Is Your Software Good Enough For Government?

Here Comes the SaaS

Flashback: It is 2006. Salesforce’s defiant “The End of Software” campaign is only 6 years old, AWS was just launched, and while it is virtually unknown yet, the trend towards Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud is fast evolving. I am working at a small Silicon Valley-based Enterprise Software startup called newScale and conversations with customers often revolve around the question of Installed-versus-SaaS; which one is better for scale? For internal applications? For overall cost? For security protection?... 

Fast forward another 12 years and the question regarding the viability of SaaS for businesses has long been put to bed. Who wants to use anything but SaaS these days? On-premise installed software is becoming a niche solution used only in very unique use cases.

Powering More Productive and Accountable Government

I am now at another SaaS company (once bitten by the bug, it is hard to let go…). This time, it’s a very mission-driven company: we work to power more effective and accountable government! Jim Collins suggested in his fantastic book Good to Great the need for an audacious goal for a company; anybody wants to try and beat ours?… ?

Interestingly though, in the local government sector (cities, counties, state agencies, educational boards, etc.) the question of Enterprise Software versus SaaS is still exists. The reason seems to be twofold: coming from both the demand and the supply. First, the magnitude of rules and regulations makes this sector extremely risk-averse. Change is slower in general than that in other sectors as the professionals in local governments need to go through many more hoops and satisfy more conditions and processes before they can act on new software solutions or change their processes. 

Second, government has never been the focus of technology companies. Lack of innovation and investment in government by software vendors yielded a sector that seems to be a decade behind the rest of the world. Software solutions are not only old, but also look and feel old. Most of the User Interface of software sold to and used by governments ranges from horrible to barely OK. The pace of change is slow as the amount of innovation is not worth the change. Technical Debt stemming from customizations increases constantly, further raising the barriers for change. 

And because switching costs are high and the customers are risk averse, the incumbent suppliers rip the benefits of a continued service with a captive customer base at very low cost for them.

Good Enough for Government

Have you ever wondered where has the phrase “good enough for government” came from? The phrase originated in World War II. When something was "good enough for Government work," it meant it could pass the most rigorous of standards. Over the years, as the trends above coupled with intense capitalism shifted the focus from high quality and pride in working for government to focus on corporate profits, the phrase has taken on an ironic meaning, that is now the primary sense, referring to poorly executed work.

Governments (and hardworking government employees) deserve good solutions to do their jobs. They deserve the best of the best solutions provided in the best of the best means. When it comes to software they deserve sophisticated solutions for the most essential government processes of budgeting, planning, and performance management.

Furthermore, those solutions must be provided to governments as SaaS, and enabled in the cloud. Easy and quick to deploy, easy to maintain, lightning-fast to enhance via ultra-frequent release cycles, cheaper to own and foster collaboration among users: the way software should (and does) work!

We are all citizens and residents receiving services from a multitude of government organizations daily. The level of service our governments receives from their suppliers directly impacts the level of services we receive. “Good enough for government” must regain its original meaning: a phrase indicating high quality and pride.

At OpenGov we are passionate about our mission to power more effective and accountable government. We do that by providing a SaaS solution for Budgeting and Performance Management. But, we don’t just build and deliver SaaS solutions. We provide solutions that are good enough for governments and we are proud of it!