STATE signs deal for purchasing system.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas has entered into a fiveyear agreement with Austin, Texas-based Periscope Holdings for an electronic procurement system, called ARBuy, at no cost to the state, state and Periscope officials told lawmakers this week.

Amy Fecher, secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services, said the Department of Finance and Administration issued a request for proposals for an electronic procurement system in 2018, but the bids were in the $35 million-$75 million range and officials decided “that was not economical for us at that time to award that bid.”

“I had also found out through our studying e-procurement about a model of Texas’ Periscope Holdings, which has a self-funded model,” Fecher told the Legislative Council on Friday.

“They come in and implement the system, [and] integrate it with AASIS. They train and work with vendors at no cost to the state, so we entered into a cooperative buy contract through [a department of] Texas, she said.

AASIS is the Arkansas Administrative Statewide Information System.

Under Periscope Holdings’ self-pay model, Fecher said there is a 1% “convenience fee” on vendors, and 20% of that revenue will be paid to the state.

The convenience fee will be charged only on state contracts, and vendors will be able to opt out of the fee, but they will not be part of the online marketplace if they do so, transformation department spokeswoman Alex Johnston said in a written statement.

“The [electronic procurement] system just went live in the last couple of weeks and our vendors are registering,” Fecher told a committee earlier in the week. “Right now, it’s not live to use and buy on. … Our aim is to go live in August for … departments around the state to purchase products.”

The electronic procurement system also will be available to cities, counties, universities and public schools, and it “expands the use of state contracts across the entire state,” said Brian Utley, Periscope Holdings CEO.