Vendor-Neutral Tendering of Thin Clients

This guideline provides an overview of the foundations and criteria for the procurement of thin clients by contracting entities. It is the product of a working group on the ICT Procurement working group. This document aims to provide contracting entities of Germany’s federal, state and local governments with a dependable tool – one that is easy to understand – in order to help them formulate their tenders for the procurement of thin clients in a vendor-neutral manner, i.e. without the use of trademarked names and without mentioning individual manufacturers, while taking into consideration current technological standards.

At the heart of this guideline stands the list of technical criteria, which can be used to describe and compare the devices themselves as well as requirements placed on both their operational environment and other properties. Besides the technical criteria, compliance with which guarantees proper device functioning for the reason they were procured, the guideline also contains references to environmental protection, energy efficiency, IT security, and freedom from barriers. Even if statutory requirements only partly obligate procurers to observe these interests, they are growing increasingly relevant in public administration.