SLED Financing

SLED Financing

SLED leaders are looking for creative financial models and extended payment options to fund their IT projects as well as license, maintenance and service renewals. This requires a partner that knows the government acquisition process inside and out. One with a track record developing creative financing solutions to help agencies do more with less.

As you consider the best way to finance your IT projects - and the best partner - keep the following strategies in mind:

Engage Your Solutions Partner Early

Financing your IT project becomes more feasible the earlier you bring a solutions partner into the process. From our perspective, once we know what SLED organizations and manufacturers are trying to accomplish, ePlus can develop a solution to meet those objectives. Early engagement is even more critical if your project is tied to a complex contract, as it affords time to navigate expected and unforeseen hurdles. Finally, early engagement enables you to secure buy-in from all stakeholder audiences and reach the project goal line within the targeted time frame.

Secure Financial Flexibility

Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to financing a government project. Flexibility requires creativity, and only a solutions partner with the industry experience can identify financing structures that otherwise would be overlooked.

The ability to leverage multiple budget years can accelerate project deployment and potentially offer a better return on taxpayer dollars. Are there opportunities to identify areas to save money on enterprise license agreements or reduce tax costs associated with financing? Your solutions partner should be able to identify these financing options and present them as part of the broader strategy. Finally, your solutions partner can analyze the pros and cons of adopting an as-a-Service model for the project, which may still require upfront costs but then transitions to set costs for an ongoing subscription.

Tailor Financing To Contract Vehicles

Government contracts and contract vehicles have unique procurement guidelines, and cookie-cutter financing approaches are often not enough. It is important to structure financing transactions that fit within procurement guidelines, especially as it relates to containing the proper appropriations language.

Government Financing In Practice

Municipalities, hospitals, universities and other SLED organizations have a shared imperative: drive down costs and deliver higher levels of service. Smart contract financing is a tool for streamlining the acquisition process and a path to saving several percentage points on contract costs.

What does that look like in practice? Here are three real-world examples of how ePlus has helped SLED organizations

• A Municipality wanted to get off an old Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system and convert to a new one. ePlus analyzed government financing options and identified a way to retire the old system faster so that the agency could realize cost savings upfront. By transitioning to the new system more quickly, the municipality avoided several million dollars in maintenance costs for the old system - and the project ended up paying for itself.
• A University determined that transitioning away from a legacy IT system could cut operating costs by one-third, but it lacked funding for the project under traditional financing structures that required heavy upfront costs. ePlus developed a tailored financing solution that allowed the University to acquire the necessary technology using monthly payments.
• A County Government faced a common COVID-19 challenge: retrofitting the agency with end user devices, securing communications, and increased bandwidth to support an expanded remote workforce. It was a digital transformation few agencies budgeted for, introducing unknown and unanticipated costs. And it required a partner that understood the nuances of the CARES Act, and bridge financing that would be available while waiting for CARES Act money to become available. ePlus developed a financing strategy for the county to achieve budget flexibility while maximizing tax revenues and stimulus money, ultimately driving a successful outcome.

The ePlus Approach

The ePlus government financing approach is simple: gain an understanding of the technology needs for a SLED agency and the problems they want to solve, determine the most robust technology solution to meet those needs, and do it all within existing budget constraints.

Why ePlus?

• A partner with decades of experience working across Federal, State and Local marketplaces
• Demonstrated expertise across thousands of Government and Contractor entities
• Keen understanding of the acquisition process and buying patterns
• Tax-exempt financing expertise
• Terms and conditions that meet government guidelines
• Vendor-independent leasing and financing solutions to obtain virtually any type of equipment or IT asset
• 100% project finance, including installation, maintenance, support, consulting, and design
• Flexibility to bridge the gap between assets needed immediately and budgetary funds currently available
• Value-add offerings for automated procurement and asset management

Our creative extended payment and lease plans can help you leverage current and future budgets to align the cost of a program or project with the revenue they consume. We can also work to structure plans that take advantage of operating or capital allocations for increased budget flexibility.

Customized Payment Programs

All organizations are not created equal. Different sizes, structures, operations and budgets lead to different technology requirements. But the one thing almost all do have in common is the need to accelerate the amount of time it takes to realize value out of an investment. We are experts in how technology is consumed and offer custom payment options that take advantage of today’s converged and hybrid deployments. ePlus enables payments aligned with your use of technology assets, including consumption-based programs and software payment programs that allow you to redeploy cash resources within your business.

• Software subscriptions
• SLED financing specialists
• Non-IT asset collateral
• Service contracts
• Asset recovery services
• Simple one-page fixed payment plans
• PO financing
• Extended payment terms
• White label OEM programs
• Consumption-based billing
• Converged infrastructure VM-based billing
• Traditional operating tax leases

If you are a SLED agency seeking to do more with less, or a manufacturer selling to agencies that need to help your customers finance IT projects, contact ePlus today.