RFP and RFQ Postings in Texas
In order to be awarded local Texas government bids, suppliers must first understand how potential public work at home opportunities are solicited. Texas government bids can be posted on the public through a variety of acronyms. The two most common are RFPs and RFQs. Both represent the requirement for a good or service to become outsourced, however, each are unique. RFPs (obtain proposal) are the more extensive of the two solicitations. Project documentation for an RFP will rarely be below 10 pages long. When distributing an RFP, Texas purchasing departments should learn many information on potential suppliers, including corporate history, personal history, finances, examples of similar projects completed, employee records, etc. The supplier that gives the greatest overall value, will most likely win anything. As expected, RFPs are usually awarded with a much higher price. RFQs (obtain quotes) are mainly based on cost. Typically, the supplier that provides the most competitive price will likely be awarded the Texas bid opportunity. Other factors might still be considered, just not towards the same extent being an RFP. RFQs usually are for products that could be mass produced or services which are not as complex. RFPs are often associated with "professional services" being sourced by Texas city agencies.
Texas Public Solicitation Search Process
Before answering a bid posting, suppliers must first locate open solicitations that match up to its business. The process can be very cumbersome and quite often frustrating. Local Texas government agencies are not needed to post open bids to a single, centralized location. This means that solicitations can be published by having a variety of outlets, without real consistency. Traditionally, local Texas RFPs and RFQs are published inside the local newspaper, or with a community bulletin board. Many suppliers may also check individual Texas purchasing department websites or call the federal government organizations for recently posted solicitations. As you can imagine, this process can waste both time and resources. New technologies have opened the entranceway to cloud-based bid systems. Through city electronic purchasing groups, suppliers can talk with Texas buying agencies on a centralized, web-based platform.
Finding Bids through the Texas Bid System
The ability for Texas businesses to thrive through partnership with local government is growing. However, finding open RFPs and RFQs, without wasting a lot of time and resources is constantly be a struggle. Bids are being posted publically in Texas, though the lack of an even outlet becomes frustrating. This is why many suppliers have begun seeking local Texas government bid opportunities with the Texas Bid System. The bid system is designed for town and helps connect suppliers with open solicitations through its web-based buying platform. The Texas Bid System currently partners with 24 local Texas government agencies, supplying the ability to publish RFPs and RFQs with the click of your mouse. Through the bid system, registered suppliers are automatically notified of bids matching its business industry. To date, over 7,700 solicitations are already posted by 623 local Texas government agency departments. Vendors simply register to start receiving targeted Texas municipality bid alerts via email. Register online to begin receive Texas RFPs and RFQs in one, centralized location, for the Texas Bid System, for Texas Government Bids.
Local Texas Government Bid Opportunities
03/19/2014 17:51Streamlining Supplier Management
03/19/2014 15:22Automated Cloud-Based Supplier Database
From adding new suppliers to your purchasing organization's vendor list, to ensuring all supplier contact information is up-to-date and accurate, it's vital to take care of a clean supplier database. Without correct supplier attributes, starting a qualified vendor pool for open solicitations can become compromised, even causing a complete contracting failure. Manually keeping tabs of an supplier database is time intensive and could become a large burden around the purchasing staff. The use of your cloud-based procurement supplier management solution can simplify the process. Through an e-procurement bid system, suppliers can register themselves on a centralized online database and contact facts are kept up-to-date automatically. By opting to automate supplier management, purchasing organizations can evaluate qualified suppliers at the click of your mouse and with 24 hour access and convenience. An automated supplier database eliminates the headache of maintaining a precise supplier database to cause a more efficient, qualified vendor shopping process.
Supplier Diversity Through e-Procurement
With a shifted focus towards increasing transparency and meeting business compliance standards, it's important for buying organizations to maintain a diverse supplier rolodex. Through the use of the supplier management solution, purchasing departments can gain better visibility of the suppliers' attributes. An automated cloud-based vendor database maintains an exact, sortable directory supplier information including industry certifications, MWDBE, demographics, location, and internal, configurable supplier attributes. Furthermore, an e-procurement managed supplier pool makes auditing simple, allowing purchasing departments to easily report and track diversity criteria employed to qualify vendors from the bid evaluation process.
