Statewide Contract Benefits and Eligible Entities

OSD's Statewide Contracts (SWCs) offer state-negotiated pricing and other tangible benefits, such as prompt pay discounts, bulk purchase pricing, and extended warranties.

Utilizing Statewide Contracts may save you time and money, while providing best value for your organization and Massachusetts taxpayers.

Benefits to using OSD's Statewide Contracts

• Save Time - By using OSD's Statewide Contracts (SWCs), there is no need to invest valuable time developing solicitations, issuing bids, evaluating responses, and executing contracts. OSD has negotiated the pricing (or required competitive quotes), selected the appropriate vendors, and outlined the services the vendors perform relative to the contract. We've done the work to bring the best value/best price to the contracts, so you may forgo this step in the process. Local government purchasers should be aware that purchases made from SWCs procured through the Operational Services Division meet the requirements of M.G.L. c. 30B (1)(c). Users must comply with use guidelines provided for each SWC, which are outlined in each Statewide Contract User Guide. For 30B questions, contact the Office of the Inspector General.
• Save Money - OSD's SWCs are intended to leverage the Commonwealth's aggregate purchasing power by driving down costs and ensuring favorable contract terms and conditions. 
• Environmentally Preferable Products (EPPs) - EPPs are products and services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared to competing products or services that serve the same purpose. Many of the products on SWC have been chosen because of their reduced impact on the environment. 
• Options to use Diverse Vendors - When posting bids in COMMBUYS, you reach a larger audience of vendors at no cost to you for registration, postage, or advertising.

Statewide Contract Index

OSD's Statewide Contract Index is a tool that enables buyers to:

• Find Statewide Contract (SWC) products and services using keywords.
• Identify awarded vendors on the Statewide contracts.
• Locate contract purchasing information: PunchOut catalog purchasing; Blanket Release types; Solicitation Enabled contracts; and RPA Enabled contracts; Conduct SWC title searches.
• Identify Statewide Contract vendors that are certified by the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) and/or participants in the Small Business Purchasing Program (SBPP).
• The Index also includes contact information for the Strategic Sourcing Contract Managers assigned to the listed contracts. Access the Statewide Contract Index for more details.   

Eligible Entities which May Use Statewide Contracts

Executive Departments are required to use the Operational Services Division's Statewide Contracts (SWCs) for their purchases of goods and services. Many other public and quasi-public entities in the Commonwealth also are eligible to use SWCs.

Below is a complete list of the types of organizations generally allowed to use OSD's SWCs. Some SWCs may be open to additional organizations, and some are more restricted in usage.

• Cities, towns, districts, counties, and other political subdivisions
• Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches, including all departments and elected offices therein
• Independent public authorities, commissions, and quasi-public agencies
• Local public libraries, public school districts, and charter schools
• Public hospitals owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Public institutions of higher education
• Public purchasing cooperatives
• Non-profit, UFR-certified organizations that are doing business with the Commonwealth
• Other states and territories with no prior approval by the State Purchasing Agent
• Other entities when designated in writing by the State Purchasing Agent

Benefits to using COMMBUYS

COMMBUYS offers free, Internet-based access to all public procurement information posted in the system to help promote transparency, increase competition, and achieve best value for Massachusetts taxpayers.  COMMBUYS enables buyers and vendors to manage all aspects of the procurement process from a single, online platform. Bid posting, bid submission, and award, as well as purchase order activity and vendor email notifications, are managed online in COMMBUYS. 

• COMMBUYS PunchOut Catalogs: PunchOut catalogs enable buyers to locate and purchase Statewide Contract (SWC) products at pre-negotiated prices directly from vendors’ websites. These online shopping experiences are available to all COMMBUYS purchasers.
• Customized workflows: COMMBUYS is highly flexible and adapts to your business process.  Your dedicated Account Manager works with you to design your buyer profile so that documents electronically route through your prescribed approval process.  Whether your organization is large or small, COMMBUYS may adapt to your needs.
• Streamlined fulfillment from vendors: COMMBUYS provides direct access to more than 100 of the Commonwealth’s competitively priced and previously negotiated SWCs, generating an invaluable time savings for your organization.  Additionally, COMMBUYS sends your online selections directly to the vendor for fulfillment.  When it is time to submit a requisition, access previous orders for easier submission.
• Comprehensive bid management tool: With COMMBUYS you may create and publish bids online, aggregate your purchasing power by posting and evaluation bids with other buying entities, and attach detailed bid specifications within your bid posting.  You also may connect with registered businesses to reach a larger audience of vendors at no cost to you for registration, postage, or advertising. 
• Grant funding notifications:  Finding grant opportunities is easy when you use the COMMBUYS-specific UNSPSC commodity code for grants.  This code enables interested organizations to quickly locate grant opportunities and receive email notifications when grants are posted in COMMBUYS. 
• Purchasing and procurement data access:  COMMBUYS serves as a data warehouse for your purchasing and procurement activities.  With COMMBUYS, maintain an end-to-end archived procurement audit trail, electronically retaining detailed descriptions of items purchased, cost, and receipts of goods.