E&I Cooperative Services Selects Columbia Advisory Group for IT Services

DALLAS, Nov. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Columbia Advisory Group (CAG) announced today that E&I Cooperative Services (E&I), the largest member-owned, non-profit purchasing cooperative serving the needs of education nationwide, has expanded its portfolio of contracts by adopting a CAG contract for Information Technology services. The contract, which was awarded by Texas A&M University-Commerce in a competitive solicitation process, will help E&I members in higher education and K-12 build, manage, and optimize IT infrastructure and services across their institutions, including hardware, software, cloud, enterprise applications, and more.

Specifically, members will be able to access CAG’s expert support for application management, cloud services, ERP implementation, Student Information Systems, Learning Management Systems, audio visual design, service desk support, and many other IT services, on a per project or fixed-fee contract basis.

“CAG brings exceptional consulting, strategy, data security and IT support services in a way that is flexible and scalable in every area of information technology—and at cost-effective rates,” said Keith Fowlkes, Vice President for Technology at E&I. “We are proud to work with a company with such a proven track record in education and many other sectors. They provide excellent full-service IT support to Texas A&M University-Commerce, and we recognized that the contract can significantly benefit many of our member institutions that have similar needs,” he concluded.

According to Travis Ball, Chief Procurement Officer at Texas A&M University-Commerce, “From Banner and Oracle support to an audio/visual refresh of our student center, CAG has proven to be a dedicated and professional partner in our IT success. We highly recommend the CAG team to any educational institution needing expert support.”

“With this exciting, new contract addition, we are more equipped than ever to offer our members the IT services and support they need to improve their operations while optimizing spend,” said Gary D. Link, Senior Vice President, Contracts at E&I. “Our ultimate goal is to continuously bring value beyond lowered costs, and we are confident that CAG will provide tremendous value to our members.”

E&I’s full contract portfolio can be found here.

About E&I

E&I Cooperative Services (E&I) is the only member-owned, non-profit purchasing cooperative solely focused on serving education and related facilities. E&I delivers expertise, solutions, and services through a diverse portfolio of competitively solicited contracts and value-added services. By leveraging the knowledge and purchasing power of its nationwide membership, E&I helps higher education and K-12 institutions reduce costs, optimize supply chain efficiencies, and save time on the RFP process. The Cooperative’s member-driven competitive solicitation process has been validated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) as complying with generally accepted procurement standards. For more information, please visit www.eandi.org.

About Columbia Advisory Group

Columbia Advisory Group (CAG) is a highly experienced Information Technology (IT) consulting firm. With 100+ years of combined technology experience and business acumen, CAG’s team has assessed and helped improve the performance of more than 300 technology organizations and IT departments. By focusing on simple, meaningful and practical solutions combined with straight-forward analysis and recommendations, CAG’s team has experience in many regulatory and economic environments with companies and organizations of all sizes. CAG not only offers a deep understanding of IT, but its solutions are software and hardware agnostic. Whether a client is high growth or economically challenged, CAG can adapt to the complexities and nuances of that business. Based in Dallas, Texas, CAG works extensively with clients throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.columbiaadvisory.com

About Texas A&M University-Commerce

Founded in 1889, Texas A&M University-Commerce is a member of The Texas A&M University System. Located in Northeast Texas, A&M-Commerce is home to more than 12,000 students, four academic colleges, a thriving graduate school, and more than 140-degree programs. As the region’s focal point of higher education, A&M-Commerce offers students facilities ranging from the world-class Keith D. McFarland Science Building and University Planetarium to the Sam Rayburn Student Center, to a fully equipped recreational facility and music hall. The university also has convenient locations in Corsicana, downtown Dallas, Midlothian, McKinney, Mesquite, and Rockwall.