When Contract Chaos Undermines Public Trust — and How to Reclaim Control
The digital maturity of contract management defines how transparent, efficient, and resilient public procurement becomes.
Every euro spent through public procurement is an investment in citizens' well-being. Whether it’s ensuring cleaner streets, better healthcare facilities, or sustainable infrastructure, the contracts that public institutions manage every day are the foundation of service delivery and public trust.
Yet, across the Netherlands, public bodies still face a persistent challenge: keeping control of their contracts once the ink has dried.
The Hidden Cost of Losing Track
According to the World Commerce & Contracting Association (WorldCC), 71% of organisations cannot locate at least 10% of their active contracts.
For a municipality, a ministry, or a school board, that means vital agreements — and the value they hold — often disappear into fragmented systems. Once a tender is awarded and the contract is signed, documentation is stored in shared drives, email archives, or even filing cabinets. Over time, this leads to uncertainty about what has been agreed, when obligations fall due, and whether suppliers are meeting their commitments.
The cost is significant. Research by McKinsey shows that poor contract management can erode 5–15% of contract value annually, due to missed deadlines, unmanaged risks, and lost performance insights. In the public sector, this can mean wasted taxpayer money, missed sustainability targets, or unfulfilled social return obligations.
Poor contract management can erode 5–15% of contract value annually
In many institutions, these problems don’t stem from negligence, but from complexity. Procurement processes are governed by strict regulations like the Aanbestedingswet, yet after the tender phase, contract follow-up often relies on manual work and dispersed information. The result is “contract chaos” — a situation where visibility fades the moment the award is made.
The Public Sector Imperative: From Compliance to Control
The Rijksinkoopstrategie 2024 sets a clear direction: Dutch public procurement must become more strategic, sustainable, and data-driven. Achieving that requires more than good intentions — it demands control over the full lifecycle of every contract.
As Pianoo, the Dutch expertise centre for procurement, notes:
“Contract management ensures that what has been agreed in the procurement phase is actually delivered — in quality, quantity, and timing.”
That might sound straightforward, but it’s one of the hardest things to do at scale. Contracts span departments, suppliers, and funding streams. Key details like expiry dates, performance clauses, or sustainability KPIs are often known only to individual staff members. When those people move roles or retire, the knowledge disappears with them.
Public procurement professionals face an additional layer of accountability: the need to prove compliance and value for money under constant public and political scrutiny. Without a clear overview, even a simple audit can turn into weeks of searching, cross-checking, and reporting.
Digital Foundations for Public Value
The good news is that a growing number of Dutch public institutions are addressing these challenges through digital contract lifecycle management (CLM). Rather than treating contracts as static documents, they are beginning to see them as living assets that drive performance, transparency, and impact.
Centralising all contract data in one secure, searchable environment enables procurement, finance, and legal teams to work from the same source of truth. Deadlines, renewals, and milestones are tracked automatically, reducing the risk of human error. Dynamic reporting provides instant insights into supplier performance, sustainability metrics, and contract value — turning administrative oversight into strategic control.
This shift isn’t only about efficiency. It’s about enabling institutions to act in line with the values that define the Dutch public sector: integrity, transparency, and responsibility.
Deloitte’s Contract Management Maturity Report 2023 found that organisations adopting digital and automated contract processes can reduce administrative workload by up to 30%. For public buyers facing staff shortages and increasing demands, that’s not just a productivity gain — it’s a chance to focus on what really matters: achieving policy goals and delivering social impact.
Transparency as a Source of Trust
When public institutions gain full visibility into their contracts, they also strengthen public trust.
Transparency is no longer a reporting burden but a strategic advantage. With a structured, traceable, and accessible contract portfolio, procurement teams can demonstrate compliance with the Aanbestedingswet, support sustainability and inclusion goals, and ensure suppliers deliver what was promised — every time.
It’s the foundation for modern governance: decisions based on facts, risks managed proactively, and accountability built into every stage of procurement.
Turning Visibility Into Lasting Public Value
Imagine a world where every public contract, from waste management to social care, is connected, compliant, and performance-driven. Where data flows seamlessly from tendering to execution, and reporting takes minutes, not months.
That’s not a distant ideal. It’s what modern, connected contract management systems now make possible.
For Dutch public institutions seeking to regain control, Mercell Contract Management brings all contracts, processes, and insights together — helping procurement teams not only stay compliant but also transform contract management into a driver of transparency, efficiency, and public value.
Because in the end, good governance starts with good contract management — and when citizens can trust how their money is managed, everyone benefits.
Sources
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World Commerce & Contracting Association (WorldCC), “Most Negotiated Terms Report 2023”
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McKinsey & Company, “Boosting Value Through Better Contract Management”
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Deloitte, “Contract Management Maturity Report 2023”
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Pianoo – Expertisecentrum Aanbesteden, “Contractmanagement in de publieke sector”
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Rijksinkoopstrategie 2024 – Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties
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Aanbestedingswet 2012 (en wijzigingen 2024)