When you think about “modernization” in business, you think about technology, right? New platforms, cloud-based tools, configurable models, Artificial Intelligence are all sold as silver bullets for decades-old problems.
For public agency procurement teams, digital procurement solutions (often called eProcurement) can and do absolutely streamline operations by eliminating a lot of the manual work and paper processes that plague your operations.
But as too many agencies have learned the hard way, technology alone won’t make modernization stick.
What really determines long-term success isn’t the software itself, but what happens in the agency around it. The people, the processes, and the visibility into what’s working (and what isn’t) are the most important part of adopting new technology.
It’s not uncommon for a government agency, school district, or utility provider, to invest in a digital procurement tool only to fast-forward a year and discover that staff are still relying on spreadsheets, emailed approvals, and old shared drives. This doesn’t mean your staff is resistant to change, necessarily – although it might – but it means that the change wasn’t sustainable or properly supported. When technology adoption fails, it doesn’t mean the team didn’t want to improve. It means the improvement never took root.
The False Start of Modernization
Here’s how it starts. You find the right procurement tool, and the team is excited. You spend weeks or months in implementation, customizing the templates and processes, inputting your vendors, and determining cost codes. The initial rollout looks promising, and kickoff meetings are full of energy. New logins are created, and a first solicitation may even be created.
Then reality sets in. Staff have questions, can’t find the answer they need, and begin to revert to familiar processes when pressure builds and deadlines loom. A solicitation gets pulled in from a template saved on a desktop instead of within the system, bid responses aren’t tracked, item costs aren’t recorded, and reports become reliable, if they’re run at all.
Soon enough the leadership team begins to wonder if they solved anything at all or just wasted time and money on the software.
But this isn’t a technology problem; it’s a design problem. Modernization doesn’t fail at the time of purchase but when you don’t design and plan for proper adoption.
What Actually Makes Modernization Stick?
Sustainable, successful modernization begins with an understanding of what “success” really means. Did you buy and implement the software? Yes, but how does it fit into the way your people work, how information flows, and how performance is measured, and how do those things need to change to fit into the new technology?
First, look at alignment. Stakeholders across the entire agency – not just the procurement team – must agree on the goals of the software, understand the why, and commit to utilization. When they view procurement as a partner instead of a gatekeeper to easy purchasing, they’ll help prioritize adoption.
Second, modernization means standardization. We’re not talking about removing flexibility, but definitely about removing ambiguity. Requests, templates, approvals, naming conventions, checklists should all be standard across the entire agency in order to make digitalization reliable.
Finally, visibility is key. Teams should be able to track progress, flag bottlenecks, and see the impact of their efforts, or they’ll just revert to old habits. Analytics and reporting can be tools for storytelling and accountability to prove the ROI and benefits of your purchase.
The Stakes Are Higher Than You Think
The procurement leaders who have advocated for digital procurement tools have put their credibility on the line. A failed adoption and continued manual processes undermine that trust for future decisions in addition to hindering operational efficiency.
The stakes are just as high for finance leaders, who expect modernization to improve spend governance, data quality, and reporting clarity. Without these, procurement is just guesswork and reactive budget decisions, throwing strategic planning out the window.
In other words, modernization that isn’t sticky is financially, operationally, and reputationally risky.
So What Does Success Look Like?
Successfully modernized agencies treat implementation as a behavior change as much as a tech project, focusing on usability as much as functionality. They constantly ask, “Is this working for our team?” and, “How can we make this better?”
They also measure what matters, which includes time saved, vendors engaged, and confidence in data along with the number of bids issued and purchases completed. They ask about insights and performance instead of, “Where is that document?”
That’s when you know modernization is sticking.
A Better Way Forward
Digital procurement systems like PlanetBids’ end-to-end solution for public agencies are a critical part of modernizing, but they’re not the only part. They can only deliver full value when they are paired with a realistic strategy, integrated into agency culture, and provide stakeholder-wide clarity.
If your agency is thinking about modernizing your procurement operations this year, don’t just focus on the tool you’re buying. Consider how you’ll drive adoption, ensure consistency, and create the visibility that keeps progress on track. Because in the end, modernization isn’t just checking a box. It’s building something that lasts.
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