The public sector is better than private companies at running big information technology contracts using outside suppliers, a study by PA Consulting Group has found.
The claim comes despite a string of high-profile problems in the sector, some only teething troubles - such as at the Passport Agency - and others that have seen projects abandoned.
Seventy per cent of private sector organisations felt they had failed to achieve hoped-for cost savings from IT outsourcing, the survey found - against 41 per cent in the public sector.
Ninety-five per cent of public sector managers thought their relationships with suppliers were managed effectively and 81 per cent thought the relationship was well understood. The equivalent figures for the private sector were 58 and 61 per cent.
The public sector, however, felt it had done a less good job of using IT to deliver new services - 86 per cent said they had not realised opportunities fully, although the private sector at 79 per cent was not that happy with its performance either.
Janet Baker, a member of PA's management group, said: "There is a perception that the public sector is not very good at outsourcing services. But the reality is rather different."
Deals done by government and its agencies were subject to heavy, independent scrutiny, she said. The result was "high-profile headlines when relationships go wrong".
The private sector, by contrast, was better at burying its mistakes. Public sector success stories received far less publicity than failures, she said, and public probity required a thorough analysis of benefits and costs before contracts proceeded.
The survey covered 116 directors in the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark. Twenty-five of the organisations were from the UK.
For both sectors, the biggest difficulty lay in delivering innovative services. This was a particular challenge for officials wanting to use "e-government" to speed up and expand services.
