Annual industry report finds 39% increase in public sector projects in 2021 and highlights new priorities including vendor diversity and work-from-anywhere
Bonfire Interactive Ltd., a business unit of GTY Technology Holdings Inc. and a leader in eProcurement, strategic sourcing, and contract management solutions, today announced the release of its annual State of Public Sourcing Report, a benchmarking study which provides insights and analysis of procurement in the public sector. Bonfire is a subsidiary of GTY Technology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: GTYH) (“GTY”), a leading provider of cloud solutions for the public sector.
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“This year’s report indicates that public sector project volume has practically returned to what it was pre-pandemic, which aligns with anecdotes we’ve heard from our customers”
The report is based on anonymized data from the Bonfire platform, consisting of tens of thousands of projects from more than 400 North American public sector organizations, to better understand the current state of public procurement. This year’s report, titled “Back to Business: Fast and Focused,” provides insights into how public procurement teams have ramped up operations in 2021. It also highlights the public sector’s new priorities, strategies, and goals after putting many projects on hold to focus on emergency procurements in 2020.
“This year’s report indicates that public sector project volume has practically returned to what it was pre-pandemic, which aligns with anecdotes we’ve heard from our customers,” said Bonfire CEO Omar Salaymeh. “Priorities such as vendor diversity, work-from-anywhere options, and finding new ways to make public dollars go further are becoming a major focus for most public procurement teams, which we anticipate will in turn provide opportunities for a bigger community of vendors. It’s clear that 2020 was a turning point for public procurement and that while project volume has returned, priorities have shifted, and the industry will not simply go back to the way it was before the pandemic.”
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The report was officially released today during the NIGP Forum, the Institute for Public Procurement’s annual conference dedicated to connecting procurement communities. Attendees of the conference are invited to join Bonfire’s virtual panel session at 2:15 PM ET on Monday August 23, where procurement leaders from Barnstable County and Metropolitan Transportation Commission share their on-the-ground insights on the report’s findings.
Key findings from the report include:
- Projects and RFPs are back on track: Project and RFP counts dropped from 2019 to 2020, as the pandemic forced many agencies to put their plans on hold. The easing of some public health restrictions combined with federal stimulus funding has enabled both to make a resurgence in 2021, bringing purchasing activity to the verge of pre-pandemic volumes.
- K-12 projects race ahead: K-12 schools have shown significant growth since before the pandemic, increasing their investment in sanitizing products, eLearning technology, and security software to ensure students can continue to learn safely, whether virtually or in-person.
- eProcurement adoption continues to rise: Despite lower project volumes in 2020, there were more people logged into the Bonfire platform than ever before. Not only did platform users log in more, but agencies expanded the use of eProcurement to a broader set of buyer groups within the agency.
- Agencies are diversifying and widening their vendor pool: In an effort to reach more diverse, local, and small businesses, agencies have doubled the average number of registration fields they use to track vendor diversity. On top of that, vendor invitations have increased by 202% since 2019.
- Work-from-anywhere likely isn’t going anywhere: 75% of procurement professionals reported that their organization made changes to support digital transformation in 2021. Between 2019 and 2021, the average number of locations where the Bonfire platform is accessed increased by 41% and continues to grow. These metrics indicate that remote work will likely continue to be a part of public agencies’ infrastructure moving forward.
