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Federal Government IT workers are paid significantly less than private sector. It’s easier for federal workers to buy into private sector products because they can blame these products/companies if they fail. They would not be able to do the same with open source “building”. Investment needs to be in a digital team. Disclosure: I’m a federal IT worker. I have argued for building as opposed to buying and people think I’m crazy.

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As a technologist whose built for both private and public, I'm always amazed at how little a contact can be for the public sector to purchase, only to realize that the price tag did not reflect the true cost. Government usually will go with the lowest bidder, but that project always will balloon way beyond expectations. They could've easily built in house, but that would've cost too much up front... It's easier to get a yes on a cheap, long tail expensive project then a yes on an extensive short term project...

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