Procurement + legislation: Maximizing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

In just more than a year since its passing, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has provided $185 billion to thousands of infrastructure projects across the United States. Once complete, the bill will allocate more than $1.2 trillion toward improving critical and digital infrastructure—marking it as one of the most significant public investments in American history.

While many of these projects include bridge and road repair funding, there is also a vital technology component to improve government services and broadband connectivity.

State and local governments will want to maximize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in these complex infrastructure projects. Government leaders will also need to identify worthwhile projects that help their community and fit within the constructs of the law. A government entity doesn’t want to build a reputation for misspending funds—but taking a tepid approach also reduces community benefits.

State and local procurement officers must manage this opportunity and fit it in with competing challenges and needs. Let’s look at some best practices for technology that procurement leaders should follow both now and in the future.

The continuation of cloud
Despite inflation and supply chain challenges, state and local procurement leaders understand that cloud solutions, hybrid cloud environments and security remain the most crucial technology investments.

The continued threat of a security breach remains top of mind and new cloud solutions will improve overall security, lower costs, and provide a future-proof avenue for growth.

In making investments today, procurement leaders must imagine the future technology landscape—and not focus on just plugging today’s holes. Cloud computing will continue to shift its use cases, but it has proven itself as a long-term solution that spurs advancement.

Think about scalability
In long-term scenarios, procurement leaders must consider the scalability and flexibility of a solution to adapt to new challenges.

While private sector organizations can work around some of these inefficiencies, public sector teams do not have that luxury. Too often, procurement leaders fix short-term solutions that meet an immediate need, but that only fixes a specific problem and requires yet another tool to fill emerging gaps.

The time required to procure a new system can take at least a year or even longer. The public sector procurement processes currently lack agility, so when an agency does make a purchase, it must consider the difficulty in finding a replacement if circumstances change.

Building an ecosystem
Remember—there is no single technology that rules all. Technology environments continue to evolve into complex universes that leverage legacy and on-premises applications with private and public cloud offerings. While technology vendors will offer the world (and there are undoubtedly many tremendous solutions in the marketplace), these tools can only do so much.

Think about how each solution fits in part of this ecosystem. Every environment features different capabilities, performance and risks from multiple areas, and leaders must calculate these variables as they introduce new solutions.

While many components make up an ecosystem, all organizations should strive for the same goal: to make their organizational data actionable. This data should transform into timely insights that team members can use in real-time to make decisions that benefit their community.

Too often, procurement or technology teams can fall into the marketing hype. Many solutions may offer to get up and running from the first day. Others provide a turn-key system that operates from industry-best practices.

Public sector organizations looking to make lasting purchases will need to explore products with high ceilings that can adapt as needed. Oftentimes, these solutions try to reach the lowest common denominator, providing a high floor for performance but a limited ceiling.

Working on the same page
Finally, procurement and technology leaders must bear equal weight when it comes to these purchases. In the past, technologists wanted capability without as much concern about cost. Procurement leaders want strong capabilities but must keep costs in line.

Instead of one party dictating direction, procurement and technology leaders must partner to find solutions that meet in the middle. Some parts of the ecosystem may benefit from a cost-affordable solution that provides the same capability. In others, a high-ticket item may stand alone to provide an invaluable service.

The key? Work together and leverage available resources.
The Infrastructure Act should provide more avenues for investment. State and local procurement teams should use this time to be aggressive. Look for solutions that offer real community value and fit within that larger technology ecosystem. This is a generational opportunity to make a tremendous impact on government agencies and all citizens.

Jarrod McAdoo, director of product marketing, Ivalua, brings more than 22 years of procurement experience across multiple industries, including higher education, retail, manufacturing, and engineered products. During this time, McAdoo held various roles in category and supplier management including the management of strategic sourcing and procurement teams as well as leading teams in implementing shared service procurement models and source to pay systems. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Duquesne University and a Bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.