How Small Changes Can Improve Public Procurement
Removing barriers in public procurement with better market dialogue, clearer requirements, and better documentation.
Author: Merja Kortesuo, ICT Procurement Lawyer at Gofore
Public procurement is meant to be fair, transparent, and competitive. However, in practice, many suppliers struggle to participate due to unnecessary obstacles in the bidding process. Procurement professionals have the ability to improve this situation, not by introducing major reforms, but by making practical adjustments that remove barriers and encourage more suppliers to compete.
ICT Public Procurement Lawyer, Merja Kortesuo, spent years studying procurement processes and advising buyers on how to improve them. She shares her insights on how procurement professionals can reduce barriers for suppliers and create more inclusive, competitive markets. Among the key areas, she highlights several areas where simple changes can make a difference, including better market dialogue, clearer and more inclusive requirements, and stronger internal review processes.
A Lesson in Supplier Barriers
A 2023 study conducted in Finland a few years ago examined the difficulties suppliers face when bidding for public contracts. The findings showed that many of the barriers suppliers encounter are due to how procurement documents are written and structured.
Common issues identified in the study included:
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Requirements that unintentionally favor existing suppliers.
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Excessive administrative burdens, such as complex or redundant paperwork.
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Lack of clarity in tender documents, leading to confusion and misunderstandings.
These problems are not unique to Finland. Many public procurement processes worldwide face similar challenges. The study reinforces the idea that improving procurement does not require major reforms—just better planning and more thoughtful decision-making.
What Procurement Professionals Can Do
Procurement professionals have more control than they think when it comes to improving procurement outcomes. While laws and policies set the framework, professionals working on the ground make daily decisions that affect how procurement functions.
Some of the most effective actions they can take include:
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Engaging with the market early to understand what suppliers can offer.
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Avoiding restrictive requirements that unnecessarily limit competition.
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Making procurement documents clearer and more consistent to reduce confusion.
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Ensuring internal reviews to identify and fix issues before publication.
These are not large-scale reforms—they are practical adjustments that can be implemented immediately.
Understanding the Impact of Market Dialogue
One of the most common problems in procurement is how requirements are written. Every now and again, they are based on previous suppliers’ solutions, making it difficult for new suppliers to compete. This can happen unintentionally, as procurement teams may not realise that they are structuring their requirements in a way that favours a particular supplier.
A key way to prevent this is through early market dialogue. Speaking with potential suppliers before drafting a tender can reveal issues that might prevent fair competition. This does not mean giving certain suppliers an advantage, but rather understanding what the market has to offer.
For example, some procurement teams set requirements that are too specific, assuming that only one type of solution exists. By engaging with different suppliers beforehand, they may discover alternative approaches that meet the same need. This allows them to write requirements that are more neutral and open to different solutions, increasing the number of potential bidders.
If the reform of the Finnish Act on Public Contracts and concessions is implemented in accordance with suggestions of the Committee report, in certain cases market engagement is not mere recommendation anymore. The Committee suggests that for large procurements over 10 million euros, organisations must conduct a market dialogue or market assessment before issuing the invitation to tender. In addition to this, if these measures are not carried out and only one tender is received in an open procedure, the procurement must be suspended. These rules emphasize the need for thorough market research to prevent failed tenders and ensure competitive outcomes.
Avoiding Excessive and Unnecessary Requirements
Another barrier to supplier participation is excessive qualification requirements. Some organisations set strict conditions that are not necessary for delivering the best outcome.
It is worth remembering that qualification requirements do not select the winner but exclude suppliers that are not suitable, for example, due to lack of relevant experience. Too often, the set financial or experience thresholds are overly high, which can eliminate smaller but capable suppliers.
Same challenges can be observed with the obligatory requirements set for the supplies or services to be procured. For instance, the relevant experience requirements often state that the supplier’s personnel must have completed a certain number of similar projects within the last three years. This excludes companies, whose personnel is experienced and extremely capable of delivering quality, but by chance, did not have that specific kind of project within the specified timeframe.
Other common issues include:
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Requiring highly specific certifications that are not essential to the project.
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Demanding that bidders follow a particular methodology rather than allowing flexibility in how they achieve the desired results.
These kinds of restrictions do not always improve quality. Instead, they limit competition and may result in fewer or no bids at all.
Improving Documentation for Clarity and Consistency
A well-structured tender document reduces confusion and encourages more suppliers to bid. However, many procurement documents contain ambiguities or inconsistencies that make the process harder than it needs to be.
To improve documentation:
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Ensure consistency – The language and terms used throughout the document should be uniform. If a requirement is stated in one section, it should not be contradicted elsewhere.
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Avoid unnecessary complexity – Using plain language rather than technical or legal jargon makes documents easier to understand.
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Review before publication – Internal reviews can help identify unclear or conflicting information before suppliers see the tender.
A simple internal check before publishing a tender can prevent many issues that lead to low participation or unsuccessful procurements.
The Bigger Picture: Why These Changes Matter
Public procurement is not just about following rules; it is about spending public money wisely. When procurement processes are open, fair, and competitive, governments and public institutions get better value for money. This also benefits businesses by giving them more opportunities to compete and contribute their expertise.
Unnecessarily strict requirements, unclear tender documents, and lack of market engagement do not just make procurement more difficult for suppliers—they reduce competition, increase costs, and lead to worse outcomes for the public sector.
By making small but meaningful changes, procurement professionals can help create a system that works better for both suppliers and buyers. The goal is not to make procurement easier for any one supplier but to ensure that all capable suppliers have a fair chance to compete.