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The Tendering Process
The Tendering Process - A high Level Guide
Fulfilling a business need requires that the best possible solution is selected from a host of competing solutions. The only way to do this is through the process of competitive evaluation - i.e. the tendering process
The Business Need
A tender is published in response to a perceived business need that can only be fulfilled by an external party. Business change and needs are fuelled by changes in the business process (es) that the organisation employs. It is an accepted fact the organisations business processes are geared towards achieving the tactical goals and objectives of the business. Note that the organisation structure serves as a functional division of the business processes, whereas any technological solution supports the execution of the process.
Organisations should not limit processes to the capabilities of any organisational or technological solution. Business change should start with the Business Processes and move upwards and outwards to include the organisation structure as well as the technology enablers. The initial requirement definition should start with the Business Processes with a clear goal identified for the business change.
The requirements definition is a two-stage process First assess the current situation, then define the desired situation. Typical examples of exercises to conduct during this phase include, but are not limited to:
-Business Process Assessments
-Organisational Assessments
-Technology Assessments
-Business Process (Re-) Engineering
-Organisational (Re-) Engineering
-Technology Solution Definition
It is imperative to research the services or products available in the market. Make a list of the requirements common to all of the services / products. Note that this list defines your requirements for the product / service. List requirements uncommon to the products and services. This list of requirements defines those requirements that are not necessary, but will benefit your organisation.
The results of the abovementioned exercises should provide you with enough information to develop a detailed requirement definition. Also include the assessment of the current situation for later inclusion in the RFP bidders may require this information to tailor their solutions to your specifications, as well as provide more accurate estimates on time, resources and cost.
Write The RFP
The Request For Proposal (RFP) details the response requirements as well as the solution requirements. Furthermore, the RFP sets the basis of all agreements between your company and the vendor, unless otherwise specified in the formal agreement established with the selected vendor.
The format of the RFP should contain certain elements on which the vendor must respond. The content will differ based on the nature of the required solution; however, each RFP should have common elements.
At a high level the RFP content hierarchy may take the following form:
1.Introduction
The introduction contains the preamble, instructions on how to read the RFP, as well as a Glossary of Terms. This chapter is for the benefit of the bidders in order to clarify the body of the RFP.
2.Instructions To The Vendor
This chapter sets the groundrules that all bidders must obey if they do not want to be disqualified during the evaluation process. Note that the most important items to mention here are the deadlines, procedures for submission, procedures for clarification as well as other items to which a bidders tender must comply.
Also indicate the need for Tender Securities and Performance Bonds. Clearly indicate what fines will be hefted against the bidder should he fail to provide the solution within the scope of this RFP.
3.Your Company Overview
If required, this section defines the current situation experienced by your company. Be sure to include the results of the exercises conducted during the Requirement Definition stage dealing with the subject at hand.
4.Solution Overview
This section defines the high level overview of the required solution. Be sure to incorporate all the subsequent components of the entire solution. Note that should you choose to have multiple bidders for each individual component, everyone will need to be aware of those components and how they would interact with the specific solution.
Normally it is preferred to have bidders partner in order to present a single, global and coherent solution. In such a case one of the bidders should act as the primary liaison and be held accountable for all subsequent bid components. It is the prerogative of the bidders to establish whatever alliances or partnerships are required for a full solution.
5. Business Profile
This section defines those items on which you will evaluate the business profile of a prospective bidder. Note that you should eveluate on numerous fronts, especially if the result of the tender is a long-term commitment, or of high value. In this section you request the bidder to supply such information on business alliances, partnerships, financial stability, market share, and etcetera. Also to consider are the capabilities of the bidder to support you after selection, as well as the infrastructure required to provide the solution.
6. Project Approach & Methodologies
This section requests the bidder to demonstrate the ability to work in a structured and predefined manner. Typically all bidders respond positively in this section, but if it should be that a bidder is not familiar with specific terms and terminology common in the field of project management, flag this bidder during the evaluation process for extra attention to detail. Furthermore, should a bidder indicate that they are familiar / expert in the requirements you stated, then they should be able to supply the necessary paperwork to substantiate such a claim.
Also request the necessary Curriculum Vitae of the assignment team if required. This is useful during the evaluation process to determine if a bidder has the necessary skillets within the project scope.
7. Functional, Legislative, & Technical Requirements
This section documents the requirements defined during the Requirement Definition. Bidders must indicate the compliance to the requirements. Should a requirement not be met, then this must be clearly indicated. Some bidders may try to create the illusion that they support all the requirements. In order to catch this out, structure your requirements in such a way as to allow interdependence of requirements, or duplication with different wording. It may be necessary to obtain the services of a subject matter expert when writing this section.
8. Financial
This section requests the bidder to define the cost elements associated with his bid. Ensure that you request a Bill of Quantities, Individual Costs as well as total solution cost. Furthermore, also request that the bidder indicate the preferred payment instruments, expense phasing, and other financial items that you might require.
9. References
Request that the Bidder provide a set of references to companies where the same product / service was provided. Indicate that the bidder should distinguish between industries in which these companies
operate. This will allow you to judge the capability of the bidder to supply your business needs, as well as have an understanding of your core business.
