Better public IT business

The 2008 IT&Telecom report: Public Procurement and the IT Industry showed that there were widespread complaints about the functioning of public procurement. We have now carried out a new survey to see if our members have seen any improvement. Unfortunately, the same criticisms seem to persist.

Public procurement is estimated to be worth over SEK 600 billion per year. It is therefore of the utmost importance that this money is used in the best way for both buyers and suppliers. Quite simply, that it is a "good deal" for both parties.

However, the IT and telecom industry has been pointing out for some time that there are major shortcomings in the procurement process. This has led to an increasing number of potential suppliers - not least small and medium-sized enterprises - refraining from bidding, which is particularly unfortunate. This leads to less competition, fewer options for buyers, fewer and smaller deals for the important SMEs and the risk that the buyer does not have access to the best suppliers.

IT&Telecom companies have highlighted the problem in a previous report (conducted in 2008). In the current report, we have asked member companies for their views on how public procurement has developed. On the basis of this and other information, ten suggestions are made for improvements.

We want to emphasize that we have the utmost respect for the skilled work of procurement officers. It involves complex trade-offs between legal requirements (mainly the Public Procurement Act), commerciality, sensitivity to alternatives and what technological developments may bring. In addition, it is expected to take into account different political wills to use the procurement instrument in ways other than the purely commercially relevant ones. At the same time, we are very concerned that, according to our member companies, the situation is deteriorating rapidly.

We therefore hope that this report will provide a basis for improvement work by both procurers and suppliers, but also in a joint effort to develop the procurement process for the better.

Anne-Marie Fransson
Director
IT&Telekomföretagen within Almega
Stockholm May 2013