In its 2025 report on the use of consultancy services by the Federal State, the Belgian Court of Audit identified a number of structural challenges in how public organisations manage external expertise, notably:

  • Limited centralised visibility on consultancy engagements and spending
  • Fragmented processes and tools across departments
  • High administrative workload linked to sourcing, contracting and follow-up
  • Difficulties in ensuring consistent traceability and compliance
  • Limited access to consolidated market intelligence for informed decision-making

These observations reflect challenges that many public organisations face when managing an increasingly complex external workforce.


ProUnity’s role

Traditional tender processes require organisations to define their needs upfront. They specify roles, competencies, seniority levels, and volumes. Suppliers bid based on their ability to deliver against those specifications. The framework is then established for a fixed period—often three to five years.

This model works well for stable, predictable roles. But it breaks down when the market itself is in flux.

Consider the evolution of cloud computing. A decade ago, ‘cloud architect’ was a niche role. Today, it has fragmented into AWS specialists, Azure architects, multi-cloud strategists, FinOps analysts, and cloud security engineers. No organisation could have predicted this fragmentation when designing a framework in 2015.

Yet organisations are still expected to define their needs years in advance, as if the market were static.


Alignment with the Court of Audit’s observations

1. Centralised oversight and transparency

ProUnity enables public organisations to:

  • Maintain a single, centralised overview of all external consultants, suppliers and assignments
  • Monitor spend, performance and contract status in real time
  • Ensure consistent processes across departments

This supports transparency, internal control and audit readiness.

2. Traceability and compliance by design

The platform provides:

  • Full traceability of sourcing and selection steps
  • Documented motivations and decision trails
  • Secure, GDPR-compliant data handling
  • Standardised workflows aligned with procurement requirements

This reduces legal and operational risk while simplifying compliance.

3. Reduced administrative burden

Through automation and standardisation, ProUnity significantly reduces:

  • Manual sourcing and CV handling
  • Repetitive administrative checks
  • Contract, timesheet and invoice processing

This allows procurement and administrative teams to focus on governance and value creation rather than operational workload.

4. Access to market intelligence

ProUnity aggregates anonymised market data across assignments, enabling:

  • Objective rate benchmarking
  • Insights into skills availability and market trends
  • Better-informed sourcing and budgeting decisions

This supports more strategic management of external expertise.

5. Agility within a structured framework

The platform allows public organisations to respond quickly to operational needs while remaining within a controlled and compliant environment, supporting:

  • Faster access to relevant expertise
  • Adaptation to evolving digital skills
  • Better alignment between operational demand and procurement governance


Conclusion

The Court of Audit’s report highlights the need for greater structure, transparency and efficiency in the management of consultancy services.

ProUnity contributes to these objectives by offering a digital, auditable and data-driven environment that supports public organisations in managing external expertise responsibly, efficiently and in line with public procurement principles.