Response Templates
It is also a good idea to prepare templates for the bidders to complete and furnish their responses with. This will place all bidders on equal footing during the evaluation process. Furthermore, predefined response formats makes the evaluation a lot easier than when each bidder prepares a tender according to their own formats.
Ensure that your RFP is kept confidential during and after preparation. The heart and soul of the tendering process is its competitive nature. Furthermore, it is preferred not to involve personnel that has personal relationships to any of your prospective bidders.
Longlists and Shortlists
The purpose of this exercise is to determine a shortlist of bidders that will receive your RFP once it is published. The objectives are simple: Define a longlist of possible bidders and eliminate the ones unsuitable to your needs until you have a shortlist.
Define the Longlist
Research the suppliers of the product / service that your RFP defines. This may be done through networking, prior business contacts, directories, and the internet.
Define the Shortlist
Define a set of mission critical requirements that the solution absolutely must support. Eliminate bidders from the longlist. Typically this is done by comparing the elimination criteria to their product or service. If even one of the elimination criteria is not met, then eliminate that vendor.
Request For Information
You have the option to make use of a Request For Information. This document defines the nature of your request and informs potential bidders that they are being considered for the evaluation process. Request bidders to indicate their compliance status to your elimination criteria. The RFI must make clear that it is only that a request for information and not an invitation.
Invitation To Bid
Send a general correspondence to all potential bidders on your shortlist. The purpose of the correspondence is twofold First, you are inviting the bidders to indicate their willingness to participate in the tendering process. Bidders must respond via formal communication indicating their willingness to submit a tender. Second, bidders are informed of the time and place of the RFP pickup.
It is normal to request bidders to sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement as a part of this correspondence. This agreement must be submitted at RFP pickup. Furthermore, this agreement should contain the necessary clauses to ensure the return of your RFP copy should the bidder decide not to participate at a later date.
RFP Distribution
Based on the responses to the Invitation to Bid, define a distribution list or document. Each bidder must sign, and your company representative must countersign this document when bidders are collecting the RFP. This will protect your company in cases where the bidder claims not to have received the RFP. Furthermore, the bidder must also submit the confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement send with the Invitation To Bid.
RFIs & Bidder Bulletins
It is commonplace that bidders will have questions regarding your RFP after their review. Ensure that your RFP defines the procedure for bidders sending RFIs to your company, the deadline date (s) for all RFIs, as well as a common Bidders Bulletin date for responding to all RFIs. The purpose is to collect all information requests, address them, and distribute the results to all the bidders at once. Ensure that bidder anonymity is maintained during a bidders bulleting.
Tender Submission
Bidders must submit their tenders in accordance to the rules lain out in your RFP, unless otherwise indicated in a Bidders Bulleting. It is prudent not to accept late tenders, as this may cause discontent under bidders or factions in your organisation. It is also prudent to have bidders submit tenders in sealed envelopes, with a different envelope for the Functional & Technical Bid and the Financial Bid. Do not open the envelopes until the start of the evaluation process.
Evaluation & Selection
It is preferred to follow a structured methodology during the evaluation and selection process. The purpose is to evaluate all tenders in an unbiased manner. Establish this methodology prior to writing your RFP. Your RFP structure and response templates must also be built in such a way as to facilitate an easy evaluation.
Another important factor to consider is to obtain a buy-in and sign-off on the Evaluation Methodology prior to writing the RFP from all stakeholders. This may very well avoid future unpleasantness should someone disagree with the selection following the evaluation and selection process.
Tender Evaluation
Evaluate the financial and technical bids separately. In order to maintain impartiality, evaluate the technical and functional tenders first, before opening the financial tenders. It is prudent to have subject matter experts evaluate the functional and technical tenders.
The process of evaluation takes place immediately after the proposal submission deadline. The first round of the evaluation is an elimination round. All the tenders will be benchmarked against criteria defined by your company during the writing of your RFP.
The result of the elimination round is a shortlist of vendors. The evaluation and recommendation process must consider the various factors, for example:
-Functional & Technical Fit of the Proposed Solution
-Bidder Business Profile
-Bidder Credentials
-Etcetera
No single factor must influence the evaluation process - the defined methodology must be based on robust objective grounds and must provide an equal opportunity to all participating bidders.
Develop a report on the evaluation and recommendation of the bidder shortlist / selected vendor. This report must be signed off by all the stakeholders (in your company) of the tendering process. The content of this report is confidential and must not be divulged to parties or bidders other than the stakeholders in the tendering process.
Also, notify those vendors that were not selected of their elimination and proceed with your selection.
Should it be required, you may employ further techniques in evaluating the tenders. An example includes scripted presentations of your short listed bidders.
In order to obtain buy-in within your company, include the general personnel dealing with the issue at hand on a daily basis within your evaluation team during the scripted presentations. Ensure that each evaluator prepares a scoring for each bidder following the presentation. Scores are defined on the scripts prepared for this presentation. It is also prudent to assign a person that will chair the presentation and keep to the schedule.
About the Author
Riaan Pieterse is the CEO and founder of Kerberos Internet Services CC, South Africa. Having spent a number of years conducting various consulting assignments in the Far East, Middle East, Africa and Europe to businesses and governments alike, Riaan has a solid understanding of the business and technology issues in today's market.
For more information visit http://www.kerberosdev.net
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