Jun 30, 2026 · 30 min · 10 segments
On this episode of Gov Tech Today, host Jennifer Seha talks with longtime public-sector consultants Heide Cassidy and Eugene Martinez about why government IT procurement—especially in California—so…
Eugene MartinezGuest
Heidi CassidyGuest
Right? Because, um, there's def- def- different definitions of success depending on who you're talking to.
And I think it's, when you look at the procurements pe- pendulum, uh, think everyone's talking about how long it takes.
Well, I'm sure if you strip back a, a lot of the policies and made it really fast, you're gonna streamline, steamroll right through the requirements.
And then you'll probably get some projects that are not as successful as you'd like them to be.
And then of course, the legislature and others are gonna say, "Hey, what happened to these projects?" And they'll enact lots of changes, and then it'll make it really difficult to procure things.
I, I think the other side of that is like, why is this so expensive? Why is it so much more expensive for government versus the private sector? Like, are the vendor community, are they just taking advantage of us and charging us whatever they want? Like, what's the answer to that?
Well, I mean, I think there is a bit of a, that's, that's also a bit of a loaded question.
I think, uh, p- private sector companies, they are in the m- in business of making money, right? And one of the things that's really challenging with working in the state and one of the reasons why I think all of us have had the careers that we've had and the length we've had, it's, it's navigating this complexity within the state.
And when, when, when it becomes really, really difficult to do business with an organization, the price is gonna go up.
Now the question really becomes, are they ethical business partners? And I'd, I'd say for the most part, most of the pr- uh, most of the vendors that are out there are ethical business partners-
Right? Because, um, there's def- def- different definitions of success depending on who you're talking to.
And I think it's, when you look at the procurements pe- pendulum, uh, think everyone's talking about how long it takes.
Well, I'm sure if you strip back a, a lot of the policies and made it really fast, you're gonna streamline, steamroll right through the requirements.
And then you'll probably get some projects that are not as successful as you'd like them to be.
And then of course, the legislature and others are gonna say, "Hey, what happened to these projects?" And they'll enact lots of changes, and then it'll make it really difficult to procure things.
I, I think the other side of that is like, why is this so expensive? Why is it so much more expensive for government versus the private sector? Like, are the vendor community, are they just taking advantage of us and charging us whatever they want? Like, what's the answer to that?
Well, I mean, I think there is a bit of a, that's, that's also a bit of a loaded question.
I think, uh, p- private sector companies, they are in the m- in business of making money, right? And one of the things that's really challenging with working in the state and one of the reasons why I think all of us have had the careers that we've had and the length we've had, it's, it's navigating this complexity within the state.
And when, when, when it becomes really, really difficult to do business with an organization, the price is gonna go up.
Now the question really becomes, are they ethical business partners? And I'd, I'd say for the most part, most of the pr- uh, most of the vendors that are out there are ethical business partners-
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