Purchasing & Procurement

The Procurement team manages the supplier relationship including: the day to day orders supporting operations, supplier sourcing, competitive bidding, and contract/price negotiations. All other campus employees may contact IT Client Services for procurement assistance.

The quickest way to procure goods and services is by utilizing the UCOP systemwide contracts that are available for all staff on the BearBuy home screen that are featured on the white Supplier Tiles. These Suppliers have been vetted reducing risk for UC and the time it takes to process orders. All campus employees, affiliates, and graduate students with a CalNet ID can shop for goods or services in BearBuy. Purchasing transactions are initiated by logging into BearBuy. Like most campus systems, if you are accessing BearBuy from off campus, you must download and use bSecure Virtual Private Network (VPN) called GlobalProtect. We advise seeking your manager’s written or verbal approval prior to initiating a request to help expedite the process.

Order Process Workflow

View an overview of the process. Please follow these steps:

  • A shopper logs into BearBuy using their CalNet credentials and places an order with one of the contracted Suppliers within the BearBuy home page or creates a BearBuy cart to place an order with a Supplier that isn’t on contract.

  • PO's created before June 1, 2022 cannot have additional lines added or changes to the COA.  A new order will need to be created due to the Controller’s office requirement for each business unit.
  • Select the appropriate form:
    • Goods that are tangible and physically shipped ---> Non-Catalog Form
    • Goods that also have services that accompany them i.e. maintenance support ---> Non-Catalog Form
    • Services that are labor related or Software/Cloud services that don’t require a physical receipt ---> Services and Non Tangible Items Order Form
  • Select the Supplier from the list and if you need to use a Procurement BluCard select BluCard Tracking as the Supplier.

  • List the details in the description including the quantity and price.  Then select view cart details.  

  • If the services involve UC institutional information that the Supplier will have access to, please provide the Protection Level as defined on the Security Data Classification Standard website in the requisition comments.

  • Verify the ship-to address and when you are ready assign it to your manager for approval.

  • If the total value of the cart is less than $1,000, the Manager assigns the cart to the Department Budget Officer who then submits the cart to Procurement after they have entered the chartstring information.

  • For carts greater than $1,000, the Manager assigns the cart to the Director for approval and then Director assigns the cart to the Department Budget Officer. The Department Budget Officer will submit the cart to Procurement after they have reviewed the details and enter the chartstring information.

  • Please do not assign the cart to Procurement as this breaks the workflow within BearBuy. When the final approval is made, that individual will submit the cart which will automatically route to the IST shared queue (IST Admin & Procurement).

    • IST Admin: Stephanie Dunn will process travel, entertainment, training, conference registration, events, new employee onboarding orders.

    • IST Procurement: Carolyn Tsosie and Laurina Ashby will process goods and services that support IT operations.

BearBuy FAQs for Approvers

What steps do I follow if I receive an email indicating I have been assigned a cart for approval?

Login to the BearBuy home page (remember to first connect to bSecure VPN), on the left side of the screen you will see “Action Items.” Click on “My Approvals” and you will be able to view carts assigned to you.

What if I am a Director reviewing a cart that has been assigned to me which has a value exceeding $50,000 and I mistakenly submit the cart rather than assigning it to the CIO?

The Procurement team will redirect the cart back to the Director with instructions to assign the cart to the CIO.

How will I know I have been assigned a cart and will I get reminders?

Once a cart is created and assigned to an authorizer, the authorizer will receive an email indicating the cart has been assigned for review. This is the only notification that will be received. BearBuy does not send out repeat emails as the PR system does.

BearBuy FAQs for Shoppers

How do I get into BearBuy?

This is the direct link for BearBuy. Another way to get into BearBuy is to login to Blu (remember to first connect to bSecure VPN), select Finance at the top of the page, and then choose BearBuy located on the left side of the screen. 

What is the approval process for carts in BearBuy?

In BearBuy, a shopper creates a cart and assigns it to their manager for approval. If the purchase is approved, the manager then assigns the cart to the DBO. The DBO reviews the cart for budgetary implications and forecasting and enters the chartstring information. If the total value of the cart is less than $1,000, the DBO submits the cart and the cart goes to the Requisition Creator (Procurement Team).  If the value of the cart is greater than $1,000 and less than $99,999, the DBO assigns the cart to the Director. The Director reviews the cart and if approved submits the cart. 

What happens if I am a shopper and I mistakenly submit the cart rather than assigning it to my manager?

If you submit the cart rather than assigning it to the manager, the cart will be returned to you with a comment indicating you need to assign the cart to your manager.

If I am the shopper, do I need to enter the chartstring for the purchase?

If you know the correct chartstring, you can enter the chartstring in your cart or you can leave it to your manager or DBO. DBOs will be reviewing all chartstrings to make sure they are correct.

What if I am ready to assign a cart but the next level reviewer is on vacation? 

When an authorizer is on vacation, they normally will leave instructions on who is acting on their behalf during absences. You would assign the cart to the person filling in for your manager. If you are unsure who is filling in for your manager, please check with your DBO or Director.

How can I check the status of my cart? 

Login to the BearBuy home page (remember to first connect to bSecure VPN), select “My Orders” available under the “Action Items” box located on the left side of the screen.

If my cart has not been processed, will I be able to determine where the cart is held up so I can contact the authorizer? 

Yes, see the previous question response. This is where you will go to see that status of your request and to determine where it is held up, if it has not moved forward to the Requisition Creator (Procurement Team).  

What if I am lost on my first attempt in creating a cart?

The Procurement team is available to help you with new carts. Please contact Laurina Ashby laurinaashby@berkeley.edu, to set up a time to create the cart.

What should I be entering in my Profile for the “Ship To” address?

The default “ship to” address for all of IST is 2484 Shattuck, Suite 1. By saving this in your profile, you will not have to enter the information every time you create a cart.

How will my purchase get to me if my work location is different from the “Ship To” address?

Once you have created your cart, go into “View My Cart.” You can then “Add Comments” to the cart and should enter your name, location, email address, phone number using the “Comments” tab.

What if my cart has been submitted with all required authorizer approvals but I have forgotten to attach some of the required documents needed for the PO to be created?

The cart will be returned to the shopper with a comment from the Procurement team listing the forms that need to be attached for a PO to be created. Attach the documentation and then submit the cart. Since the authorizations took place during the first routing of the cart, there is no need to assign the cart again for additional authorizations.

Can I submit my cart without authorizations? What if I forget to assign my cart for approval and submit by mistake?

No, a cart cannot be processed without the required authorizations. If you submit your cart without the authorizations, the cart will be returned to you by the Procurement Team with a note indicating you need to assign the cart to your manager.

Once my cart is ready to go forward, who do I assign the cart to?

The cart should be assigned to your manager.

Can I purchase multiple items from multiple vendors in a single cart?

You can request multiple items within a single cart but only if the items are all from the same vendor.  You will need to create separate carts for separate vendors.