Procurement & Payment Services has recently entered into a pricing agreement with Digi-Key Electronics. Digi-Key Electronics is a privately held American company that distributes electronic components. Headquartered in Thief River Falls Minnesota, the company is the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America and the fifth largest electronic component distributor in the world. The agreement will offer Northwestern a 10% discount off iBuyNU orders. The catalog is now live and ready for orders. For additional questions related to the products sold by Digi-Key, please feel free to reach out to our customer representative Deann Eskeli at Deeann.Eskeli@digikey.com.

• Northwestern IT Data Center Equipment Replacement
• Northwestern IT Data Center Equipment Service

 New SHI Representative

Northwestern’s preferred software reseller, SHI, has assigned a new customer representative/sales manager to our account. Scott Fee replaces Josh Pfau, and can be reached at scott_fee@shi.com or 630-703-3073. Questions regarding ordering, software sourcing, or other general questions can still be directed to the team-based SHI email address at teamshi@shi.com.

New Dell Customer Service Representative

Dell has recently assigned a new customer service representative to our account. Luci Rojas replaces Jenny Sproat, and can be reached directly at Luciana.Riojas@Dell.com or 512-513-1726. General questions to our entire account team (including ordering, pricing, technical questions, etc.) can still be directed to the team-based Dell email address at northwesternuniversityteam@dell.com.

Computer Hardware Lead Times

Both of our Preferred Vendors for computer hardware (Dell and Lenovo/CDWG) have indicated that pandemic-related demand increases have caused shortages of many laptop and desktop models. This also includes shortages of LCD panels, monitors, and docking stations. Procurement & Payment Services is monitoring the situation closely and encourages all Northwestern end users to plan for long lead times when possible. Current delivery turnaround for many desktops and laptops can run as long as 25-40 days. Apple lead times also seem to be running a bit longer than usual.

Please understand that this is an industry-wide problem, and is not specific to Northwestern or to higher-education markets in general. For questions about specific models or any additional concerns, please feel free to contact angieandbrian@cdwg.com (for Lenovo/CDWG), northwesternuniversityteam@dell.com (for Dell) or jessicajones@apple.com (for Apple).

DriveSavers Agreement Extension

The existing Preferred Vendor agreement with DriveSavers has been extended for another year. DriveSavers offers secure and safe recovery of data from standard and SSD hard drives, USB flash memory, and micro SD cards. Please see the DriveSavers Preferred Vendor page for pricing and ordering instructions.

Earth Hour 3/27

sustainNU encourages you to reconnect to nature and your role in protecting the natural world in honor of Earth Hour.  Join World Wide Fund (WWF) for a guided meditation on March 27 at 8:30 pm. Led by internationally celebrated yoga teacher and scholar Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts, the Earth Hour meditation will create a moment of solitude to calm our busy minds, practice gratitude for our planet, and reflect on what we can do to combat climate change. 

 New Paper Pricing

To strengthen our suitability goals, Procurement has recently negotiated improved pricing on recycled paper with Northwestern’s preferred office supply vendor Office Depot OfficeMax. Read the full article to learn more about Boise Aspen multi-use recycled copy paper.

sustainNU Green Home Certification

Improve your space with the new Green Home Certification program by sustainNU! As we all spend more time at home, there are greater opportunities to reduce your environmental impact and contributions to climate change.

 Certify your home or apartment with your roommates, family, or on your own. A simple checklist provides you with the resources and knowledge to make your space greener and healthier. In no time, you’ll be on your way to saving money, brightening your physical space, and fostering positive well-being at home.

Subscribe to New PPS Listserv

Procurement and Payment Services now communicates important information via a new Listserv. The Listserv will be used to email subscribers information in-between our quarterly Dollars & Sense Newsletter. Visit our webpage for more information, including how to subscribe.  

Open Lab Sessions

Join us for a monthly virtual Procurement and Payment Services Open Lab Session! Visit our website for more information, including access to the meeting link.

Home Address Temporary Ship to Codes

If absolutely necessary, to foster remote work transition, we are allowing limited shipping to faculty and staff home addresses until Northwestern's essential operations directive ends. Purchase orders can be directed to a home address by submitting a request for a new “ship to” code. We ask that you use discretion when utilizing this, and require that a supervisor approve these changes. Please be sure to contact your local IT team in advance if you are needing to purchase a new or replacement computer for work. Do not contact suppliers directly to request an address update – the address must be reflected on the purchase order through an official ship-to code.

For questions about ship to codes, contact Procurement at procurement@northwestern.edu.