Agencies are seeking more delegated authority in the form of higher dollar limits or exemptions that remove information technology from standard procurement procedures. In most places, however, these initiatives prove unsuccessful because delegating authority usually changes who is responsible, but not the process. A more significant reform is the creation of master contracts, also known as schedules and catalogs. They are competitively bid, but allow users to select limited types of products and services without the need for additional competitive bidding. However, users exercise greater latitude in decision-making by simply ordering off the contracts.
Interesting ironies can emerge, however.
Users often complain that term-contract prices aren't as good as elsewhere, which may be true if the contract pricing is not dynamic. But the arguments point out one of the great weaknesses of government - that few people consider the value of time. Namely, they dramatically lower the comfort level of many end users. Several state bureaucrats have told me that, while they are authorized to use these contracts at will, they often issue something akin to an RFQ to term-contract vendors. Their intent is to maintain the illusion of competition and shift the decision from themselves to a process.