Written by The City of Detroit needed to streamline their acquisition process (network, hardware and software) and reduce mean processing time from 74 days to less than 40 days, without compromising customer service or cost.
There was inconsistent communication between the vendors, managers were using different processes and buyers were unclear about the process, timing, and expectations.
They started by reorganizing responsibilities and simplified their processes by doing things such as:
- Transferred certain network responsibilities to the departmental technicians/engineers
- Implemented an internal tracking and alert system
- Developed a process map to help explain the process and timeline to customers
- Implemented customer satisfaction sign off process
After implementing their improvements, they were able to gain some of the following results:
- Service Level Managers own the acquisition process
- Eliminated non-value added steps in the beginning of the process
- Created a process to determine clear project closure and payment communication
Read the entire article at https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitmi.localhost/files/2018-11/IT%20Acquisitions%20Project.pdf