Sorry, I should be more clear. Yes there is a procurement process. But that happens out of band to the support request.

The problem with support contracts, or support requests solved by an upgrade, is that the User needs it now, not after a procurement process.

Doing procurement annually is easier because it can be planned for, budgeted for etc, and happens on a separate thread to the actual support.

Even when they overlap there's enough grace to keep the User happy while waiting on the customer.