E-ACCESS – A Resource Management Publication
Website: http://purchasing.wustl.edu
Issue #104, November 6, 2014
IN THIS ISSUE:
01. Travel Fair
02. New Dell Contract for Laptop and Desktop Computers
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1) Travel Fair
WashU Resource Management and Gwins Corporate Travel cordially invite you to attend the 4th annual Washington University Preferred Travel Supplier Fair and Expo. The Travel Fair will be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at The Eric P. Newman Education Center (Great Room B) on the Medical School Campus. The fair will be open between 9 am and 2 pm.
The purpose of this event is to introduce and create awareness of the university’s preferred travel suppliers, including the services, benefits, counselors and online technology of Gwins Corporate Travel. Utilizing our preferred travel partners allows us to maintain and/or improve our discounts while quickly resolving any issues that may arise.
Gwins will be demonstrating its on-line booking tool, Concur Travel, and will have staff on hand to answer your questions. This will be your chance to see the new User Interface being introduced by Concur Travel. Using the online booking tool (Concur) for uncomplicated travel will save on transaction fees versus call in travel arrangements.
You will have the opportunity to meet representatives from the preferred travel suppliers listed below. Light snacks and refreshments will be served.
The Knight Center
Enterprise/National Rent-a-Car
The Chase Park Plaza
Avis/Budget Rent-a-Car
The Ritz Carlton
The Parking Spot
Drury Inn – Forest Park
Delta Airlines
Drury Inn – Brentwood
Southwest Airlines
Marriott Hotels
The Parkway Hotel
Hampton Inn Forest Park
Hampton Inn Clayton
The Moonrise Hotel
Crowne Plaza Clayton
Homewood Suites Galleria
Hilton Frontenac
Four Seasons
LHM Properties
– Seven Gables Inn
– Cheshire Inn
– Holiday Inn Forest Park
RSVP is not required, but appreciated, by Friday, November 14th. Send your RSVP to christopher_doyle@wustl.edu or bbaker@gwins.com.
Should you have any questions, please contact Chris Doyle, Senior Contract Manager Liaison, at 314-935-7689 or christopher_doyle@wustl.edu.
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2) New Dell Contract for Laptop and Desktop Computers
Since April, Washington University has been engaged in school-wide efforts to become a more efficient organization. We are writing today to announce the latest milestone in this effort: a new computer sourcing agreement that will save university departments approximately $2.73 million over the next three years.
We began this efficiency initiative in 2013 by working with Huron Consulting Group to identify areas where we could operate more efficiently without significantly impacting service levels. Huron estimated that we had the opportunity to save a total of $10.8 million; we now believe we will save between $16 million and $18 million by the end of 2016. These savings are the result of hard work and introspection by units and individuals all across the university.
Teams from Resource Management and IT have been working diligently to identify available savings opportunities within computer purchasing. Through this process, we have come to an agreement that Dell will be our sole source provider for computer devices (i.e. desktop computers, laptops, and workstations). Products such as tablets, servers/storage equipment, and Apple devices are not included in this initiative and will continue to be available for purchase.
Dell already provides the great majority of the university’s computers; through this new contract we will continue to have access to the best devices that Dell can offer, while recognizing significantly higher discounts on purchase prices. Currently, Dell devices make up 92% of the university’s non-Apple computers, and we generally receive a 36% discount on Dell products. Under this sole source agreement, the average discount will increase to 43%, saving the university and individual purchasers a significant amount of money. The price of a commonly purchased computer will go from $661 to $588.
Additional information about the new program can be found on the Purchasing Services website.
For further questions please contact Greg Parrott at 935-5024, or greg_parrott@wustl.edu.