Case study

UPLC bridges the digital divide for 1.5 million Indian studentsIndian procurement agency undertakes massive roll-out of HP laptops to satisfy students’ aspirations

IndustryPublic sector

ObjectiveIdentify a suitable vendor or vendors to manufacture, supply and deliver 1.5 million laptop PCs with call centre, regional support and training services

ApproachIssued a Request for Proposal (RFP) and assessed the bidders’ technical, financial and operational abilities to deliver on time

IT matters• Delivers cost-effective, reliable,

high-performance notebook PCs to 1.5 million students, satisfying their everyday requirements

• Contains a customised BIOS, generating unique UP messaging during the devices’ lifetime

• Offers comprehensive IT support and maintenance services, delivering peace of mind

Business matters• Fulfils the government’s election pledge

within the agreed time frame, reinforcing its commitment to reducing the digital divide across the state

• Enhances students’ learning experience, satisfying educational aspirations

• Demonstrates high levels of manufacturing and transport care, ensuring end-users receive high-quality goods

“HP was a strong contender from day one. Its production capability, capacity and matching of technical features against the best price point was clear proof of a desire to win this deal. Moreover, the processes HP adopted to execute this complex project matched every global standard.” – G S Naveen Kumar, managing director, Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation Limited

State government meets student aspirations with digital project Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation, the Uttar Pradesh Government’s procurement agency, deploys 1.5 million HP Pavilion Notebook PCs to reduce the digital divide across the Indian state. The student beneficiaries use the laptops to enhance their learning experience and fulfil their educational and career aspirations.

Case study | Uttar Pradesh State Government

Challenge

Background While politicians campaigned for the Uttar Pradesh (UP) State Government elections in 2012, Akhilesh Yadav, the chief-minister candidate for the Samajwadi Party made education a priority. The manifesto included a pre-poll promise to distribute laptop computers to all high school graduates who had enrolled for higher education. With 200 million inhabitants, UP is the most populous and fifth largest Indian state by area.

This policy would close the digital divide by providing students with laptops in a country where only 10 per cent of the population has Internet access and the PC ownership is below 10 per cent.

Fulfilling an election promise After the Samajwadi Party won the election, the UP Government appointed the Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation Limited (UPLC) as the procurement agency for the laptop project. During August 2013, UPLC’s Business PC Solutions unit issued a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) and engaged KPMG to bring transparency and accountability to the selection process. “Ambitious projects such as these are part of state government plans to equip young people with the skills relevant for the twenty-first century,” says G S Naveen Kumar, managing director, Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation Limited. UPLC, a wholly-owned UP Government body, was established in 1974 to promote IT and electronics industries across the state. The organisation procures and supplies hardware, develops software and provides computer training to employees of government departments, corporations and other institutions.

Comprehensive RFP “The RFP outlined the precise specifications and activities for the delivery of 1.5 million laptops with backpacks against a tight delivery schedule with penalties for non-compliance,” explains Kumar. “The contract involved a phased distribution of laptops across 313 geographical sub-districts within 75 UP districts over 210 days after the contract was signed.”

The chosen vendor was contractually obliged to provide groups of 10 to 15 teachers at designated institutions throughout UP with UPLC-approved training about computing and the laptop’s features. For final acceptance, the training had to include a basic demonstration to student beneficiaries on institute premises. In addition, the RFP required a third-party pre-dispatch inspection regime, post-delivery inspections at sub-district level, establishment of a call centre in Lucknow and a service centre in each sub-district. The successful vendor had to provide regular service support throughout the one-year warranty period. During the tender process, vendors had to make several presentations to personnel on the UP Government’s technical and finance committees. HP adopted a customised and scalable strategy based on best practice throughout the RFP process. The first step involved starting a continuous and dedicated channel of engagement with the UP Government to fully understand the RFP.

