• Purchases of technology-related goods and services should follow the relevant Business Process Management (BPM) procedures.
• Purchases for goods or services that are likely to significantly impact the wide area network bandwidth allocated to the institution should be carefully planned with the USG CIO.
• Externally approved, grant-funded technology purchases that do not interact with USG enterprise applications or USG enterprise networks may be approved by the institution president or designee for IT purchase.
• Institutions may not divide large purchases into smaller packages to avoid the need for USG approval. Individual purchases below these amounts but part of a larger initiative that will eventually exceed these amounts, shall also require written USG CIS approval (e.g., purchases of microcomputers for various lab locations on campus, even if the purchases are for different buildings and from multiple fund sources).
• If a revised cost estimate to a previously approved IT purchasing request increases by more than 10%, a new IT purchase approval must be obtained.

• Third-party hosting or cloud services involve processing, storing or transmitting any University data on a physical (University-owned or personal) or virtual device outside direct control or possession of UGA.
• All cloud services and third-party hosting must receive CESS approval, regardless of the cost.
• The type of data being processed, stored or transmitted determines if a CESS Security Evaluation Form is needed. If you are unsure what type of data you will be working with, please review our Data Classification and Protection Standard.
• Exception = "Private On-Site Cloud" - This means data will be stored on a physical or virtual device in direct control or possession of UGA (i.e. in the Data Center or another campus building).
• If your cloud services provider is Amazon Web Services, you will need to fill out the Amazon Cloud Financial Stewardship Form and attach it to each UGAmart Purchase Requisition you submit for AWS. It must be signed by your Dean or Vice President.

• See the Data Classification and Protection Standard information.

• IT purchases that exceed $500,000 in one Fiscal Year, or $1 Million over the course of 5 Fiscal Years
• Regardless of cost (even $0 purchases):
  • Software that necessitates data integration (inbound, or bi-directional) with either on-premises, cloud-hosted, or USG-hosted ERP applications (finance, human capital management, student information, student CRM, or supplier management systems only).
  • Software or services that are duplicative of or are intended as a substitute for core business functions and shared services supported by on-premises, cloud-hosted, or USG-hosted ERP applications (finance, human capital management, student information, student CRM, or supplier management), whether they are hosted on-premises, cloud-hosted, or USG hosted.
  • Software or services duplicative of shared services either offered or supported by USG ITS, including network services.
  • Institution-wide software licenses covering more than 50% of an institution’s students, faculty, or staff

NOTE: Approval from the Board of Regents generally takes an additional 10-15 business days, so please plan accordingly.

• If the total cost of your IT project is $500K - $999K, or falls within the above guidelines, you will need to fill out the Board of Regents Approval Questions Form and attach it to your CESS Approval Request cart in UGAmart.
• If the total cost of your IT project is $1 million or more, you may need to fill out the Board of Regents Business Case Template. BOR will make the determination after the initial submission if a business case is needed and will then request one. If you need assistance filling out the Business Case Template, please see the Business Case Guide.
• In cases where a bulk purchase of commodity hardware exceeds the $1 million threshold, a business case will not be required.
• Advance planning with the USG CIO is encouraged in order to determine whether the requirement for a business case applies.
• The USG CIO normally reviews and responds to IT purchase requests the same day if the request is submitted by 10am, and by the next business day for items submitted after 10am.

• The CESS Approval Number must be specified on every purchase requisition against a CESS project before the cart is approved by a department.
• If no CESS Approval Number is cited in the CESS Approval # field of a purchase requisition, the cart will not route for CESS review.
• If the CESS Approval Number is not cited on a purchase requisition covered under a CESS project, Procurement will return the cart to the requisitioner so they can add the CESS Approval Number and the cart can be routed for CESS review.

• The CESS Approval Number must be specified on every purchase requisition against the CESS project (example below).

• If the CESS Approval Number is not cited on a purchase requisition covered under a CESS project, Procurement will return the cart to the requisitioner so they can add the CESS Approval Number and the cart can be routed for CESS review.

• If your CESS Request is under $500K and all the required documentation or forms are attached, the standard CESS approval processing time is 7-10 business days. A failure to attach all the required documentation could result in additional processing time.
  • CESS Approval - Workflow and Processing Times 
  • Purchase Carts for CESS Projects - Workflow and Processing Times 
• If your CESS Request is over $500K and all the required documentation or forms are attached, the standard CESS approval processing time is 17-25 business days. A failure to attach all the required documentation could result in additional processing time.
• If you are unsure of the required forms for your CESS Request, visit our CESS Flowchart to help you determine the forms necessary for your IT project.

• To check the approval status of a CESS request, click on the PR Approvals tab at the top left of the CESS Requisition. You will be able to view what stage of CESS Approval the PR cart is currently in, as well as the CESS approvers to contact for any status update questions.
• When the CESS request has been approved by all review levels, an email notification will be sent to the Shopper who created the cart with the approval number (if the Shopper's profile email notification is set up for email notifications).
• The CESS Approval Number must be specified on EVERY purchase requisition against the CESS project. If the CESS Approval Number is not cited on a purchase requisition covered under a CESS project, Procurement will return the cart to the requisitioner so they can add the CESS Approval Number and the cart can be routed for CESS Review.

• In UGAmart, click on Documents in the blue column on the right. Under Document Search, click Search Documents.
• At the top of the search page, make sure "Requisitions" is chosen as your search criteria.
• Scroll to the bottom of the search page and under CESS Approval #, type in your full CESS Number.

• If the CESS number for the original maintenance or subscription is FY16 or after, you will need to enter the CESS number in the CESS # field when you submit your UGAmart cart for the maintenance or subscription renewal.
• If the CESS number for the original maintenance or subscription is FY15 or before, you will need to submit a new CESS request for approval before you can submit the renewal cart. This is due to the increased focus on IT security and risk management. When the CESS request is approved, you will need to enter the CESS number in the CESS # field when you submit your UGAmart cart for the maintenance or subscription renewal.
• Click the blue Search button at the bottom of the page. This will give you a list of requisitions where the CESS number was cited in the PR cart.