The Tendering Process

Written by Riaan Pieterse


The Tendering Process - A high Level Guide

Fulfilling a business need requires thatrepparttar best possible solution is selected from a host of competing solutions. The only way to do this is throughrepparttar 104196 process of competitive evaluation - i.e.repparttar 104197 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 inrepparttar 104198 business process (es) thatrepparttar 104199 organisation employs. It is an accepted factrepparttar 104200 organisation’s business processes are geared towards achievingrepparttar 104201 tactical goals and objectives ofrepparttar 104202 business. Note thatrepparttar 104203 organisation structure serves as a functional division ofrepparttar 104204 business processes, whereas any technological solution supportsrepparttar 104205 execution ofrepparttar 104206 process. Organisations should not limit processes torepparttar 104207 capabilities of any organisational or technological solution. Business change should start withrepparttar 104208 Business Processes and move upwards and outwards to includerepparttar 104209 organisation structure as well asrepparttar 104210 technology enablers. The initial requirement definition should start withrepparttar 104211 Business Processes – with a clear goal identified forrepparttar 104212 business change. The requirements definition is a two-stage process – First assessrepparttar 104213 current situation, then definerepparttar 104214 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 researchrepparttar 104215 services or products available inrepparttar 104216 market. Make a list ofrepparttar 104217 requirements common to all ofrepparttar 104218 services / products. Note that this list defines your requirements forrepparttar 104219 product / service. List requirements uncommon torepparttar 104220 products and services. This list of requirements defines those requirements that are not necessary, but will benefit your organisation. The results ofrepparttar 104221 abovementioned exercises should provide you with enough information to develop a detailed requirement definition. Also includerepparttar 104222 assessment ofrepparttar 104223 current situation for later inclusion inrepparttar 104224 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) detailsrepparttar 104225 response requirements as well asrepparttar 104226 solution requirements. Furthermore,repparttar 104227 RFP setsrepparttar 104228 basis of all agreements between your company andrepparttar 104229 vendor, unless otherwise specified inrepparttar 104230 formal agreement established withrepparttar 104231 selected vendor. The format ofrepparttar 104232 RFP should contain certain elements on whichrepparttar 104233 vendor must respond. The content will differ based onrepparttar 104234 nature ofrepparttar 104235 required solution; however, each RFP should have common elements. At a high levelrepparttar 104236 RFP content hierarchy may takerepparttar 104237 following form:

1.Introduction

The introduction containsrepparttar 104238 preamble, instructions on how to readrepparttar 104239 RFP, as well as a Glossary of Terms. This chapter is forrepparttar 104240 benefit ofrepparttar 104241 bidders in order to clarifyrepparttar 104242 body ofrepparttar 104243 RFP.

2.Instructions To The Vendor

This chapter setsrepparttar 104244 groundrules that all bidders must obey if they do not want to be disqualified duringrepparttar 104245 evaluation process. Note thatrepparttar 104246 most important items to mention here arerepparttar 104247 deadlines, procedures for submission, procedures for clarification as well as other items to which a bidder’s tender must comply. Also indicaterepparttar 104248 need for Tender Securities and Performance Bonds. Clearly indicate what fines will be hefted againstrepparttar 104249 bidder should he fail to providerepparttar 104250 solution withinrepparttar 104251 scope of this RFP.

3.Your Company Overview

If required, this section definesrepparttar 104252 current situation experienced by your company. Be sure to includerepparttar 104253 results ofrepparttar 104254 exercises conducted duringrepparttar 104255 Requirement Definition stage dealing withrepparttar 104256 subject at hand.

4.Solution Overview

This section definesrepparttar 104257 high level overview ofrepparttar 104258 required solution. Be sure to incorporate allrepparttar 104259 subsequent components ofrepparttar 104260 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 withrepparttar 104261 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 ofrepparttar 104262 bidders should act asrepparttar 104263 primary liaison and be held accountable for all subsequent bid components. It isrepparttar 104264 prerogative ofrepparttar 104265 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 evaluaterepparttar 104266 business profile of a prospective bidder. Note that you should eveluate on numerous fronts, especially ifrepparttar 104267 result ofrepparttar 104268 tender is a long-term commitment, or of high value. In this section you requestrepparttar 104269 bidder to supply such information on business alliances, partnerships, financial stability, market share, and etcetera. Also to consider arerepparttar 104270 capabilities ofrepparttar 104271 bidder to support you after selection, as well asrepparttar 104272 infrastructure required to providerepparttar 104273 solution.

6. Project Approach & Methodologies

This section requestsrepparttar 104274 bidder to demonstraterepparttar 104275 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 inrepparttar 104276 field of project management, flag this bidder duringrepparttar 104277 evaluation process for extra attention to detail. Furthermore, should a bidder indicate that they are familiar / expert inrepparttar 104278 requirements you stated, then they should be able to supplyrepparttar 104279 necessary paperwork to substantiate such a claim. Also requestrepparttar 104280 necessary Curriculum Vitae ofrepparttar 104281 assignment team if required. This is useful duringrepparttar 104282 evaluation process to determine if a bidder hasrepparttar 104283 necessary skillets withinrepparttar 104284 project scope.

7. Functional, Legislative, & Technical Requirements

This section documentsrepparttar 104285 requirements defined duringrepparttar 104286 Requirement Definition. Bidders must indicaterepparttar 104287 compliance torepparttar 104288 requirements. Should a requirement not be met, then this must be clearly indicated. Some bidders may try to createrepparttar 104289 illusion that they support allrepparttar 104290 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 obtainrepparttar 104291 services of a subject matter expert when writing this section.

8. Financial

This section requestsrepparttar 104292 bidder to definerepparttar 104293 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 thatrepparttar 104294 bidder indicaterepparttar 104295 preferred payment instruments, expense phasing, and other financial items that you might require.

9. References

Request thatrepparttar 104296 Bidder provide a set of references to companies whererepparttar 104297 same product / service was provided. Indicate thatrepparttar 104298 bidder should distinguish between industries in which these companies operate. This will allow you to judgerepparttar 104299 capability ofrepparttar 104300 bidder to supply your business needs, as well as have an understanding of your core business.

Self-Confidence Is The Key To Personal And Professional Success

Written by Michael Port


In my audio program Book Yourself Solid, The 7 Keys To Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing And Selling, I focus onrepparttar nitty gritty of what to do to get loads of clients butrepparttar 104195 real key and what I try to deep into is what you need to do for yourself to take action.

I think there are only two reasons for most any business problem:

1. You don’t know what to do 2. You know what to do but you’re not doing it

And, I also think that 90% of all business problems stem from number two. When I say business problems I mean… why we don’t achieve what we say we want to achieve… or why we don’t do what we say we want to do.

So, of course,repparttar 104196 next question you might ask is “why don’t we do what we know how to do?” Andrepparttar 104197 answer is…. we haven’t built uprepparttar 104198 self-confidence needed forrepparttar 104199 goal at hand.

Look… learning is easy… accumulating knowledge is easy. There are lots of people who know what you need to know and are willing to sharerepparttar 104200 information with you. So, again… why aren’t you doing what you say you want to do? Again, I say not enough self-confidence.

We’re born with high levels of confidence in certain areas and not in others. And it’s different for all of us. But we’ll need different levels of confidence depending on what we want to do with our lives. It takes one level of confidence to give a speech in front of 5 people and another level of confidence to give a speech in front of 500 and again, another level of confidence to speak in front of 5000. So, if you’re not working on developing your confidence and thinking bigger about who you are and what you offerrepparttar 104201 world, you very well may not put yourself in situations where you’d have an opportunity to present in front of 5000 people.

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