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Government. Often plagued by bad or outdated software rather than the lack of it

by dpix 7y ago

ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
That's true, but it's too hard to sell to the government for a small startup. The RFP process is so long and brutal, and most of the time you need to have a man on the inside and basically go through that process as a formality because you are already guaranteed the contract.
- jtolmar 7y ago
  What about the RFP process itself then? Can a company make it easier for startups to sell to the government?
  - ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
    Ha ha ha. I LOVE the way you think. But some things are broken in Government on purpose, so this would be very difficult, and it couldn't just be a Turbo Tax like software for submitting documents. But some type of marketplace where you could hire agents to guide your software company through the RFP process and help land you contracts could definitely be a thing. I'm thinking something that would basically be like E-Lance/UP-Work but for Lobbyists.
  - kls 7y ago
    you would be better off just making an American Indian, female, midget your CEO so you can short circuit the process. If you think that is a joke, it's not, each one of those items scores high points in the RFP process and sets you ahead of the pack. That is the problem with a software solution for it and that is that it is innately a human process. A combination of who you know and who you are. The rest is just fluff on paper.
    - jjeaff 7y ago
      You say that, but take a look at all the biggest companies that supply to governments. There is a very good chance they are run by grey haired white men. Sure, you can get some points for diversity, but in the end, diversity only gets a few small contracts here and there while the establishment rakes in the Lion's share.
  - pnako 7y ago
    My experience with RFPs is that there are quite a few companies selling solutions, but every single RFP I've seen was basically Excel spreadsheets or similar things, exchanged over email. It's a broken process; you keep chasing various people to add their input, you end up with "RFP for Client A version 2 version C with input from Frank version 3.xlsx" I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps the existing SaaS/online solutions are too intrusive to setup, or people don't want that stuff in the cloud. Whatever reason it is, the current process is broken. Generally RFPs have to be easy for the buyer; the vendor is kind of supposed to bend over backward anyway, especially at this point of the sales process.
3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago
Yet the government spends more on software than most private enterprise, so what’s really wrong here?
- pxtail 7y ago
  Because it's golden goose for contractor, usually it takes forever to build this kind of government software, outcome is pure garbage but nobody cares. I'm writing from non-US perspective but I suppose that it's as usual and same story to some degree in every country in the world - as an outsider you don't have slightest chance, you just need to know the right people then it might happen that your offer is chosen in public tender/contract.

Government. Often plagued by bad or outdated software rather than the lack of it

by dpix 7y ago

Government. Often plagued by bad or outdated software rather than the lack of it

That's true, but it's too hard to sell to the government for a small startup. The RFP process is so long and brutal, and most of the time you need to have a man on the inside and basically go through that process as a formality because you are already guaranteed the contract.

jtolmar 7y ago
What about the RFP process itself then? Can a company make it easier for startups to sell to the government?
- ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
  Ha ha ha. I LOVE the way you think. But some things are broken in Government on purpose, so this would be very difficult, and it couldn't just be a Turbo Tax like software for submitting documents. But some type of marketplace where you could hire agents to guide your software company through the RFP process and help land you contracts could definitely be a thing. I'm thinking something that would basically be like E-Lance/UP-Work but for Lobbyists.
- kls 7y ago
  you would be better off just making an American Indian, female, midget your CEO so you can short circuit the process. If you think that is a joke, it's not, each one of those items scores high points in the RFP process and sets you ahead of the pack. That is the problem with a software solution for it and that is that it is innately a human process. A combination of who you know and who you are. The rest is just fluff on paper.
  - jjeaff 7y ago
    You say that, but take a look at all the biggest companies that supply to governments. There is a very good chance they are run by grey haired white men. Sure, you can get some points for diversity, but in the end, diversity only gets a few small contracts here and there while the establishment rakes in the Lion's share.
- pnako 7y ago
  My experience with RFPs is that there are quite a few companies selling solutions, but every single RFP I've seen was basically Excel spreadsheets or similar things, exchanged over email. It's a broken process; you keep chasing various people to add their input, you end up with "RFP for Client A version 2 version C with input from Frank version 3.xlsx" I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps the existing SaaS/online solutions are too intrusive to setup, or people don't want that stuff in the cloud. Whatever reason it is, the current process is broken. Generally RFPs have to be easy for the buyer; the vendor is kind of supposed to bend over backward anyway, especially at this point of the sales process.

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago

Yet the government spends more on software than most private enterprise, so what’s really wrong here?

pxtail 7y ago
Because it's golden goose for contractor, usually it takes forever to build this kind of government software, outcome is pure garbage but nobody cares. I'm writing from non-US perspective but I suppose that it's as usual and same story to some degree in every country in the world - as an outsider you don't have slightest chance, you just need to know the right people then it might happen that your offer is chosen in public tender/contract.