Expert: Many are reluctant to bid

More professional buyers and less focus on the law. This is the medicine for better public procurement, according to Niklas Fyhr at IT & Telecomföretagen.

The fact that there are major shortcomings in the procurement system is something the industry has pointed out on several occasions. It has also prompted the IT & Telecommunications Industry Association to produce the report "Better public IT business".

Niklas Fyhr, industrial policy expert at IT & Telecomföretagen, says that it is the members who want to raise these issues, but that it is of course in everyone's interest to use public money in the best way.

- "The starting point is that we want to get away from the legal focus that prevails among so-called experts. Today we have a narrow group of procurers with a lot of focus on what you can and cannot do instead of focusing on making a good deal, and on the actual purchasing work," he says.

As a consequence of the perceived complexity of the procurement process, many people are reluctant to bid.

- Those who have responded have said that it is too complicated. But we think it's a perceived limitation because it sounds very complicated. As a buyer, you have to attract companies to want to participate," says Niklas Fyhr, who thinks that the buying side has a lot of points that can be improved.

- The buy-side needs to develop its purchasing process. There is a trust gap between buyers and sellers where it is not felt that the feedback provided is properly addressed.

One of the conclusions of the report is that considerably more effort could be put into the preparatory work for procurements. The competence of the buyer side needs to be improved, but it is also clear that there is too much focus on the legal aspects, according to Niklas Fyhr.

- Many people are looking for lawyers, but very few are looking for professional buyers. There is not really much difference between private and public procurement. If you talk to private purchasers, they usually say that 80 percent of the savings in purchasing are based on the preliminary work. And the law does not prevent you from improving that work.

So the pre-work is key?
- Yes, it is the basis of it. It's about doing a needs analysis, understanding what the needs are and doing a market analysis and then seeing what the market can offer. Better preparation leads to better requirements and, ultimately, better tenders and better contracts.

To achieve this, purchasing managers also need to have more influence in the process.

- It must become a management issue where management gives a mandate to the purchasing organization, today it is more of a support function. We have talked for a long time about the fact that procurement does not get the attention it needs, but it often has an advisory role on the outskirts of the organization.

The interview was published in full on the IDG website on May 29, 2013.