 Tendering For Success
New guidelines for small & medium enterprises targeting public sector contracts
Small and medium sized enterprises on both sides of the border now have a much greater chance of success when tendering into the public sector for new business following the publication of a new booklet – Public Sector Tender Submission Guidelines. The practical Guide has been written by well known local ICT consultant Noel Brady, in association with InterTradeIreland, Momentum and the Irish Software Association.
The Guidelines are set out in a user-friendly and informal fashion and try to reduce the complexity of bidding for tenders. Amongst a host of other useful information, the Guidelines list the main reasons why tenders into the public sector fail and details the steps that can be taken to address these failings
Noel Brady, Managing Director, Consult Nb1 Limited said: “Following a series of discussions between interested organisations such as InterTradeIreland and Momentum, the body which represents Northern Ireland's information, communications and technology (ICT) industry, it became apparent that there was a need for a comprehensive, non-jargon Guide for SMEs that have experienced limited or no success in tendering for public sector business. In fact, while the Guidelines are mainly aimed at the ICT market, they will be useful to any company operating into the public sector, even the larger, more experienced organisations will be able to leverage some useful tips.”
Grant Gilmore of InterTradeIreland said, “This is an excellent initiative and a very important business publication for companies on both sides of the border who want to improve their hit rate into the public sector. Noel has managed to bring his considerable experienced of dealing with the public sector to bear on a booklet that’s full of really useful information, advice and tips. I would encourage any business who is serious about winning public sector tenders to get it, read it and put its contents into practice.”
One of the many useful pieces of advice which the booklet provides is that for anyone trying to penetrate the public sector marketplace, a certain degree of effort and expenditure must be put into building a company’s profile and creating an awareness of its products and services.
“It would be foolish – or at best wishful thinking – for a company to expect that they can respond successfully to a public sector tender if the Department or Agency to which they are tendering has never heard of them”, comments Noel Brady. “On the unique occasion this approach might work but the odds are stacked against it. In these Guidelines I have also given some advice on the elements within a business that may need to be looked at for building and planning an awareness campaign”, he adds.
Dr Ian Graham of Momentum said, “While a lot of our members are well versed in engaging with the public sector tendering process there is always room for improvement and this tailor-made Guidline is an excellent reference manual for members to ensure that they are presenting their business case in the best possible light. I think companies will find it extremely useful as it has been written by someone who has a considerable amount of success engaging with the public sector generally and tender procedures specifically.”
Some of the key sections addresses in the Guidelines are:
•how to identify and evaluate whether or not it is worthwhile submitting a bid for a particular contract,
•bid planning and management,
•formulating a proposal checklist,
•the importance of including an executive or management summary in any proposal
•the response to mandatory requirements in proposals
The guidelines also include a list of useful contacts and sources of information on the tendering process.
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