Helping Government teams achieve cost-effective digital procurement

Project Overview

We were engaged by a large central government department to support the redesign of their digital procurement processes. The goal was clear: enable smarter, faster, and more transparent procurement that aligned with commercial standards while supporting agile, user-centred delivery across internal digital teams.

The department managed a significant annual spend on digital services, much of it routed through complex internal processes and cross-departmental approval chains. Despite the investment, many digital teams found procurement slow, confusing, and difficult to navigate — leading to delays in project starts, missed opportunities for supplier innovation, and in some cases, non-compliant workarounds.

Over the course of a six-month engagement, our consultancy delivered a full discovery and design process — working across commercial, digital, policy, and legal functions. We brought together a multi-disciplinary team including business analysts, service designers, and delivery leads to map existing pain points and co-design a streamlined, transparent procurement experience fit for modern digital delivery.

The Problem

Procurement is a critical enabler of digital transformation in government — but when done poorly, it can become a blocker. At the outset of the project, the client faced a range of well-known but deeply embedded challenges.

Digital delivery teams struggled to engage procurement early enough in their project lifecycles. There was limited shared understanding of routes to market, risk ownership, or the commercial frameworks available. The internal processes were shaped more by compliance needs than user needs, which meant that even simple procurements could take several months to complete.

From the perspective of the commercial team, digital colleagues often submitted unclear briefs or misunderstood the constraints of public procurement law. This led to rework, tension, and a growing sense of mutual frustration — even though both sides ultimately wanted the same thing: value for money, delivered quickly and compliantly.

This was not a case of poor will or individual failure. It was a structural problem — a legacy of processes designed for a different era of government procurement, now colliding with the fast-paced demands of modern agile delivery.

Without change, the organisation risked wasting public money, missing project deadlines, and undermining its ability to attract and retain skilled suppliers.

Research and Discovery

We began by running a structured discovery process across five core user groups: digital teams, commercial officers, policy sponsors, legal advisors, and supplier partners. Through interviews, document reviews, and cross-functional workshops, we mapped the current procurement journey end-to-end — from the moment a delivery team identified a need, to the point a supplier contract was signed.

Our research surfaced more than just inefficiencies. It revealed deep misalignment in language, expectations, and accountability. Terms like “early market engagement”, “competitive tension”, or “outcomes-based specification” held different meanings across teams — leading to frequent misunderstandings and decision bottlenecks.

We also found an over-reliance on individual knowledge. Much of the procurement process depended on specific people “knowing how to make it work”, rather than having clear, repeatable standards or tools. This increased risk and made onboarding new staff extremely difficult.

A particularly telling insight came from a senior digital lead who described the process as “a maze of emails and Word documents, with no map and no guide”. The comment became a rallying call — reinforcing the need to create a more user-centred, transparent experience grounded in clarity and shared understanding.

Design Approach

Our approach was rooted in partnership. We embedded within the client’s digital and commercial functions, hosting regular playback sessions and using agile ceremonies to iterate rapidly on designs and process proposals.

We began by defining a shared vision of success: procurement should be clear, collaborative, and compliant by default. From there, we developed a future-state journey for digital procurement that aligned with GDS delivery principles and Crown Commercial Service best practice.

Our business analysts worked with procurement specialists to surface policy constraints and map them against real-world user needs. Service designers created low-fidelity prototypes of new guidance tools, workflow templates, and internal triage forms. Delivery managers engaged stakeholders to test governance changes and assess risk appetite for simplified approval processes.

We piloted three key enablers:

• A digital procurement playbook, tailored for agile teams — outlining clear steps, templates, and timelines for the most common procurement routes.

• A cross-functional intake model, allowing digital and commercial teams to jointly scope requirements and select the most suitable route to market early.

• A shared digital workspace, using collaborative tools to replace versioned Word documents and fragmented email trails.

Throughout, we used a test-and-learn model, co-designing with users, validating with legal and commercial leads, and iterating based on feedback.

Outcome and Impact

The outcomes of the engagement were both practical and cultural. By the end of the six-month project, we had supported the department to design and implement a radically improved procurement experience, with measurable benefits across the organisation.

“This work has completely changed how our teams approach procurement. It’s not just faster — it’s better aligned, better understood, and much less painful for everyone involved.”

— Head of Digital Delivery

Key achievements included:

• Up to 40% reduction in procurement cycle times for digital projects using the new intake model and playbook.

• Increased compliance confidence, with legal and commercial teams reporting fewer instances of incomplete or unclear documentation.

• Improved cross-team collaboration, with 90% of users in pilot teams reporting “greater clarity” in how to engage procurement early.

• Reusable artefacts including templates, workflows, and decision trees — now adopted across multiple digital programmes in the department.

The value of the work extended beyond efficiency. Teams reported improved morale, fewer delivery delays, and greater confidence in their ability to engage the market effectively. Supplier feedback was also positive, noting more consistent briefs and clearer engagement routes.

“The consultancy brought a rare mix of pragmatism, pace, and empathy. They helped us build a solution that works for real people — not just on paper.”

— Senior Commercial Partner

Reflection

This project proved that with the right mindset and partnership, even the most entrenched public sector challenges can be transformed into opportunities for lasting change. Procurement is often seen as a blocker — but here, it became a catalyst for better delivery.

What made this engagement successful was the willingness of teams to co-own the solution. Our consultancy provided the frameworks, facilitation, and external challenge — but it was the client’s openness and ambition that brought the change to life.

We left behind more than artefacts. We left behind a model for how public sector teams can collaborate across boundaries, focus on users, and move with confidence even within highly regulated environments.

As more departments seek to make digital procurement faster, smarter, and more outcome-focused, we hope this work serves as a practical example of what’s possible — and an invitation to rethink what “compliant” can look like when it’s done right.