City digital services: Selecting the right vendors

Interested in digital services? Download the practical guide for local government from PayIt.

Leaders in the public sector have assigned new urgency to digital service delivery, recognizing its benefits to drive resident trust, agency efficiency, and workforce satisfaction. For example, digital service delivery is cited as second only to security in the NASCIO State CIO Top Ten Policy and Technology Priorities for 2023 report.

However, not all technology providers are created equal — and in the public sector market, dinosaur technology and dated business models are the norm. Choosing the right vendor is essential for success.

Here are some issues to bear in mind:

Composability is the new customization. Updating custom software can be miserable or even impossible and it doesn’t scale at the pace of innovation or at the pace of resident expectations.

Composability is the modern answer to this challenge. A composable software solution is made of “building blocks” that can be configured to address various workflows, data models, and integrations, without a lot of coding required (sometimes none). These modules can be quickly adjusted and redeployed as your agency’s needs evolve, creating a resilient, dynamic solution.

Ask your vendors about how their solution solves for configuration and reconfiguration as your needs change and new use cases emerge.

Open APIs or a walled garden? In any organization, multiple technology systems must communicate and share data, and the public sector is no different. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are at the core of this process. APIs connect systems and address data siloing, enabling your agency to reduce manual or duplicative processes. Walled-garden vendors offer a limited set of API integrations to their favored partners. Remember that you own your data. You should have the flexibility to buy what is best for your agency, and your vendors should offer open APIs to any system.

Government-grade platform security. Choosing cloud over on-premise is the right move. But commercial-grade cloud solutions are not designed to handle highly sensitive government data. Any vendor should be able to clearly outline how they meet or exceed public sector security requirements.

Usability is designed in. Technology shouldn’t be a chore to use, whether it’s for use by residents or government employees. Tasks should be intuitive, even for solutions used by specialists. Ask vendors about how they design their products and why. Listen for usability testing, focus groups, and customer feedback.

Accessibility matters. A technology experience lacking standard accessibility measures alienates employees and residents and can leave you exposed to civil action and costly web redesigns. Only engage solution providers who meet or exceed WCAG 2.0 AA requirements.

It’s a team sport. Vendors are only as good as the teams behind them. Find a provider who can demonstrate that they will work closely with you long after your solution is live. Understand how they measure your success and ensure that you achieve your goals through continued account support.

If payments are involved, find a payment experience that’s simple and efficient to use.

Download the practical buyers’ guide for local government from PayIt.