Mary-Louise Hoffman
Government agencies may be able to improve mission delivery and reduce operational costs by adopting strategic sourcing initiatives, two Ambit Group executives wrote in a GovernmentCIO Magazine article published Friday.
Rick Kerestesy and Ken Farber, respectively vice president and managing director at the Ambit Group, described strategic acquisition as a method for organizations to assess investment options, share resources and remove duplicative services across the enterprise.
They believe the approach works to transform the way a government agency does business.
“By strategically reviewing all critical acquisitions, including the business drivers behind them, strategic acquisition enables the agency to better understand its operations, risks, and performance barriers,” they stated.
According to Kerestesy and Farber, a large agency has saved $9 million within a year after it implemented a strategic approach to buying IT products and services.
That agency launched a centralized system for acquisition officials to approve purchase requests, manage contract awards and review IT portfolio against enterprise architecture standards and government objectives, writes Kerestesy and Farber.
“The most important component of this approach lies in having dedicated leadership, primarily from the chief information officer and chief acquisitions officer,” Kerestesy and Farber added.
“With this leadership, agencies can create a powerful lever for change, driving technology standardization and business process improvement, and giving visibility to expenditures.”