SourceSuite's E-Procurement Supplier Management Solution
BidNet's e-procurement solution, SourceSuite, eliminates manual procurement processes through its automated supplier management features. SourceSuite takes control of the supplier registration process, with contact info updated directly through the vendor. Its centralized supplier database gives purchasing organizations the opportunity to contact all of the company's qualified suppliers from one location, 24/7.
SourceSuite now offers pre-qualification and/or invitational bidding, allowing procurement professionals to build qualified supplier competition according to industry capabilities, diversity requirements or other attributes. SourceSuite's custom attributes feature takes pre-qualification a measure further in supplier management tools. Purchasing departments can ensure specific qualifications are met by defining what additional attribute information a supplier must provide before sending its bid proposal. SourceSuite currently helps over 900 buying organizations across the county using its configurable purchasing solution. SourceSuite's automated supplier management tools are just one of the many features to help you streamline the procurement solutions
Colorado Government Bid Types: RFQs, RFPs and RFIs
02/21/2014 17:39Colorado Government Bids
The first sort of solicitation is often referred to as a Colorado bid. This price dependant bid can also be known as invitation to bid (ITBs), informal bids (IFBs) or get quotes (RFQs). Local Colorado governments have to bid out purchases above a certain threshold. Within Colorado, a proposal threshold varies by local buying agency. For example, during the same form of municipal government, bid threshold limits can vary:
City of Aspen, Colorado: <$10,000 informal bid threshold
City of Boulder, Colorado: <$50,000 informal bid threshold
City of Lakewood, Colorado: <$25,000 informal bid threshold
Within many local or local government statutes, it really is required that these informal contracts be awarded for the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.
Colorado RFPs
The bid threshold and statutes surrounding formal Colorado bids differ. Many formal bids are for goods or services more advanced in nature, that price is not the only consideration and people purchases may fall under an RFP category.
Request for proposal (RFP) is primarily used by Colorado city agencies for IT as well as other professional services. RFPs can also be used when the overall "plan" outweighs the pricing.
Local Colorado governments use RFPs to acquire services, as a way of seeking competition while considering factors along with price. When a Colorado buying organization uses an RFP to acquire services, the company itself decides what the timeline is as well as the proposal evaluation criteria. It is up to each government agency to decide what process will best balance its needs with the specific Colorado RFP depending on criteria which may include (1) top quality services, (2) value, (3) transparency, (4) efficiency, and (5) fairness.
Colorado RFIs or Information Requests
The final type of solicitation and related documents you will note used by Colorado governments can be a Request for Information or RFI. RFIs usually are not used to procure goods or services directly, but instead are used to solicit details about purchases or projects which can be planned to get procured in the foreseeable future. Many local Colorado agencies utilize RFIs to survey the marketplace and help them actually build an RFP based on their informational findings. There is no contract to become won with a Colorado government RFI, nonetheless it may pave the way for a relationship and better consideration from the specifications of an future Colorado RFP.
Finding Colorado RFQs, RFPs, RFIs along with other Solicitations
The Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System is a web based bid system used by over 100 local Colorado gov departments for their procurement needs. Find Colorado bids, RFPs, RFIs and all related documents about the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System.
Check out Colorado solicitations
Electronic Bid Distribution in Michigan
02/21/2014 15:38Michigan Procurement: A Cost Cutting Measure
With budget crunching and spend management coming to the forefront of public procurement, using electronic RFP distribution is really a no brainer for local Michigan government agencies. Manually posting and distributing open bids is a process that wastes valuable local Michigan tax dollars. Electronic document distribution allows to get an organization paperless, eliminating printing expenses related to long local Michigan RFP or RFQ documentation. It also greatly reduces postage costs, including large mailings to vendors and wasted spending on postal returns from suppliers who have relocated. The cost of salaried Michigan procurement employees can even be better allocated, shifting the main objective from manual tasks to strategic sourcing initiatives.
