Strategic Supplier Management for Central Government (SLM Rijk)

The Central Government’s Strategic Supplier Management (SLM Rijk) enhances collaboration with key suppliers across government. By taking a coordinated approach, public authorities build stronger, more effective partnerships with these suppliers. SLM Rijk improves risk management, promotes knowledge sharing, and drives innovation, ensuring that technology is used responsibly today and in the future.

SLM Rijk is not an end in itself. It enables the government to utilise technology effectively, safely, and responsibly.

What does the SLM Rijk do?

SLM Rijk:

• Consolidates the central government’s negotiating power.
• Establishes government-wide terms and agreements.
• Maintains a strategic and executive relationship with suppliers.
• Mediates in complex or cross-organisational issues.
• Works with a customer council that represents the ministries as clients.

SLM teams

Within the central government, SLM Rijk focuses on the following supplier groups:

• Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft
• IBM en RedHat
• KPN
• Oracle
• SAP

This page offers a general overview of SLM Rijk. More details about the different SLM groups, references to relevant documentation, and contact information can be found on these subpages (under development).

Public procurement and SLM

SLM is part of the Government-Wide Procurement System (Rijksinkoop, in Dutch). This framework ensures an efficient, professional, and coordinated approach to purchasing products and services essential to government operations, from ICT to facilities services.

Why procure at a central government level?

The central government performs a wide range of public tasks, such as security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social security. To carry out these tasks, it procures a variety of products and services. By consolidating procurement:

• Greater negotiating power is created.
• Terms and conditions improve.
• Opportunities arise for innovation and sustainability.
• Costs and risks are managed more effectively.

Rijksinkoop also considers government policies, such as ‘Procurement with Impact’, as well as international sustainability objectives.

Development of the Government-Wide Procurement System

Since 2010, the government’s procurement activities have been integrated into the Government-Wide Procurement System which has included:

• Reducing around 350 procurement locations to 20 procurement centres.
• Establishing central government-wide procurement categories.
• Enhancing cooperation between ministries through a network structure.

The system rests on 3 closely connected pillars:

1. The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for central government and the departmental Coordinating Procurement Directors (CDIs).
2. 20 procurement centres.
3. Category Management and Strategic Supplier Management (SLM).

These 3 pillars function as a unified collaborative network. And as government-wide cooperation can not be mandated through hierarchy, an interdepartmental network structure has been established adopted.

Government-Wide Procurement System results

The Government-Wide Procurement System delivers tangible results. Examples include joint innovations, sustainability improvements, procurement savings, process enhancements, and risk mitigation. This way, the system helps achieve policy goals and supports the core operations of the ministries.

For more information on Category Management (in Dutch) please visit:

• Organisation of Government-Wide Procurement: Organisatie van de Rijksinkoop (Zakendoen met het Rijk)(Dutch)
• Procurement categories and category planning: Inkoopcategorieën en categorieplannen (Zakendoen met het Rijk)(Dutch)