make improvements to how agencies contract with the vendor community. State procurement is very decentralized, with state agencies having broad authority to procure goods and services on their own. Until this last legislative session, there has not existed a centralized location for policy and oversight within the state. The lack of this type of central guidance led to drastically differing interpretations of laws and rules as each agency tried to navigate the procurement landscape on their own.
With the recent appointment of Ms. Withers, and recent legislation that has positioned the Comptroller as a member of the Quality Assurance Team, the Comptroller’s Texas Procurement and Support Services Office is well positioned to bring some uniformity and consistency to state contracting.
Jennifer Saha is the National Director, Public Sector Councils at CompTIA