Michigan Procurement Resources
Beyond saving cash, Michigan purchasing agencies are saving valuable resources by taking out the cumbersome paper process. Through electronic document distribution, Michigan purchasing professionals no more have to spend your time stuffing envelopes with RFP documentation, spend hours in the fax machine or manually track suppliers who have received bid documentation. It also enables for the local Michigan bid process to get a faster turnaround time. Suppliers can receive open solicitations instantaneously and on the luxury of any internet-ready device. Communications is likewise greatly reduced. Instead of having to track down RFP documents that never reached a supplier, Michigan purchasing professionals can easily direct vendors to check their email, or even resend documents with the click of your mouse. By sending bid documentation simultaneously through electronic bid distribution, local Michigan procurement professionals will no longer have to worry about most of the causes of vendor protests – ultimately leading with a more transparent procurement process.
The MITN Purchasing Group
Michigan government departments are evolving the purchasing process through the application of a cloud-based procurement system: The MITN Purchasing Group. MITN offers Michigan public purchasing agencies comprehensive electronic document distribution solution, amongst many different other e-procurement features. The MITN Purchasing Group currently provides its bid and vendor management solutions for 124 local Michigan government agencies. Local Michigan agencies searching for a streamlined bid distribution and vendor management solution should preferably join the MITN Purchasing Group today. Vendors thinking about doing business with local Michigan government agencies can join the system directly online to start receiving open bid notifications. Visit the Michigan e-procurement website !
Local Vendor Outreach in New Mexico
02/17/2014 18:08Benefits to Targeting Local Vendors
New Mexico purchasing departments are turning to local suppliers for several reasons. In terms of price, local vendors can provide agencies an edge. One of the most important aspects in the supplier shopping process is the face-to-face meeting. A meeting obviously can't be scheduled, at the reasonable price, if the vendor lives in the united states from the New Mexico purchasing agency. Also, an area supplier offer a shorter supply chain, quicker delivery reducing transportation costs, let alone potential hospitality expenses associated with an RFP which needs to be completed on-site. Lastly, regional vendors will have a better knowledge of the local New Mexico market and use a reputation (whether positive or negative) within a nearby community.
Using local suppliers in New Mexico can also show strong social morality. Increased local vendor outreach demonstrates support for that community, resulting in good PR and revenue generated back into the buying agencies' county, town, village, etc. From a salestax standpoint, local vendors are able to do business with the New Mexico purchasing department without any tax generated, as the buying organization can be taxing itself. The long-term economic health inside a regional is very important and should be considered a top priority of municipality officials, including the purchasing department.
E-Procurement and New Mexico
The introduction and advancement of cloud-based procurement, higher quality as e-procurement, has transitioned local New Mexico government with a streamlined, web-based purchasing process. Through online purchasing systems and regional e-procurement purchasing groups, New Mexico local gov departments are increasing local awareness by publically posting open bid opportunities inside a centralized, electronic location. An e-procurement bid system offers New Mexico buying agencies an opportunity to raise local outreach efforts through its simple registration process and intuitive purchasing platform. Local suppliers can access New Mexico bids posted with the agency from any internet-ready device and at their convenience.
The New Mexico Purchasing Group
Over 20 local New Mexico gov departments have decided to express resources via a regional bid system, the New Mexico Purchasing Group. Powered by BidNet's e-procurement solution, SourceSuite, the New Mexico Purchasing Group connects 309 purchasing departments from the state of New Mexico to some centralized, online bid platform. Once registered, local suppliers join a single database maintained by the system, along with other vendors around the world. Registered suppliers are automatically notified of solicitations within their industry posted for the purchasing platform. The New Mexico Purchasing Group is simplifying purchasing and connecting government departments with suppliers inside local community making it easier to get new mexico bids
Local Vendor Outreach in New Mexico
02/17/2014 16:27Benefits to Targeting Local Vendors
New Mexico purchasing departments are checking out local suppliers for assorted reasons. In terms of price, local vendors can give agencies an advantage. One of the most important aspects in the supplier selection process is the face-to-face meeting. A meeting obviously can't be scheduled, at the reasonable price, in the event the vendor lives around the world from the New Mexico purchasing agency. Also, a local supplier offer a shorter supply chain, quicker delivery minimizing transportation costs, let alone potential hospitality costs associated with an RFP which needs to be completed on-site. Lastly, regional vendors are more likely to have a better knowledge of the local New Mexico market and have a very reputation (whether positive or negative) within the area community.
