ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Hogan administration today announced Board of Public Works approval of a new statewide e-procurement system, eMaryland Marketplace Advantage. The contract was awarded to Nitor Partners, LLC, a national leading procurement service firm providing the Ivalua eProcurement platform. The Board of Public Works is chaired by Governor Larry Hogan and includes Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.
“With the addition of this e-procurement system, Maryland is taking a significant step forward in the way we do business,” said Governor Hogan. “I am extremely proud of the team effort between the Departments of General Services, Information Technology, Budget and Management, and Transportation, as well as the guidance of Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, to complete this major procurement and ensure that Maryland remains open for business.”
The Maryland Department of General Services (DGS), in coordination with the Department of Information Technology, will manage the new program through DGS’ new Office of State Procurement. This is a technologically advanced electronic procurement system designed to make state procurement and business processes more efficient, transparent, secure, and user friendly for all stakeholders. Implementation begins immediately, with initial functionality to be available later this summer.
“eMaryland Marketplace Advantage is much more than the state’s new bid board,” said Lt. Governor Rutherford. “It is an adaptive tool that provides innovation and flexibility over time, fits into our modernization goals of innovation and efficiency, and will help us anticipate future needs. It is a comprehensive procurement and business process transformation.”
This system is a direct result of Governor Hogan’s 2016 Commission to Modernize State Procurement. Led by Lt. Governor Rutherford, the commission recommended modernizing state procurement through new technology as part of its comprehensive review. This resulted in a year-long procurement to acquire advanced technology for a modernized statewide e-procurement system, designed for use of all Maryland stakeholders.
“This effort is a fundamental and positive transformation of how our state does business,” said DGS Secretary Ellington Churchill. “eMaryland Marketplace Advantage will provide state procurement with more efficiencies through modern cloud technologies and ensure our state procures the goods and services it needs for the best price.”
The system is designed to provide benefits to all users, including state and local officials, procurement professionals, suppliers, government leaders, and citizens through increased transparency, eCommerce functionality, and advanced analytical reporting tools. As a shared service, the system’s eProcurement tools are provided as a significant benefit at no cost for local government procurement officers and suppliers. It maximizes competition by streamlining the procurement process, making it easier for businesses to participate while ensuring all procurements are conducted consistently, efficiently, and impartially. The system also enables more efficient state business processes through automating approval processes, providing electronic invoicing, and eliminating redundancies in a highly secure, highly configurable system capable of integrating with other state systems.
More information on state procurement efforts is available at https://governor.maryland.gov/ltgovernor/tag/procurement/.
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