Procurement maturity and IT failures in the public sector

Purpose This paper aims to investigate disastrous failures in high-value, high-risk IT procurement among US public agencies. The goal is to understand the cause of the failures and explore the role of procurement in IT public investments. Design/methodology/approach The establishment of the maturity model is based on the relevant literature review and IT procurement failures at four different US public agencies. The data is gathered through multiple sources, including documents, archival records and interviews. Findings The findings add to the public procurement literature and highlight the catalyst role of procurement maturity in the success of IT public procurement. They also call for public agencies to grow procurement maturity and increase procurement impact throughout the procurement process. Research limitations/implications The proposed model was primarily based on four Information Technology (IT) procurement failures. Investigations on IT procurement successes and on a larger scale are necessary to further validate and expand the model. Practical implications The proposed model can help public agencies identify where they are in their IT procurement journey and formulate plans to reduce the likelihood of IT procurement failure. Social implications The proposed model helps public agencies achieve IT procurement success, which leads to timely policy implementation, huge federal savings and better use of taxpayer money. Originality/value This paper provides an effective framework for public agencies seeking to overcome high-value high-risk IT procurement challenges and achieve IT procurement success.