Not quite true
"Green's report claims that the Government is losing billions every year by failing to negotiate the best deals."
The claim isn't true. The trouble is that Government procurement is so obsessed with political correctness and trying to tie down suppliers that it doesn't ask the right questions. It usually doesn't know the right questions to ask, but is afraid to engage a potential supplier in a pre-procurement scoping exercise to more accurately determine the project approach and a viable requirements set.
The tenderers then bid against ill-defined and/or irrelevant requirements,dooming the project before it's even begun. Price is also generally considered separately to quality, often assessed by different reviewing panels. Consequently there's little appreciation of when a higher-priced product is offering better value. Astonishingly, Government always loses at this game:it never seems to luck into a good product at a low price.
Finally, there's too much risk aversion in the whole process. this leads to a constricted approach all the way through, and doesn't allow the brains (on both sides) to be able to navigate project obstacles efficiently. If everyone involved was more concerned with doing it right, and not so concerned with covering their own arse, then projects would run more smoothly.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
