Education Piggyback and K-12 leases

As the cost of formal RFP's can be a significant expense both in terms of internal staffing and consultant fees, many K-12 institutions are looking for alternate ways of acquiring products and services.  If a solution is discovered that appears to be a best fit, has local references as support, and is financially in target, two purchase options may be of consideration.

Piggyback

A piggyback clause on operational policy allows for an institution to effectively purchase a product that has been successfully bid out by another entity typically within the last year.  The deployment needs to be of similar size and of the same product.  Rather than repeating the costly endeavor of an RFP, the product can be purchased by referencing the work and pricing done by a neighboring institution.

K-12 Lease

As technology migrates to as a service models, many K-12 institutions have explored the once dismissed path of leasing.  Leases have expanded to include contingency of government and education clients to match their budgeting constraints.  A K-12 lease can have a caveat added that if the entity does not have funds budgeted for the solution, it can be released from the obligation of the contract.  This process allows for an easy acquisition of solutions that may be advantaged in a larger campus environment to remain onsite while still enjoying the benefits of a monthly operating expense over a capital purchase.