Cooperative Purchasing Insights | OMNIA Partners

The Free, Intelligent Connector for Higher-Ed Spend Challenges

November 1, 2021 / by Carahsoft posted in Higher Education, Information Technology

Alton Campbell, co-author, serves as vice president, higher education for OMNIA Partners, Public Sector. He leads a national team of regional managers who bring strategic contract solutions to colleges and universities.

Utilizing cooperative purchasing empowers participants to access and leverage immense buying power to achieve more value, time, and cost-savings. It’s no wonder why the higher education space partners with cooperative purchasing organizations such as OMNIA Partners, the most experienced cooperative and free connector to drive excellence and meet strategic goals, particularly in a time when the pandemic has squeezed budgets.

We have witnessed a growth in higher education spending, largely accelerated by the pandemic, in information technology, air filtration, and furniture. When it comes to investments in these major categories, OMNIA Partners has an extensive portfolio of suppliers who offer solutions.

Strengthen Your Cyber Security Solutions Through Cooperative Purchasing

September 24, 2021 / by OMNIA Partners posted in K-12 Education, Business Products & Solutions, Local & State Government, Information Technology

With remote network access, cloud applications, mobile devices and plentiful online opportunities in today’s digital workplace and classroom, your risk of cyber crime exposure increases. IT industry insiders report that there are 30,000 websites being hacked each day across the world, and several organizations' online systems are breached up to five times throughout the year.

Procurement teams can leverage cooperative purchasing to get ahead of these cyber criminals and incorporate powerful protective solutions for the IT infrastructure within your school system, organization, or agency.

6 Key Learnings For Digitization Done Right

September 13, 2021 / by Iron Mountain posted in K-12 Education, Business Products & Solutions, Local & State Government, Higher Education, Information Technology

The pandemic has changed the way we talk about the “digital workplace”. As organizations look to a more modernized environment, it is often difficult to navigate the complexities of a hybrid physical and digital world. Gain insight to what our supplier partner, Iron Mountain, has learn about the digital transformation process along the way.

Getting Real About the Digital Workplace

September 2, 2021 / by Iron Mountain posted in K-12 Education, Business Products & Solutions, Local & State Government, Higher Education, Information Technology

The words “digital workplace” mean something different today than they did a year or two ago.

We’ve all learned a lot this past year about what’s really essential when it comes to getting work done, whether that’s meeting the needs of customers or virtually connecting with co-workers. So, it’s safe to say our digital workplace initiatives are much more reality-driven.

Long after the pandemic, we’ll still be processing what we’ve learned. We’re not simply picking up the pieces and going back to “business as usual.” We’re going back to a different workplace. Learn how your organization can ensure digitization done right (now available through OMNIA Partners' cooperative contract with Iron Mountain).

Single Sourcing Eases Telecom and IT Challenges for Cities and States

August 31, 2021 / by Granite posted in Local & State Government, Information Technology

If you never hear the C-word again, it will be too soon, but COVID-19 continues to impact all aspects of state, county and city government, not the least of which is IT.

No doubt the pandemic upended your agencies five-year strategic IT plans, forcing you to reprioritize to support remote work in the early days of the crisis. Now that states, counties and cities are opening up again, your agency must reassess decisions made and technology deployed in haste.

6 Data Security Solutions to Prevent Cyber-Attacks

August 27, 2021 / by Insight Public Sector posted in Local & State Government, Information Technology

Ransomware attacks remain prevalent. You can unknowingly download ransomware onto a computer by opening an email attachment, clicking an ad, or visiting a website that's embedded with malware. The costly disruptions to your operations and loss of critical information is not worth the risk. Through a competitively solicited and publicly awarded cooperative contract with OMNIA Partners and Insight Public Sector, participants have access to a plethora of cybersecurity solutions to prevent and mitigate risk.

What is Zero Trust and Why Should Public Agencies Care?

June 23, 2021 / by DLT posted in Information Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a rapid, widespread shift to remote work, necessitating a new approach to security. Many public sector agencies are responding by adopting a Zero Trust Architecture Model and it is more important than ever to include in your cyber security strategy.

3 Ways To Protect Against Ransomware

June 9, 2021 / by Ricoh posted in K-12 Education, Business Products & Solutions, Local & State Government, Higher Education, Information Technology

Cyberattacks targeting public agencies and school communities are an increasing threat each year. In 2020 alone there were nearly 1,700 reported cyber threat events spanning all 50 states in the Education field. Although a wide range of attack methods are used, the most common are breaches, hacks and phishing attacks resulting in personal data disclosure, ransomware attacks, and denial-of-service attacks. Below are three key defensive checkpoints to help protect your organization against malicious ransomware.

State University Provides 9,000 Apple iPad Devices to Class of 2024

April 1, 2021 / by SHI posted in Higher Education, Information Technology

As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly established what we now know as our “new normal,” many organizations were forced to switch to a new, remote way of doing business – universities included. This state university was able to utilize the SHI OMNIA Partners contract to provide 9,000 Apple iPads to the freshman class.

Digital Solutions For School Safety & The Digital Divide

March 8, 2021 / by Graybar posted in K-12 Education, Information Technology

The Current Pitfalls of School Safety

Efficient and effective school safety policies are critical to ensure that every student is kept safe and informed, should an emergency occur. It is reported that 51% of 911 calls take place on a cell phone inside a building¹, yet 65% of emergency responders communicating inside a building experience regular communication failure². This alarming fact further emphasizes the importance of having a strong network service inside school buildings, allowing emergency responders to arrive at the correct location as quickly as possible.

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