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Open Source Procurement

"We expect the vendor community to respond quickly, the open source community does not do that, they do not surf the net looking for RFPs"

Government procurement is a tightly controlled, heavily rule-based process with big-time penalties for violations. Like bureaucracy, complex government procurement was a solution to historical abuses of authority.

Into this rigid structure comes open source. Developed by a "community" of interested people, published openly on the Internet, available free or at minimal cost -- it doesn't fit the government procurement model. And that may be its saving grace, according to members of a panel on open-source procurement at GOSCON '06 in Portland last month.

Bill Welty the CIO of the California Air Resources Board, said in his presentation, that since open source software is available for little cost, he can procure it on "budget dust," lengthy procurement cycles are avoided so his team of engineers can launch a project very quickly.

"The problem is that a conventional RFP is written around buying commercial software," said Dugan Petty, former purchasing manager for the state of Oregon. However, he explained, Oregon law allows for special procurements in which the process is crafted to a specific market, and said a special procurement might be a better fit for open source than a more traditional RFP.

(L) Andy Stein, CIO of Newport News, Va., and (R) Tim Vaverchak, Manager of Shared Services, Massachusetts Information Technology Division

Andy Stein, CIO for Newport News, Virginia, pointed out a drawback to open source procurement, saying that an RFP assumes a vendor economy that is limited to established service providers with a significant marketing budget. "We expect the vendor community to respond quickly, the open source community does not do that, they do not surf the net looking for RFPs." The RFP also insists on an established user base, he said. The nod will often go to a solution already installed successfully in five other locations in the state or jurisdiction.

And there are other procurement strategies that can shut the door on open source. Many government contracts are bid based on volume, and so the RFP may specify the hardware, software, networking or other system components to save costs. Or an agency may have already decided on a system, and so shapes the RFP to exclude other solutions.

"If I download an ERP system and compile it," asked Ken Disbrow of Public Knowledge, "am I violating state law? Open source is one way to continue a level of service on a reduced budget."

One participant said a GPL open source license has no cost, and no license risk. "I'm not buying, I'm just downloading -- why would I have a conversation with procurement?"

"Procurement law applies to expenditure of public funds," said Petty. "The procurement office may have mandatory contracts they want you to buy from. [Open source] may be a breach of faith between you and the procurement office. And if there are follow-on expenditures driven by free software, does that trip the threshold?
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.