The Dào of Economic Efficiency and Equal Treatment: A dilemma in public sector IT procurement?.DE

When evaluating bids in the context of public procurement, it has become widely accepted that comparing only the purchase price (initial costs) is insufficient and not effective. Procurement law also requires that the costs over the entire service life be taken into account. A common method of considering total costs is the concept of 'total cost of ownership (TCO)'. Depending on the TCO model, a distinction is made between different cost categories (e.g. direct and indirect costs, cost elements per procurement phase). If, in the case of a replacement purchase, an identical or similar procurement item is offered to the one in use at the time of the tender, the supplier of the solution currently in use may, under certain circumstances, be able to calculate significantly lower transaction costs (e.g. migration costs or training expenses). This raises the question of the extent to which such an advantage must be offset - and in what way.