To best address the campus’ growing information technology needs, and to help individuals navigate the IT purchasing process, professionals from Information Technology and Purchasing have worked together to create a standardized IT procurement process. All information technology-related procurement requests will go through the same standardized process to determine the best route for the purchase.

This website summarizes the content within the UWM IT Procurement Practice, to view the full practice document, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

Commodity vs. Project Purchases

All IT purchases fall into one of two categories: commodity or project.

  • Commodity purchases include software and hardware that is commonly-used on campus such as Apple/Windows desktops and laptops, tablets, monitors, keyboards, mice, docking stations, personal productivity software, etc.
  • Project purchases include software and hardware that is for a specialized departmental, research or work group usage. Typically these are one-time purchases to fill a specific need.

See the sections below to learn more about making commodity/project purchases:

Making a Commodity Purchase

To make a commodity purchase, you may do so with your department’s approval through the following methods:

Making a Project Purchase

If your IT purchase falls into the project category, you will need to use the Purchase Request Form. To begin a Project procurement:

  1. Fill out the Purchase Request Form and choose the Other, or ask a question option under the I would like to purchase… section.
  2. The request is reviewed by a team of purchasing, information security and IT specialists. These specialists will review the request from a variety of angles and then approve, deny or request more information for the procurement.

Important things to note:

  • If you have questions, please review the IT Purchasing FAQ before submitting the form.
  • Even if the hardware/software is free, if it falls into the project purchase category, you must follow the above process.
  • Don’t wait! Even if you don’t have all the details but know you want to make a purchase, fill out the Purchase Request Form. The duration of the purchasing process depends on the complexity of the item being purchased, the response time of the vendor, and is subject to the rules and timelines of the UWM Purchasing Office. Even simple requests can take weeks to finalize and complex requests that involve multiple campus areas can take up to months to complete.