For DATA PROCESSING HARDWARE purchases, the requisition must first be forwarded by the requisitioner to Computing Services for review and approval. The requisition should contain the same information as required for competitive bid purposes unless it is for the purchase of State Contract items. Computing Services will make a recommendation concerning the purchase and process the requisition accordingly. If recommended for purchase, the Purchasing Department upon receiving the requisition will process the requisition in accordance with state data processing guidelines. Hardware: Purchases of data processing hardware less than $1,000 may be purchased non-competitively. Purchases over $1,000 but less than $100,000 may be purchased through State Contract or must be competitively bid in accordance with requirements for soliciting quotes or bids. Purchases equal to or greater than $100,000 require prior approval of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) for State Contract purchases. For required competitive bid purchases, the Office of Information Technology (OIT), the State Procurement Support Team (PST) and the Office of State Purchasing (OSP) must review and approve the Invitation to Bid (ITB) or Request for Proposal (RFP) prior to solicitation. Hardware Maintenance and Support Services: Purchases of data processing hardware maintenance and support services less than $100,000 may be purchased non-competitively provided price documentation from vendor reflects the cost of the hardware maintenance and support service do not exceed the vendor's published price. Purchase shall not be artificially divided to circumvent the $100,000 threshold. Purchases of data processing hardware maintenance and support services equal to or greater than $100,000 for mission critical equipment (such as mainframes, mainframe peripherals, enterprise servers, or network backbone components) obtained from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) can be non-competitively purchased provided Southeastern submits a letter of justification signed by the president or his designee to the Office of State Purchasing (OSP). The Office of Information Technology (OIT), the State Procurement Support Team (PST) and the Office of State Purchasing (OSP) must review and approve the purchase. Purchases of data processing hardware maintenance and support services equal to or greater than $100,000 not acquired through the OEM must be competitively purchased through either the Invitation to Bid (ITB) or Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The Office of Information Technology (OIT), the State Procurement Support Team (PST) and the Office of State Purchasing (OSP) must review the solicitation and award prior to purchase. Contact the Director of Purchasing for additional information.