By Julia Mills
Procurement of information technology (IT) is often touted as a cost-saving endeavour that will lead to innovation and reported as a necessary process to mitigate cyber security breaches. But getting IT procurement wrong can be an expensive exercise in futility, which can make organizations gun-shy. And if organizations do purchase the tech, their problems can be further exacerbated when they don’t measure the success of the procurement. Such incidents are reportedly occurring in the UK – according to an article by ITPro, Blur Group has published a report detailing the lack of accountability beyond IT procurement. The report posits that councils are not implementing new technologies using best practices and are not producing detailed reports on the anticipated savings achieved by the innovations. Blur Group also contends that due to this lack of oversight, councils are leaving themselves open to fraud, which may go undetected.
Costly IT procurement mistakes
There are countless examples in the media of governments getting IT procurement wrong, with initial budgets being blown within a few years of inception.
According to multiple reports, including one from the Ottawa Citizen, the federal government of Canada sports a long list of failed IT procurements. Reportedly, the federal government’s attempt at centralizing their email system and modernizing their pay system, among others, have lead to time and money budget overages. For example, the new email system is reportedly over $100 million over budget and 20 months late, and is used by only 15% of the workforce.
Measures are being taken to alleviate these mistakes, such as in Australia where ZDNet reported that the government was establishing the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO). According to the article, the move was fueled by projects such as the centralized computing services, a contract that was initially budgeted at AUS$44.9 million, but, after a few years, had the potential to be blown out to AUS$175 million. Overall, the government spends AUS$1-2 billion annually, which West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is quoted as saying the new office will ensure is strongly managed to deliver best value.
Security breaches and measures
New technology brings with it new threats to confidential information and data. Making security an integral part of your procurement process is essential to insuring your investment. In an article from Nextgov, it was postulated that if the U.S. government used inherent security within products as a competing factor, along with price within tenders, it would set a standard not only for public procurement, but also for all industry.
A major trend reported by BizTech Magazine is the decentralization of IT and IT management, where any employee within an organization who is not an IT professional is authorized to make IT purchases and decisions and is charged with maintenance and installation. Add ever-evolving technological advancements, and you have a recipe for increased security threats. Quoting a survey conducted by VMWare, the article reports that 69% of the 3,300 respondents from around the globe believe that IT management has become decentralized and 57% said that the decentralization has led to the purchase of nonsecure solutions. Not only are the resulting security breaches costing organizations, the average spend on IT solutions has reportedly risen 5.7% as a result of decentralization.
Innovative procurement
The ever-evolving nature of IT plagues procurement processes, as lengthy tender and implementation cycles can render technology obsolete before it ever gets to first users. The U.S. Air Force is reportedly looking to hire an IT professional to help run their IT procurement in order to achieve a streamlined process that will allow for better speed and agility when procuring new technology solutions.
Tony Scott, the U.S. Chief Information Officer, has been quoted as calling for a shift in procurement processes when it comes to IT. Reportedly Scott, who leads the Office of Management and Budget, stated that he does not believe that the current system of IT or procurement officials asking for a perceived solution to a particular problem within an RFP is the most innovative way to procure new technology. He posits that a bi-directional solution, where the public sector partners with the private sector’s resources and expertise, is the best way to generate effective solutions.
This partnership between private and public organizations is a process that is reportedly being used by a small city in Ontario, Canada. According to an article in the Torontoist, the city of Guelph attracted new and innovative IT solutions by launching a civic accelerator program that shared the challenge and problems the city faced without asking for a specific solution from bidders. The article details how the companies with the winning pitches were invited to co-develop the solutions with city staff. The process as reported provides a no-risk collaboration, as no money is exchanged during the development stage – the company and the city can decide at the end whether or not the relationship is working. As the article points out, this lets city staff and IT experts do the respective jobs they were elected and hired to do.
