Learn Skills and Best Practices
Promoting the Public Procurement Function
Oct 26, 2017
Promoting the Procurement Function may be a new concept for some in the Public Procurement profession; however, all public procurement personnel have been and will continue to be involved in “promoting” the procurement function. Some may be aware of their promotional and marketing activities...
Should Public Sector Be Contracting for Outcomes
Sep 29, 2017
There has been much talk in recent years about the need for public sector procurement of services (in particular) to focus more on outcomes rather than specifying in detail the activities that the supplier will carry out.
That principle can be applied to many services, from cleaning to professional...
Strategies for Procurement Success
Sep 7, 2017
Government Technology provides examples on how to find procurement success at federal and local levels by examining models that other jurisdictions have explored. Taking direction from industry leaders, this article describes a current state where agencies are historically reluctant to adopt...
Circular Procurement Best Practice Report – Helps Organisations Identify Needs and Ask Different Questions
Sep 1, 2017
SPP Regions is a consortia of partners forming a regional procurement network across Europe. It is made up of municipalities working together on sustainable public procurement (SPP) and public procurement of innovation (PPI). The network collaborates on eco-innovative solutions and tenders, in...
The Sunk Cost Fallacy in Government Projects
Aug 9, 2017
It is not unusual to find examples of the “sunk cost” fallacy in government procurement projects. That fallacy relates to our feeling that how much money (or time, or effort) we have already invested in a project or activity then plays a role in deciding whether to continue with it and invest...
The Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Category Management
Aug 9, 2017
In the never-ending quest to deliver more value, procurement organizations are trying to squeeze more savings and innovation out of spend categories. But, eventually the well starts to run dry, and when that happens, you need to either get more out of that well (fracking for spend savings,...
The Big Squeeze in Public Procurement
Aug 4, 2017
As budgets continue to shrink, how can professionals working in public procurement do more with less?
This article was first published on Procurious.
We live in a world of apparent contradictions. The amount of money being spent by global governments is rising year on year. And yet, in the...
Encouraging Small Firms in Public Competition
Jul 27, 2017
The Pre-Procurement PhaseWe wrote here about the reasons why many contracting authorities around Europe have found it difficult to get the proportion of their contracts and business won by small or diverse firms up to a reasonable level. But the good news is that there are many steps that...
This July 4th, Honor the U.S. by Bringing your Technology and Software Solutions to Government
Jul 5, 2017
If you work for a company with a potential solution or technology for government, yet believe the government doesn’t have the sophistication to value your capabilities, I suggest you think again. Having been a supplier to government as the founder of a strategy consulting firm for almost 15...
Cloud Computing Protest Offers Lessons for Buyers & Suppliers
Jun 22, 2017
A recent protest decision from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides several important lessons for procurement professionals who are buying cloud-enabled services as well as vendors hoping to sell them. Let’s dive in!Red River Computing Company protested the Department of Homeland...
4 Ways Buyers Can Measure Total Cost
Jun 8, 2017
In our definition, total cost not only accounts for prices paid, but also other factors that drive costs. A simple example that everyone can relate to is printers. The price of a printer (and improvements in that price from competition for example) is only one factor in gauging cost performance....
Negotiation In The Public Sector – And How To Do It
Jun 1, 2017
Public sector procurement often requires a different negotiation approach to that used in the commercial sector. It may seem obvious to some, but why is that? Quite simply, in public sector organisations, the strategic imperatives are different.
What Are the Main Differences?
First and foremost,...
