An IT Service Desk ticket is the first step for any software purchase request, whether it is a new software purchase or renewal of existing software licensing or support.  

Why?: 

The State of Wisconsin holds a mandatory procurement contract for software. To be compliant with State of Wisconsin procurement rules and regulations, if a re-seller can carry the software and/or its renewal, that is the means you must use for purchase. This mandatory procurement contract covers a wide scope of software including but not limited to: 

• “Shrink-Wrapped” software 

• Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) software 

• Licensed software 

• Software media 

• Software upgrades 

• Maintenance/Support Agreements offered by the Publisher/licensor 

• Subscription software   

What to include in your request:  

• Identify product: Include a quote from the vendor/supplier outlining the software product you wish to purchase so IT is informed of the exact item being requested. By taking this approach, it is clear upfront what product/licensing tier is being requested and mitigates discrepancies throughout the process. 

  • Is this a renewal?  

    • If you received a renewal quote from the vendor, please include that in your request. 

  • Is this a renewal that was through a State of Wisconsin re-seller the year prior (i.e. SHI, Insight, or CDW-G)? 

    • Relay this information in your request; include the procurement paperwork from the year prior that outlines the software pieces that are up for renewal (i.e., quote, invoice, PO) 

• Provide scope: Include a brief explanation (in your own words) of what type of software this is, what it does and how it will be used at the university. This information is helpful in the event the re-sellers under the State of Wisconsin’s mandatory software procurement contract are unable to quote the requested software and your request is transitioned into a Software Review. 

• Any Other Valuable Information: Include anything else the IT department needs to know about the specifics of your request. For example, in a software licensing renewal situation, if you are in a multi-year agreement with the vendor, let us know you are looking to renew year 2 of 3 and attach the signed agreement between the university and the vendor which outlines this information. 

Please note each software request is unique and may require additional information than outlined above. Due to the various teams who need to be engaged during the process, please allow a 6 – 8 week turnaround for these requests.  If the software request requires IT project work, additional time and resources may factor in as well.  The purpose of this Knowledgebase article is to serve as a general guide which would cover most of the software and software renewal situations for campus.  

See the following Knowledgebase articles for specific information regarding software procurement and the software review processes: 

• Software Procurement – New or Renewal 

• Software Review Process