The N.C. Department of Information Technology is committed to transparency and fairness in setting charges for services provided to state and local government agencies.
Your monthly invoice reflects two primary components: a subscription and service rates. Some invoices might also include any unbudgeted transactions that we process on your behalf.
Subscription
The subscription is the base charge all agencies using our services pay to help us recover costs associated with maintaining and operating services. It allows us the flexibility to use resources across the agency to better meet service demands.
The subscription is determined each year using your agency’s prior year service consumption. That annual amount is then divided into equal monthly installments for billing purposes.
Our subscription consists of two components: subscription proper and full-time employees for rate-based services.
| Component | What It Is | How We Allocate |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription Proper | The cost of agency administration functions, such HR, finance, facilities, internal audit and other statewide expenses not otherwise billed. | Allocation uses the traditional straight-line method (i.e., the customer’s total billings divided by total NCDIT billings). |
| Full-Time Employees for Rate-Based Services | Personnel cost for rate-based services. | Allocation is based on reviewing personnel cost by service line and allocating that total personnel cost to each customer, based on the total billings within each service line. |
Since your agency’s total billings vary by fiscal year and because the NCDIT budget approved each year changes, the subscription amount you are billed also changes.
Service Rate
The service rate is the cost of a specific service. You are billed monthly based on your agency’s actual use of the service during the prior month. Service rates apply to:
- Recurring services (e.g., mainframe hosting, Microsoft 365, storage)
- One-time services (e.g., cabling installation)
- Pass-through services (e.g., cellphone)
Service rates change independent of the subscription.
We establish service rates using a consumption model based on your agency’s actual use of the service, trends and formal agency commitments.
As part of the rate-building process each year, we identify costs in three categories:
- Non-full-time employee expenses
- NCDIT-allocated expenses
- NCDIT internal expenses
We consult with agencies to determine their projected consumption of services. After we have identified all costs and anticipated usage, we calculate rate forecasts for each product in a service.
We then compare forecasted agency utilization (previous year) to the forecasted agency utilization (budget year) to determine the increase or decrease in expenses to an agency.
Finally, we present this to agencies in the form of an impact analysis document. The budgets, rates, and narrative of the budget and rate package are then submitted to NCDIT Finance and the N.C. Office of State Budget and Management.
Direct Bill Charges
Direct bill charges are charges you pay directly to vendors through NCDIT. They are not subject to a service rate. Examples include hardware purchases as well as hardware/software maintenance renewals.