Data Center Services Guide

Planned Procurement Schedule

State agencies submit planned data center and disaster recovery expenditures to the DIR Approvals Office through the Planned Procurement Schedule-Data Center (PPS-DC). The PPS-DC contains detailed instructions on what data to include and an example completed worksheet. DIR will acknowledge receipt of the PPS-DC and return it to the agency within thirty days.

If there are changes in quantity or unit costs to the PPS-DC during the process, the agency notifies DIR by resubmitting the PPS-DC to the DIR Approvals Office. DIR will review and provide a response to the agency as quickly as possible, but not longer than thirty calendar days.

Submission, Review and Approval Process – Step-by-Step

Step 1 – Agencies will complete the PPS-DC worksheet and submit it via email to the DIR Approvals Office. The DIR Approvals Office will acknowledge the receipt within three business days.

Step 2 – A DIR Analyst will review the PPS-DC expenditures to determine if additional information is required to complete the analysis. If additional information is required, the DIR Analyst will contact the agency with the request for the information.

Step 3 – The agency will prepare and submit the requested information to the DIR analyst and the DIR Approvals Office within five business days.

Step 4 – When information is sufficient to complete the analysis and make recommendations, DIR will log the PPS-DC request and initiate the 30-day assessment period. The DIR Analyst will complete the review and assign one of the following recommendations to each line item:
• Approved – agency may proceed with expenditure as planned
• Open Item – more analysis is required for a recommendation
• Conditional Approval – the analyst will define the specific condition(s) for the agency to proceed with the expenditure
• Disapproved – agency may not proceed with the planned expenditure

Step 5 – The DIR Analyst will forward the PPS-DC analysis and recommendations to DIR Management for review.

Step 6 – The PPS-DC analysis and recommendations are forwarded to the DIR Executive Director, or his designee, for final review and action.

Step 7 – As soon as possible, and not more than 30 days after all required information is received, the DIR Approvals Office will transmit the DIR Executive Director’s authorization of the PPS-DC to the agency. The returned PPS-DC will indicate the status of each line item.

Step 8 – If an agency’s PPS-DC is returned with the status of one or more line items marked “Open Item,” DIR and the agency will continue the review process for the line item(s) in question.

Note: DIR will not delay return of the PPS-DC to an agency due to analysis issues with one or more specific line items.

Submission, Review and Approval Process – Illustration

The following figure illustrates each step of the submission, review, and approval process; as described above.