In public institutions, defining the right service is still a hard task. However, public sector IT support decides the quality of what citizens actually receive

Moreover, citizens now solve almost everything from a phone, surrounded by apps and instant answers. In addition, they carry that same expectation to the government’s digital counter. Therefore, the benchmark for public sector IT support is no longer the office next door. It is the banking app.

In practice, public administration now depends on technology in nearly every service it delivers. Scheduling, records, tax collection, and health systems never stop. As a result, public sector IT support specifications became far more detailed. The focus is simple: keep the service running.

For this reason, Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) published a guide for public administrators. According to it, almost every action carried out by federal public agencies depends on Information Technology (IT). That dependence may be direct or indirect. Furthermore, the relevance of IT keeps growing.

In this context, cloud stopped being an exception in government and became established practice. Likewise, data protection rules have matured and now come with active enforcement. Therefore, the tender must treat personal data, continuity, and security as requirements, not as annexes. The same applies to process automation, as we listed in this blog article.

The role of availability

When we talk about public administration, we must remember one thing. This service reaches the entire population across every area. Education, health, transportation, social assistance, and tax collection are just a few examples. Therefore, downtime is not an IT incident. It is a public service interrupted.

Likewise, an IT solution here encompasses every element needed to achieve the goals of the contract. In this way, it meets the need that triggered it, as the TCU points out.

Consequently, it is important to consider the different realities within Brazil. A city hall has one level of demand and services. Meanwhile, that level expands at the state and federal spheres. In addition, some public bodies operate together and depend on decisions from higher instances. That arrangement is common in the judiciary.

Meanwhile, in some cases procurement is handled individually. In others, however, it comes from higher instances. Therefore, planning for IT procurement and its support must consider different situations:

What matters in public institution procurement

– The process of the higher governing body to which the agency is linked, if any;

– The progress of the agency’s own IT plan and the capacity of its internal team;

– Possible joint procurement with partners. This requires looking at vendor selection, their area of operation, and contracts already in force;

– How contract management, governance, and the handling of personal data will work.

The four pillars of the specification

In such a complex scenario, digitizing public services gives IT support a whole new level of importance. According to the TCU, IT service procurement must consider four points:

1) Add value to the agency;

2) Manage the risks involved;

3) Align the institution’s planning with higher bodies and the IT team;

4) Apply financial and human resources well.

In short, public sector IT support specifications vary. After all, they depend on the civil servants already on the organization’s staff. Moreover, they depend on any companies hired for this purpose and on each institution’s current moment.

Nevertheless, when managing the risks involved, institutions must set clear and measurable criteria. Therefore, write service level agreements with numbers: coverage window, response time, resolution time, and monthly availability. In addition, define how each indicator will be measured and reported.

The role of public sector IT support

Furthermore, institutions must guarantee the availability of IT services. Therefore, they need to think about the different types of IT support available. The focus should fall on availability for the public and on the citizen experience. Likewise, hybrid work is now routine in government. As a result, support must serve on-site and remote users to the same standard.

In practice, before defining public sector IT support specifications, keep some governance precautions in mind:

– Set clear IT goals for public administration;

– Minimize risks. After all, public administration processes a large amount of personal data on citizens and companies;

– Pay special attention to security, to the continuity plan, and to periodic backup restore tests;

– Define goals for periodic reviews and course corrections, with reports the manager can actually audit;

– If AI serves citizens at the front desk, demand governance: interaction logs, human review, and an alternative channel for anyone who prefers a person.

This care must be built directly into the service contract. According to the TCU, the public agency must establish minimum acceptable technical requirements. These cover delivery time, service support, quality, and standardization. They also cover compatibility, performance, and technical warranty. Moreover, this applies regardless of the bidding format.

An expanding market

Therefore, it is natural for public administration to follow the wave of technology investment happening in Brazil.

Similarly, Brasscom is the Brazilian association of information and communication technology (ICT) and digital technology companies. In a study released for the 2023 to 2026 cycle, it projected R$ 917.5 billion in national technology investment. Digital transformation would lead these investments, at R$ 666 billion. Next came software (R$ 341 billion), hardware (R$ 146 billion), and services (R$ 139 billion).

As a result, Brasscom already expected 797 thousand new tech jobs across the country for the 2021 to 2025 cycle. In earlier projections, the number was far smaller. Historically, the public sector struggles to hire professionals against private companies. Consequently, the talent shortage remains a real risk in public agencies.

Meanwhile, the public sector will likely keep hiring companies for IT services and support. That is Gartner’s outlook. In this scenario, internal teams must specify the service well. In this way, citizens get availability and quality they can verify.

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