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Case study | Uttar Pradesh State Government

Solution

Customised notebook PCs The HP Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) solution comprised 1.5 million HP Pavilion G4 Notebook PCs with a 14-inch, 1024 by 768 pixel resolution display, 2 GB internal memory and 500 GB hard disk capacity. Furnishing a plethora of additional features including a DVD Read and Write optical drive, Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi support and a webcam, the devices support typing in three languages; Hindi, English and Urdu. The notebooks run the Windows® 7 platform and Microsoft® Office Pro Academic Version 2010 with a dual boot Ubuntu Linux operating system. This cost-effective, reliable and expandable HP solution is ideally suited to modern students’ lifestyles. The customised specification displays a government message during boot-up and each notebook lid carries an identical message. This prevents units entering the grey second-hand market, protecting the government’s investment strategy. UPLC awarded the entire $450 million contract to HP in February 2013, becoming one of the world’s largest educational IT projects. Traditionally, with a government deal of this size, the procurement agency apportions the order between the top three vendors with the top vendor getting the largest share. UPLC and the UP Government quickly realised that 1.5 million laptops represented less than 2.5 per cent of HP’s annual capacity.

“HP was a strong contender from day one during the RFP process. Its production capability, capacity and matching of technical features against the best price point was clear proof of a desire to win this deal. The processes matched every global standard. We found a strong and committed partner,” says Kumar. Rigorous inspection regime TUV, an appointed third party, conducted rigorous pre-dispatch inspections at three Lucknow warehouses. TUV did not find a single faulty notebook, demonstrating high levels of manufacturing quality and transport care. The HP project team employed industry-recognised best practices to plan the delivery logistics to each sub-district. HP’s extensive support network provided warranty support for 12 months to aid RFP compliance. HP PPS commenced notebook fulfilment in February 2013, delivering the final shipment in September. As part of the contract, the HP Customer Service and Support (CSS) organisation set up a dedicated 95 square metre call centre in Lucknow to handle all warranty support calls. Equipped with an IT infrastructure, power backup system and network connectivity, the centre accommodates up to 30 staff.

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Service support and training HP CSS also opened a service centre in each of the 313 sub-districts in a phased manner. Each centre employs a dedicated team of three engineers and one coordinator to conduct repairs. HP maintains a stock of spare parts at all service centres, aiding rapid repair turnaround times. UPLC regularly receives a performance report to monitor compliance. All centres offer services in Hindi, English and Urdu. Furthermore, HP trained all student recipients on notebook PC features and usage through a special Student Training Programme. Participants viewed a PowerPoint presentation and a special video. HP CSS also trained each district’s teachers and presented them with a reference handbook. “The training and demonstration process not only showcased the laptop’s capabilities but also eliminated large call volumes to HP service centres,” comments Kumar. “This was an important aspect of HP delivery for the project as it benefitted both the students and teachers.”

BenefitsResolving financial constraints Following the deployment, 1.5 million students now benefit from digital access at a crucial stage of their lives. If the government had failed to fulfil its election pledge, many of these students would not have a notebook PC for their education due to financial constraints.

“The HP notebook will help me complete my bachelor degree from the MBP Government College. I’d then like to join a basic computing course to learn a popular accounting program before I pursue a post graduate degree.” – Vikas Kumar, student, MBP Government College

Students live their dreams Vikas Kumar, son of a security guard father and tailor mother comments: “The HP notebook will help me complete the bachelor degree from the MBP Government College by passing Economics, Geography and English examinations. I’d then like to join a basic computing course to learn a popular accounting program before pursuing a post graduate degree.”

Priyanka Sharma, a student from Karamat Hussain Muslim Girls College states: “I guard my HP laptop like a prized possession. HP and my elder cousin have taught me the basic operations and now I use it daily. It’ll help me become a teacher after leaving college.” This life changing initiative is a powerful boost to higher education in the state. It will simultaneously enhance the teaching environment of numerous state educational establishments and improve the learning experience of 1.5 million students while satisfying educational and career aspirations. “We’re proud of having partnered with HP on this initiative. The entire RFP process and the size of this distribution has placed Uttar Pradesh and UPLC on the forefront of delivering world-class laptop technology. This is evident on the joy and pride on the faces of the students at each distribution ceremony,” concludes Kumar. Learn more at hp.com/go/notebooks

Case study | Uttar Pradesh State Government

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4AA5-1897EEW, April 2014

Customer solution at a glanceApplicationPortable computing in education

Hardware• 1.5 million x HP Pavilion G4

Notebook PCs (with backpacks)

Software• Microsoft Windows 7• Microsoft Office Pro Academic

Version 2010• Ubuntu Linux operating system

HP services• HP Customer Service and Support