Information asymmetry is the biggest risk in IT procurement
Vendors negotiate their own contracts every week; your organisation does so, at most, once every few years. That asymmetry translates into suboptimal terms, unexpected costs and clauses that only become visible once there's a dispute. Independent guidance closes that gap — with no stake in the outcome.
What you get
- Tender strategy — market research, requirements programme and weighting criteria that are objective and defensible.
- Vendor comparison — weighted scores per vendor on price, quality and risk: transparent and tender-proof.
- Contract negotiation — sharp, measurable and enforceable agreements on SLAs, exit and price development.
Public and private
Extensive experience with European tenders in government, education and regulated sectors — alongside procurement projects in the private sector. For public sector clients, every step is built around procurement law: objective criteria, equal treatment and a file that withstands scrutiny.
AI and SaaS with embedded AI
AI increasingly comes bundled with software you're buying anyway. The moment to set terms is during selection and tendering — not afterwards. We build risk classification, AI clauses and EU AI Act requirements into the requirements programme by default. More on the AI procurement page.
How we approach it
An IT procurement project has fixed phases. The more thorough the first two, the fewer surprises in the last. We guide the whole project or part of it, depending on what your own team already has in-house.
- Needs and market exploration — We translate the need into a functional set of requirements and test it against the market: which vendors can deliver, which pricing models are common and where the room for negotiation lies. For public-sector clients this includes the choice of procedure (open, restricted or competitive procedure with negotiation, for example) and a market consultation where useful.
- Selection and award criteria — We draw up weighting criteria that are objective, measurable and defensible, with a scoring method fixed in advance. That keeps the assessment explainable, even in case of a complaint or summary proceedings. The same method works in the private sector to objectify internal debates about 'the best' vendor.
- Evaluation and negotiation — We score the bids according to the fixed method, hold verification meetings and negotiate, where the procedure allows, on price, SLAs, exit and price development. In private projects the negotiation is usually the phase where most value is won or lost.
- Contracting and handover — The contract is worked out with measurable agreements and a governance structure, and handed over to the contract owner. The essentials of good contract management are described in transferable vendor management; ongoing management can run through VendorManager.nl.
A familiar situation
The contract for a business-critical SaaS application, say the HR or finance system, expires in twelve months. The vendor has sent a renewal proposal with a 15% price increase and new AI features included in the bundle by default. The procurement department has ample tendering experience, but not with the IT-specific questions: is the increase in line with the market, what are the real costs over five years including implementation and migration, who owns the data on exit, and what obligations do the AI features bring under the EU AI Act. Renewing feels like the safe choice, but the market has changed in five years: new providers have entered, existing packages have moved to the cloud and pricing models have shifted from licences to usage.
The approach therefore starts with a market exploration: which solutions are available now, what do they offer functionally compared with the current package, and how do total costs over five years compare with the renewal proposal. The current package is one of the candidates, not the starting point. Based on a functional set of requirements and a weighted comparison of three to five solutions, the decision is made whether a tender is worthwhile or whether a well-prepared renegotiation with the incumbent will do, now with a real alternative on the table. In both cases price development, exit, data ownership and AI clauses are fixed in advance, so the organisation is not backed into a corner again in five years' time.
When is this relevant?
- A tender or major contract renewal is planned and your procurement department has little experience with IT-specific risks.
- The incumbent vendor seems the only realistic option and you want to know whether that is really the case.
- An earlier tender led to a contract that turned out more expensive or more limited in practice than expected.
- You are buying software with AI in it and want to settle the EU AI Act requirements in the contract up front.
- You want a second opinion on a draft contract before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
Do you also guide European tenders?
Yes — extensive experience with European tenders in government, education and regulated sectors, from tender strategy through award and contracting.
Can you also just do the negotiation?
Yes. The guidance is modular: from a full procurement cycle down to just the contract negotiation or a second opinion on a draft contract.
How does procurement stay tender-proof?
Through objective, weighted award criteria, equal treatment of bidders, and a complete file at every step. Digital Sourcing knows both sides of the table: as an advisor to contracting authorities and as a bidder.
How long does a tender take?
A European open procedure requires at least several months from publication; including preparation, evaluation and contracting you should allow six to nine months. Private projects are shorter, but there too the quality of preparation determines the lead time. We always plan backwards from the date the new contract must start and the notice period of the current one.
How do we avoid vendor lock-in with the new vendor?
By including exit, data ownership, data portability and handover obligations as award criteria and contract terms, not as an annex afterwards. And by capping price development and making renewals explicit rather than tacit.
Do you also work with our in-house lawyer?
Yes. We focus on the substantive and commercial side: requirements, criteria, scoring and negotiation. Legal review of the procedure and the contract is done together with your own lawyer or procurement counsel.
Test your sourcing model
Schedule a no-obligation call with Bob Goosen, or start with the free Sourcing Quickscan.
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