Sole is Sinful

I made the following comment to a recent Burlington Gazette article.

"I honestly can't imagine the hoops that I (in a very past life) would have had to

go through to get a sole source of this magnitude approved. One of the first

questions that would be asked is "why is this the only product that will satisfy

our business requirements?" There are legitimate reasons for a sole source;

compatibility with existing systems and technology; a need for expertise,

standardization, quality, compatibility, and exclusive availability of products or

services; when maintenance is required by the original equipment manufacturer

(OEM) without alternative service providers; when exclusive rights or intellectual

property are in place; when products are patented and available only from the

patent holder, or when a particular supplier is named in a funding source award.

But, in each case, the 'elephant in the room question' often asked was "how did

we allow ourselves to get into a position in which we are at the mercy of a single

service/product provider? And what are the plans to remove this dependency for

the future?

A sole source procurement of this size would be almost unheard of on a

Provincial level. It would go through Procurement Review, I&IT Portfolio

and Stewardship Review, Programs and Estimates Division Review and then -

with the approval of the appropriate Deputy Minister(s) - would proceed to

presentation at Management Board of Cabinet. There would be no such animal

as a "Consent Agenda". There would be active, heavy and involved debate.

Management Board of Cabinet, the prevailing authority, would have been very

slow to believe that there was only one product. And then they would wonder

why is there only one? Why is there no competition. It would be a very, very

difficult sell. One of the common and most fundamental obiectives of the

procurement policies of all levels of government, is to foster competition and

supply diversity, grow business/industry and contribute to the economic health

of the jurisdiction. Sole source procurements are not, generally,

totally compatible with these goals.

There are almost always procurement/reengineering alternatives and some may

require substantive business changes and improvements to implement. To Eric's

point, where is the business case and why is it not being presented for Council

approval. Council should be asking how this particular permitting software

allows the function to adopt a more efficient, cost-effective and customer-

focused business model? As I remember, this was one of the CIO's most

mentioned justifications for increased allocations during the last budget cycle.

The lack of apparent Council oversight to ensure that due rigour has been

performed is disappointing."

The meaning of Beorsele