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Government organizations have longer average buying cycles for technology compared to other sectors, with procurement rules adding complexity to the procurement process, Gartner reports.
The report, based on a survey of 1,120 executives including 79 public sector employees in the US, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Australia and Singapore, found that the average procurement cycle for government bodies is 22 months.
This is in contrast to at least 48% of all respondents who say their technology buying cycle averages around six to seven months.
“Acquiring technology brings challenges to the public sector that are not found in other industries,” said Dean Lacheka, vice president and analyst at Gartner.
“Each jurisdiction has its own procurement laws and policies, and within that, each agency or department may have its own interpretation of them. Failure to comply with the rules can result in serious consequences, from unwanted publicity to personal prosecution.
Other reasons behind the delay include changes in scope, research and evaluation to reach an agreement on budgeting.
Many respondents also said that these delays are before the procurement process begins, with at least 74% of public sector respondents saying that it takes a long time to prepare a business case for procurement.
More than 76% of respondents said scope changes that require further research and evaluation are another reason for delay, Gartner said.
“While government procurement cycles can be long, it’s important to note that these time frames are not fixed,” Lacheka said.
“Originally planned schedules can be delayed due to a combination of uncontrollable and uncontrollable factors, especially when there are no external deadlines.”
Government procurement groups are large.
A typical public sector procurement team has 12 participants with varying levels of involvement in the process, he said, adding that government C-level executives are less involved in the technology procurement process than in the private sector to avoid alliances. Create an awareness of political influence in the process and in the outcome.
This also means that government C-level executives will be reluctant to defend the process if failed vendors or the media object, the research firm said.
In addition, the survey found that public sector procurement teams are comprised of low-level operations staff who act as subject matter experts who provide advice to their C-suites.
At least 68% of public sector respondents say another reason for delay is the inability to obtain specific product or application requirements from a supplier, according to Gartner.
The research firm added that public sector firms are more likely to offer value to existing customers than non-public sector buyers, in part because public sector firms are less likely to be in direct competition and often share common challenges.
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