Three positives make one negative: Public sector is procurement

Abstract

The requirement specifications are centric in the IS acquisition process, also in public sector. In addition to the regulatory factors multiple stakeholders are often involved in the procurement process. Yet their expertise varies and is often limited to a narrow sector or a specific field. For this paper, we conducted a single case study on an IS acquisition in a middle-sized city. The function nominated a project manager for the project, with little if any prior experience of IS or of their acquisition. The counterpart in the CIO’s office had that knowledge but had little domain knowledge about the requirements. The third party involved was the Procurement and Tendering office. Having specialized in serving the variety of functions in that particular field, the specific areas become inevitably omitted. All three parties argued that their requirements specifications were good, if not great. We observed how such a trident, having reported successful completion of their duties, still missed the point. The tendering resulted in little short of a disaster; two projects were contested, and lost in the market court.