Traditional procurement is inherently limiting when it comes to cutting-edge technology. That’s why it’s changing. 

In a recent Gartner report, 48 percent of respondents representing a variety of industries said their purchase cycle typically lasted six to seven months. That’s roughly two business quarters - or half of a fiscal year.

In comparison, respondents representing the government said their technology procurements lasted 22 months, on average. Almost two years!

You can see why the government plod, compared to the tech sector’s sprint, is problematic. 

While appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the public sector, and its taxpayers, from poor purchasing decisions, they come at a significant cost to efficiency and innovation. 

Thankfully, the world of public sector tech procurement is evolving, due to circumstance, thought leadership, and demand. 

If you want to sell civictech to government, get to know the buyers leading the charge for change. 

According to the National Association of State CIO’s annual survey of American Chief Information Officers (CIOs), the pandemic changed the government’s perception of technology for the better. 

While the leaders were divided on whether it directly impacted the nature of their work individually, they agree that governments as a whole are valuing technology more, overall. C-suite level leaders are paying attention to the impacts of technological policy and purchases. 

Says one respondent: “The biggest take-away is that we can deliver solutions and services faster than ever before. There is a greater focus on working together as an enterprise, and we have implemented platforms and technologies that support that.” 

To what end? State CIOs believe that the greatest attention will be paid to the role of technology in improving citizen experience and providing digital services. They noticed an increased emphasis on this during the pandemic, and resident expectations have adjusted accordingly. 

94 percent of respondents claim that demand for digital government services has increased, either dramatically or somewhat. One respondent claimed that the state deployed ten year’s worth of digital services technology in roughly eight months. 

Residents expect an increasingly digital democracy. Public sector tech leaders expect to provide it. That leaves you to come to the table with solutions in hand. 

Trending Changes in Public Sector Technology Procurement 

Government technology decision makers face many evolving challenges in the public sector procurement landscape. Begin your client relationships with these more recent trends in mind, and they’ll become opportunities. 

• Customization is non-negotiable.

CIOs and other government tech decision makers are being told that they don’t have to settle for off-the-shelf solutions. With greater exposure to the marketplace and the increasing reach of digital transformation culture, these leaders know that they can demand more of tech companies. And they should. 

Expressly because of the arduous government procurement process, it is in the government buyer’s best interest to demand a product that is going to be valuable to the agency for as long as possible. After all, procuring a new system or even renegotiating an old contract can take years. 

Therefore, especially when it comes to SaaS products, your government buyer will want to customize your offering. See this as an opportunity, not as an insult. Buyers are so interested in the core premise of what you offer that they’ve brainstormed how best to apply it to their people and processes. 

When you begin a conversation with a potential government buyer, be sure to emphasize the customizable elements of your offering. Once you have a sampling of conversations, you’ll begin to understand your own product’s areas of growth. 

• Employees want to get their hands dirty. 

Government agencies, particularly understaffed localities and state agencies, gravitate toward low-code solutions. They allow employees to apply their subject area expertise to the platform, maximizing the custom approach agencies are looking for. 

From a procurement perspective, low-code solutions are easy for your government champion to get buy-in on. In fact, state CIOs ranked it the number one emerging technology they expect to be the most impactful in the next 3-5 years. 

Because ongoing hard-coding isn’t necessary, the purchase doesn’t require any new hiring or major training. Bonus points if a low-code solution comes with a short-term implementation plan and won’t need a separate long-term, costly tech support service. 

• The government workforce is shrinking. 

More often than not, one appeal of a civtech procurement is the implicit improvement in operations. Whether the technology makes government services faster, less wasteful, or more impactful, there’s an operational advantage to promote, especially in today’s employment market. 

Since the start of the pandemic, state and local governments in the United States have lost 695,000 positions. This doesn’t necessarily mean these folks are unemployed. But it does mean that those agencies have that much less potential output. 

Your good or service may not replace humans (and we wouldn’t recommend you frame it that way, regardless), but it will have an impact on the speed, cost, and flexibility at which a government can do business. 

Before sitting down at the negotiation table, consider how your offering may make up for, or even staunch, public sector retention trends. Be ready to speak to the systemic impact of this potential purchase, from the point of view of the government. 

• Technology can be a vehicle for change. 

Change management experts may quibble with this approach, but in government, a technology acquisition can often encourage culture change, rather than the other way around. 

If one of a government’s foremost values is innovation, it’s likely to lean into technology procurement without significant friction or pullback from leadership. What’s more, those agencies are more likely to embrace significant changes to the procurement process or seek out technology that can make government purchasing more manageable. 

But if your target client isn’t in that category, you could play a vital role in pushing them in the right direction. Consider what the institutional implication of your technology may be, and think big. 

Would it help the city or agency reach a long-time goal, like more community engagement or shorter customer service wait times? Offering your technology, a defined solution, may help crystallize that goal for leadership and secure the contract. 

• Speaking of culture… hesitancy and agility don’t mix. 

Many public sector IT entities are stuck in the past, still using a waterfall method to interact with an increasingly agile marketplace. Relying on the exact fulfillment of specific, inflexible requirements and process stages, often in a vacuum, this approach mirrors the culture of hesitancy innate to government purchasing. The U.S. Digital Service has named and begun to address this challenge. 

More and more IT departments, led by visionaries focused on digital transformation, are adopting agile development and purchasing methods. Even in these cases, the hesitant culture of government purchasing can overwhelm attempts to innovate. 

The good news is that confident voices are coalescing. Organizations like the U.S. Digital Service on a federal level and the National Association of State CIOs on a state level understand the imminent threat of inefficient technology procurement to their visions for a digital democracy and are advocating, piloting and advising accordingly. 

Learn about the pilots they’re prioritizing and you’ll have a better idea of the near future of government tech contracting. 

Sell CivicTech by Embracing Complexity

At the end of the day, why is the average tech procurement cycle so much longer than one for bricks, asphalt, or desk chairs? Likely for the very same reason you fell in love with the industry: its complexity. 

With the challenging concepts of technology comes unbound potential, and that’s naturally intimidating for an underfunded, understaffed, highly regulated government buyer. 

Ultimately, it’s on you to paint the picture of potential for them. What does the complexity of your offering promise? How could it transform purchasing, improve digital services, provide stronger security, or make that employee’s job easier? 

Not every client will jump at the chance to embrace the complexity. But when you find one, you’ll know what trends and priorities to keep in mind as you chart the road ahead.

Ride the changes in the world of public sector technology procurement to the finish line. 

While the average public sector tech procurement may take nearly two years, choice agencies and localities are ready to be the exception. 

Digital transformation isn’t possible without a transformation of technological procurement. So lean into the changes we’ve already noticed and establish yourself as an ally to government changemakers. It will pay off - for the culture, the employees, the residents, and your bottom line.

Need content to engage your public sector audience? Schedule a call with BHD Agency to get started.