Using local suppliers in New Mexico also can show strong social morality. Increased local vendor outreach demonstrates support to the community, resulting in good PR and revenue generated back into the buying agencies' county, town, village, etc. From a salestax standpoint, local vendors are capable of doing business with the New Mexico purchasing department with no tax generated, since the buying organization would be taxing itself. The long-term economic health in just a regional is essential and should be a top priority of city officials, such as the purchasing department.
E-Procurement and New Mexico
The introduction and growth of cloud-based procurement, higher quality as e-procurement, has transitioned local New Mexico government with a streamlined, web-based purchasing process. Through online purchasing systems and regional e-procurement purchasing groups, New Mexico local government departments are increasing local awareness by publically posting open bid opportunities inside a centralized, electronic location. An e-procurement bid system offers New Mexico buying agencies an opportunity to raise local outreach efforts through its simple registration process and intuitive purchasing platform. Local suppliers can access New Mexico bids posted by the agency from any internet-ready tool and at their convenience.
The New Mexico Purchasing Group
Over 20 local New Mexico government departments have decided to talk about resources via a regional bid system, the New Mexico Purchasing Group. Powered by BidNet's e-procurement solution, SourceSuite, the New Mexico Purchasing Group connects 309 purchasing departments within the state of New Mexico to some centralized, online bid platform. Once registered, local suppliers join just one database maintained with the system, with other vendors nationwide. Registered suppliers are automatically notified of solicitations in their industry posted on the purchasing platform. The New Mexico Purchasing Group is simplifying purchasing and connecting government departments with suppliers within the local community making it easier to get new mexico RFP
RFP Addenda and Local New York Government Solicitations
01/16/2014 14:27What is Addendum?
An addendum, generally speaking, can be an addition to some document after its printing or publication. Local New York government may publish addenda to announce additional requirements and specifications needed for the bid project or changes for the original RFP solicitation. For example, an addendum could possibly be added on the original RFP with a new proposal deadline or with additional details on the specific good or service needed. An addendum is surely an ad-hoc item, usually containing specifics not discussed in the main documentation.
The Importance of Viewing RFP Addenda
Local New York government often position the responsibility on suppliers to seek out any addendum associated with a solicitation matching their business. Ensuring receipt of addenda is challenging if the New York purchasing agency isn't using a centralized platform to announce its RFPs and open bids. Vendors tend to sometimes overlook, or perhaps miss additional documents altogether. This can become problematic, specifically when the addendum includes details which might be essential to address in an offer proposal. Unfortunately, in case a supplier does not acknowledge specifications in a addendum, they will often have a proposal rejected all together. It's vital for vendors to learn all documentation associated with a New York government solicitation whether they have hopes of being awarded the bid.
How to Ensure You Receive Addendum to RFPs
Many suppliers are embracing online bid systems to guarantee the receipt of addenda and municipality New-York bids. In New York, the Empire State Bid System is a purchasing band of 155 counties, cities, school districts and special districts located across New York State. Hosted by BidNet's e-procurement solution, SourceSuite, the Empire State Bid System connects participating agencies and a large number of suppliers with a centralized, web-based platform for bids and solicitations. Its addendum management feature ensures suppliers that they'll be notified of the addendum associated with bids inside their industry. Suppliers can make to receive automatic notification of addendum or additional document modification sent straight away to their email inbox. To date, nearly 47,000 solicitations are already posted by 2,308 local purchasing departments with the system. Vendors simply register online to obtain targeted bid alerts and addenda. Registered suppliers benefit by receiving RFPs, bids, addenda and award information in a single, centralized location.
