Vermont officials defend VT Buys rollout, cite faster payments and security checks

VT Buys, the state’s new e‑procurement system, is live and being used statewide, but officials told the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee on Aug. 26 that last‑minute configuration, security and financial‑system integration issues delayed a fuller rollout and required targeted remediation before the team allowed suppliers to use all features.

The procurement system “is a statewide portal for procurement,” Rodney Manoli, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, said during the committee’s meeting. He said VT Buys centralizes supplier information, contracts and invoicing and that the state has registered “almost 10,000” suppliers in the system.

That data collection and workflow automation, officials said, is shortening payment times for businesses that fully use the platform. Manoli reported the state has processed about $24 million in invoices through VT Buys since the system went live and said some payments have turned around in about seven days where agencies and suppliers are “fully utilizing the system.”

Why it matters: VT Buys replaces largely paper‑based procurement steps and centralizes supplier records, contract documents and invoicing. Vendors and agencies that use the system gain a single portal to manage bids, documents and payments; state officials said the system also gives them reporting and oversight data they did not previously have.

Officials described the decision to pause portions of the rollout as a standard implementation step, not an abandonment. Denise Riley Hughes, Secretary of the Agency of Digital Services and the state’s chief information officer, said the team ran a security vulnerability review before go‑live and identified configuration and integration issues that needed to be fixed. “When we identify things that…a vendor might accept as a risk, the state is not willing to accept that risk,” Hughes said, describing why staff delayed some functions until they could be remedied.

Committee members heard that the project used a phased approach: an initial live capability to get procure‑to‑pay and source‑to‑contract features into production, with a prioritized set of enhancements pushed to later phases. Officials said they limited scope prior to the August go‑live to avoid indefinite delay: if the state had attempted to include every requested enhancement, they said, the system never would have launched.

The platform is built on a commercial procurement product and was implemented with external partners. Staff identified KPMG as the implementation contractor and the product platform as EvaluApp. Manoli and ADS staff described a multi‑week intense fix cycle in which roughly 80% of identified issues were resolved over a weekend that enabled the team to proceed the following Friday; they said other issues were tracked into follow‑on work.

Committee members raised questions about customizations and future upgrade costs. Hughes and staff said VT Buys is delivered as a software‑as‑a‑service product and that configuration choices can affect how easily the state adopts future vendor updates. They said the state will need an ongoing technical and business support plan, and that some future customizations (for example, integrating state purchase cards) are planned for a later phase and may require additional funding or internal staffing rather than always contracting externally.

The committee also discussed whether independent reviews had been or will be done. Hughes said an independent review took place earlier in the project and that the implementation team would complete project closeout and vulnerability follow‑ups; she said the project team was in a “post go‑live” closeout window and would be able to share more when the contractor’s final implementation report is delivered.

Committee direction and next steps: presenters said staff will return for a future demo and a follow‑up agenda item that includes a scenario showing how IT‑related procurements flow through VT Buys to ADS. Officials also said they are tracking a phase‑2 list of desired enhancements (including municipal enablement and p‑card integration) and will develop support plans to reduce future external spending.

The discussion included multiple committee members and agency staff and closed with members requesting written materials and a demonstration on a future agenda.