Rethinking Public Procurement: Why Governments Can’t Keep Relying on RFPs Alone

Public procurement is being asked to solve more complex challenges, deliver faster results, and do it all with tighter budgets and greater public scrutiny. But while needs have evolved, many government procurement processes haven’t. Traditional RFP-driven models can slow down public procurement progress, limit innovation, and often produce solutions that address requirements on paper rather than real-world problems.

Today’s leaders are recognizing a better way: problem-solving procurement. It’s an outcome-driven approach that unlocks creativity, accelerates delivery, and strengthens public value.

This blog explores why agencies are making this shift, what’s fueling the change, and how teams can get started today.

Why Traditional RFPs Are No Longer Enough

The traditional RFP process worked well when government needs were predictable, timelines were flexible, and innovation was incremental. That’s no longer the case.

1. Rigid specs limit innovation

RFPs often require overly prescriptive specifications. Vendors who can deliver breakthrough approaches may be disqualified because their solutions don’t fit the exact template — even when they offer better value or outcomes.

2. Slow cycles don’t match community urgency

Drafting, advertising, evaluating, and awarding an RFP can take months — or longer. Meanwhile, public needs continue shifting, leaving agencies reacting instead of planning.

3. Evaluation models reward box-checking, not impact

Traditional scoring models emphasize compliance and price over adaptability, creativity, or long-term outcomes.

4. Vendors are treated as bidders, not partners

In an RFP-first world, vendors respond defensively. Collaboration is restricted, and agencies miss opportunities for deeper engagement and market-driven solutions.
With community expectations rising and budgets tightening, these limitations have become increasingly difficult to ignore.

The Rise of Problem-Solving Procurement

Problem-solving procurement flips the old model on its head. Instead of starting with a detailed list of specs, agencies begin by identifying the core challenge and define what success looks like. Vendors are invited to propose solutions that achieve the outcome. Not just meet the checklist.

This approach expands what’s possible.

Focus on Outcomes, Not Outputs: Instead of evaluating vendors based on how closely they match a predefined technical plan, agencies evaluate based on whether the solution will actually solve the problem.

Encourages Innovation: When vendors are given space to think more broadly, they offer new methods, technologies, and approaches government teams may never have considered.

Faster Procurement Cycles: Outcome-based frameworks typically reduce friction, cut back-and-forth, and shorten evaluation periods.
Better Stakeholder Alignment: Procurement becomes a bridge, aligning internal departments, leadership, vendors, and community needs.

Long-Term Value Over Short-Term Cost: Problem-solving procurement provides clarity for measuring actual impact, paving the way for long-term value rather than short-term savings alone.

Signs Your Agency Is Ready for Problem-Solving Procurement

Many agencies recognize themselves in these common signals:

• You’re seeing repeat RFPs for the same unresolved issue
• Projects frequently blow past timelines
• Vendors aren’t proposing fresh ideas
• RFP scoring models don’t reflect what leadership cares about
• Innovation pilots are stuck in early stages
• Departments are asking procurement to “help them solve problems,” not just run solicitations

If any of these feel familiar, your organization is ready to consider a challenge-based or outcome-oriented approach.

How Agencies Can Get Started

Shifting to a problem-solving model doesn’t require reinventing your entire procurement framework. Instead, agencies can begin with a few strategic steps:

1. Start with the problem, not the solution

Rewrite your solicitation introductions with a clear statement of the challenge or outcome you want to achieve. This sets the tone for innovation and removes constraints that box in vendors.

2. Refresh your evaluation criteria

Include criteria such as stakeholder impact, adaptability, implementation feasibility, and the vendor’s approach to long-term value.

3. Build space for vendor creativity

Allow for alternative solutions, demonstrations, or design-thinking approaches. Be clear that innovative proposals are not only permitted but encouraged.

4. Engage internally earlier

Pull in subject matter experts from IT, finance, program teams, and end-users during problem definition, not after the RFP is drafted.

5. Reframe procurement as a facilitator

The strongest teams are shifting from compliance enforcers to strategic partners who help departments understand the market, evaluate new ideas, and deliver better outcomes.

6. Pilot the approach first

Agencies often begin with a single category or initiative — digital services, process improvement, transportation solutions, etc. — to test the model and build internal confidence.

The Future of Public Procurement Is Problem-Solving

Across the U.S. and Canada, public procurement teams are increasingly being asked to do quite a lot: drive community outcomes, support economic development, ensure transparency, and be modern business partners. Traditional RFPs alone can’t meet the pressures of this moment.

However, outcome-driven, problem-solving procurement can.

It gives teams room to innovate, strengthens vendor partnerships, and positions procurement as a strategic, collaborative leader.

For agencies ready to move beyond legacy models, there’s a growing opportunity to reshape how public value is delivered.

Want the Full Framework? Download the Whitepaper

For a deeper look at implementing problem-solving procurement, including examples, frameworks, and step-by-step guidance, download our latest whitepaper: From RFPs to Real Solutions: How Problem-Solving Procurement Is Changing Public Sector Engagement.

FAQs

1. What is problem-solving procurement?

It’s an outcome-driven approach that invites vendors to propose creative, flexible solutions to a defined challenge rather than responding to rigid technical specifications. The focus is on results, impact, and long-term public value.

2. Does this model replace traditional RFPs?

Not completely. RFPs still play a critical role, especially for highly regulated or complex purchases. Problem-solving procurement enhances the process by giving agencies more room to innovate and evaluate broader options.

3. How does this approach strengthen vendor engagement?

By framing procurements around challenges, vendors can bring forward their best ideas without being restricted by overly prescriptive requirements. This leads to better collaboration and more competitive proposals.

4. What are the biggest benefits for procurement teams?

Teams gain faster cycles, stronger alignment with departments, reduced administrative load, better evaluation models, and a clearer path to demonstrating real public impact.