Finding Local Colorado Government Bids
01/16/2014 12:57Types of Local Agencies Buying
Local government and non-for-profit agencies within Colorado will include a wide range of public entities. Nearly every municipality entity purchases products or services for its agency to operate. Most counties or municipal governments (cities and towns within Colorado) possess a purchasing manager or an entire purchasing department with buyers and research specialists. Many Colorado government agencies possess a "centralized" purchasing department that submits and evaluates bids and proposals for your agency departments. A "de-centralized" purchasing department may still have a head (manager) in charge of strategic sourcing, however each department within the public buying organization writes, submits, evaluates and awards its RFPs and bids. Public school districts within Colorado each have a purchasing department also. Other public organizations or "special districts" within Colorado also publish RFPs and bid opportunities. Libraries, Fire Authorities, publically funded hospitals, park divisions, police departments, public utilities and transportation authorities are included. Colorado has over 1,400 special district governments. Many of these are small , do not execute a lot of purchasing, however combining their purchasing power can often mean big business to your company. There are many government departments and departments within Colorado buying from local vendors.
Colorado Public Agencies Purchasing Goods and Services
From pencils to computers, from janitorial supplies to landscaping contracts, from professional engineering contracts to concrete… public agencies within Colorado are requesting all sorts of goods, services and construction bids. The majority of businesses within Colorado will discover at least one bid from a town agency which fits its offerings. IT, janitorial, landscaping, commodities, office equipment and construction tend to be the types of many current RFPs in Colorado. The time of the season also plays a sizable role, generally there are many snow removal bids outstanding within Colorado. Current open Colorado municipality bids range from "Golf Cart Fleet Replacement" to "High School Gym Floor Replacement" to "HP Computer Repair" to "Office Remodel" and a variety of RFPs and bid opportunities between.
Finding the Local Colorado Agency RFPS
Many suppliers have discovered the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System to get the best place to discover Colorado RFP and bid opportunities. The bid system unites nearly 100 local Colorado public agencies buying for longer than 1,400 departments with 1000s of local and national vendors. The Rocky Mountain bid system's participating buying organizations have published nearly 17,000 RFPs and bid opportunities for the bid system since its inception. The Rocky Mountain bid system unites Check out Colorado and Wyoming e purchasing departments to talk about resources within the region. Local Colorado vendors benefit from having access and receiving bid alerts from multiple agencies and departments from through the entire state. Vendors create a profile, defining their business offerings and so are automatically matched to municipality bid opportunities that align with all the vendors' offerings. Registration is simple around the bid system and vendors gain access to all participating city agencies' bids, not merely one or two buying organizations. Finding local Colorado RFPs is not a problem for vendors using the Rocky Mountain bid system.
Data inside the Procurement Process
01/15/2014 18:39Data Found through Vendors
Collecting, tracking and analyzing purchasing data through an e-procurement solution provides organizations with multiple advantages within the evaluation of suppliers. For example, the ability to track vendors which may have downloaded your RFP documentation or any corresponding addenda, by time and date, will help justify which vendors are most conscious of the bid opportunity. Data also gives purchasing professionals a grasp on the effectiveness of supplier outreach initiatives. Knowing the quantity of vendors inside a "pool" on an upcoming RFP might help your buying organization gauge vendor participation. Categorizing suppliers under a particular group of commodity codes may also prove to be valuable data. Using standard coding for example NIGP codes (government procurement), NAICS codes, SIC codes or even an internal categorization structure are all common practices within e-procurement for choosing organizations in addition to their vendors. Justifying decisions through data inside supplier evaluation and shopping process are crucial in remaining accountable.
Transparent Data
Transparency in purchasing can be carried out and maintained with an e-procurement solution. Whether it's your organization's president, board of directors, other internal stakeholders or even tax payers and external audits, the supplier selection process will always be questioned and evaluated. Providing data much like the percentage of local or women-owned businesses who have been awarded bids, the overall variety of suppliers who have been sent RFP information, and/or a dysfunction of qualifications and pricing for each vendor proposal received, can solidify compliance requirements. Tracking who are able to access data and establishing approval workflows inside your purchasing plan, greatly limits the chance of internal data corruption.
