I'll make two comments on this. One, the project scope is well defined, and when industry has lined up to quote something, I assume and I would believe most of my members will deliver within the price they put out. The risk is always that the scope keeps changing, and the buyer will always want changes within the current cost component. In the private sector that is known as customization. Hence I made the comment that a change management process needs to be put in place as part of the governance, so you know that if there is something different from what's out there that is specific to your needs, it will require new work, and that may cost more.
The private sector also fully understands, our members fully understand, that over time government will spend less money on IT. The government's overall IT consumption would go down, as would any other institution's. They understand that.