May 2023

• Central Purchasing metrics
• News and updates
• CPO announcements
• Helpful tip
• Articles and resources
• Recognizing excellent service

Procurement professionals and agency leaders,

I am so excited to introduce the Central Purchasing Newsletter. My hope is that this communication can serve as a single source of information for all things state procurement.

Each month, this newsletter will bring together resources and updates from the various departments within Central Purchasing as well as external, nationwide government procurement professionals. My goal is to make it easier than ever for you to stay informed about topics and changes related to procurement across our great state.

Please share this newsletter with anyone you think can benefit from its contents. I believe this information is relevant for anyone who operates in the state purchasing world; from CPOs, to finance, to agency attorneys and more, my hope is to bring value to all procurement professionals.

If you ever have any questions related to the contents of this newsletter, please reach out to my team for assistance.

Warm regards,

Amanda L. Otis, Esq.
State Purchasing Director
Office of Management and Enterprise Service

The Statewide Contracts team provides contracts for products and services for all state agencies, higher education, cities, counties, K-12 schools, and tribal governments to procure their needs. The increased statewide contract spend is the result of combined efforts of promotion and education by the Procurement Outreach team and the increase of products and services available on the statewide contracts.

The Agency Acquisitions team executes agency-specific acquisitions on behalf of state agencies that have a value exceeding the agency acquisition threshold.

Select the image above for accessible text.

Spend vs. savings is calculated by averaging the price of all bids received for a solicitation and comparing that against the final price associated with the executed contract.

We are experiencing so many exciting changes in Central Purchasing! These are our top three focuses this month:

1. Our division values our relationships with our CPOs, agency leadership and our suppliers; we are working hard to improve the customer service we provide.
2. Central Purchasing is exploring innovative techniques to create more velocity in the procurement process. More to come on this!
3. Recently, Central Purchasing received direction from the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, the Governor’s Office via Executive Order 2023-04, and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office via 2023 OK AG 4. Our division has been working diligently to satisfy these recommendations and directives we received and will be communicating upcoming changes soon. 

Keep an eye out early next week for a subsequent communication detailing more on these focuses. If you have any questions about anything in this newsletter, please reach out to our training staff at procurement.training@omes.ok.gov.

Review the latest announcements for certified procurement officers.

Submitting ePro requisitions in PeopleSoft

When entering an ePro requisition into PeopleSoft, ensure you are completing the approval justification section to include a detailed description of the product/service needed and why it is needed.

Ensure all required documentation is attached at the line comments section.

When attaching your quote, the expiration date should be at least two weeks prior to allow time for approvals.

Ensure the SW contract number is on the quote if applicable.

Agency contact information (name, email, phone) should be included in the header comments section. Ensure you are completing all sections as applicable (sole source & type, SW contract ID, Supplier ID, buyer, etc.)

• To Infinity & Beyond: Preparing for Public Procurement’s Future
• Are You a Buyer or a Procurement Professional?