Reporting Data
Data collection and reporting could be a daunting task at times. Using a procurement system simplifies data collection and analysis by automating the task. By utilizing a centralized, online purchasing platform, organizations can automate customizable data reports and the authorization process for internal users. Information through the entire entire purchasing process might be tracked from bid submissions to award information. Statistics, including bid tabulation, results and vendor information, can be made provided by simply the click of an mouse. Purchasing departments slow up the amount of time used on manually compiling data using a solution containing pre-made robust reports and will feel comfortable with a secure environment they control. Many government procurement solutions have customizable and easily configurable reports too.
Procurement Solutions with the Emphasis on Data
Finding an e-procurement software or software-as-a-service solution which include extensive data tracking and reporting functionalities is important. SourceSuite, a cloud based e-procurement solution, posseses an extensive data measurement module that ensures each bit of purchasing facts are audited and tracked. Buying organizations in all industries can configure procurement reports to keep up high degrees of transparency and accountability inside sourcing evaluation process. Features including audit and reporting, custom reports and a centralized buyer report dashboard are a part of SourceSuite's data measurement solution. With easy-to-export information, SourceSuite allows you to securely measure and analyze important data all over the country bidding process.
Airport Purchasing Streamlined
01/15/2014 17:05What is E-Procurement?
E-Procurement is described as electronic procurement where effort is done online rather than the previous "paper" and manual process. E-Procurement includes different facets of the procurement process including bid and RFP preparation, document (including RFP and addendum) management, internal approval workflow, bid management, vendor management and award management. Airport authorities and government agencies in purchasing for local airports will work with e-procurement providers to save time, resources and ultimately decrease costs associated with the purchasing process.
E-Procurement Benefits for Airport Purchasing Departments
The airport purchasing department adoption rate with an e-procurement option is growing each and every year. One from the largest advantages of moving the bid and vendor management processes on the internet is that it allows the purchasing department more time to concentrate on strategic procurement initiatives rather than repetitive tasks. Paperless bids are becoming a common practice among airport authorities and also other public entities. Going paperless with bid management and distribution saves the airport authority cash direct printing and mailing costs together with time spent on these tasks. Not only is this outdated paper process of printing and mailing RFPs time-consuming, it also may not be as transparent as procurement guidelines of airport authorities are required to be. The main advantages of e-procurement software for airport buying organizations include lowering costs, saving resources and transparent bid and vendor management.
What can be Purchased via E-Procurement?
Typically, an airport authority purchasing team will support many departments inside the organization. From construction needs and professional engineering services to janitorial supplies and concessions, an e-procurement solution using the right vendor management and bid management tools can be used all purchasing needs. With internal client management and approval workflows, e-procurement tools allow an airport setting governance rules regarding proper procurement approaches for internal departments to follow along with. Departments typically using the airport procurement team for purchasing include:
* Administrative Offices
* Aircraft Rescue & Firefighters
* Airfield Maintenance
* Building Maintenance
* Departure
* Engineering
* Equipment Maintenance
* Finance
* Janitorial
* Parking
* Terminal
* Vehicle Maintenance
Airport Procurement Solutions
There are e-procurement solutions open to airport authorities and buying organizations starting from a private bid system to some shared purchasing group that connects other local public buying organizations. In the state of Colorado, by way of example, the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System is the procurement home for up to 100 local public authorities and government agencies with its bid system. This shared bid system connects the population buying organizations to 1000s of local and national vendors and allows airport authorities and organizations such as the Denver International Airport and Centennial Airport bid management, document distribution, award management and vendor management tools using an online procurement solution. SourceSuite manages multiple regional purchasing groups, like the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, through the country and also private bid systems airport authorities. SourceSuite bid systems help airport procurement departments streamline their purchasing process. It is important to find an e-procurement solution which is the best fit to your airport buying organization by talking with other airport purchasing professionals, researching the SourceSuite e-procurement features and requesting an online demonstration in the airport government procurement solutions