Public sector entities purchasing software often go through a much more rigorous selection process than the private sector.  Much of this revolves around the public tender (RFT) process which is more structured than the way in which private enterprise buys almost anything, software included.  However when it comes to functionality both public and private sector needs reassurance that the money they’ll be spending on software purchase and implementation will give them the outcome they want - hence the need for functionality checklists.  A well-structured checklist however doesn’t look at prescriptive detail as much as basic concepts.  Milestone-based workflows, for example, is a concept that can be used in multiple and quite different functional scenarios.  Knowing that a package has a well-designed workflow engine that can be used in multiple ways can overcome the need for overly-detailed checklists.