April on the Road: What Local Governments Really Need from Their Software

Over the past few weeks, our team at Marketplace.city has been on the road, engaging with city leaders, IT professionals, and public sector innovators across the country. From Smart City Expo USA in New York City to the Transforming Local Government conference in Scottsdale, and finally, Smart Cities Connect in San Antonio, we’ve had some eye-opening conversations. 

These conversations all pointed to one major trend:

Governments are managing an extraordinary number of software applications—often with limited resources, and the numbers are forecasted to increase dramatically.

The Hidden Complexity Behind City Operations

During our conversations, one theme kept coming up again and again: the sheer scale and complexity of software portfolios managed by city governments. One mid-sized city in Arizona (population 500,000) revealed they're juggling more than 625 different software titles.

Larger jurisdictions like Los Angeles County are dealing with numbers as high as 2,500 different software applications. Even smaller municipalities aren't exempt. One city of just 50,000 residents near Miami told us that 50% of their $6 million IT budget—a full $3 million—is spent on software. Add another $1 million for their police department, and you’re looking at nearly $4 million annually across upwards of 200 different systems, managed by a lean IT team of just four to five professionals.

The Annual Contract Conundrum

The challenge doesn’t stop at just managing these tools. For most of these systems, there’s an annual or multi-year contract cycle. This means local governments must constantly make decisions:

• Do we Renew?
• Do we Replace?
• Do we need to Re-compete this solution?

Even if every contract lasted five years (and many don’t), that still leaves more than 100 software evaluations per year in a city with 625 applications. That’s a huge decision-making burden—and one where informed, strategic choices can mean the difference between efficient operations and costly tech sprawl.

How Marketplace.city Helps

At Marketplace.city, we specialize in helping local governments manage this complexity. We provide comprehensive market research, not just for new technology purchases, but also for evaluating and managing existing contracts.

We help answer the tough questions:

• Should you renegotiate a current vendor?
• Are there new competitors in the space?
• What are your peer governments using?
• Is this something you can buy off a cooperative contract or a state contract?
• Do you need to go through a full RFP process?

And most importantly—we help connect you with the right vendors, providing insight into who’s out there and how others are using these technologies effectively.

You're Not Alone

Managing hundreds of software systems with limited time, staff, and budget is no easy feat. But you’re not in it alone.

Marketplace.city is here to support you with tools, insights, and connections that make managing and buying government technology faster, easier, and more informed.

If you're overwhelmed by your software portfolio—or just want a better way to manage it—we're here to help.