Digital, IT, ICT and Technology Bid Writers

Our IT and ICT bid writing team

Tsaks Consulting has a team of seven bid writers including two bid writing consultants specialising in IT and ICT bids across the UK. We have extensive experience and expertise in writing IT, Digital and ICT bids and proposals to the government and private sector.

Our experience includes writing digital bids including software, website development and design, security systems and network services, to name a few. We have assisted businesses and organisations from all major cities and regional areas such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Our team of expert writing consultants can help you:

• Respond to RFPs, SQQs, PPQs and other requests for quote.
• Write and respond to ICT and help write your applications to key frameworks.
• Prepare for large IT, Software and technology bids and tenders and identify contract opportunities
• Understand your competition and market. Help you develop with themes and a strategy to win large bids.
• Conduct a bid / no bid analysis to make sure you are bidding for contracts you have a strong chance of securing.
• Writing your responses from start to finish.
• Developing win themes and interweaving those themes throughout the bid.
• Project managing the tender process including communicating with all internal stakeholders, gathering input from Subject Matter experts and compiling the bid.
• Create engaging infographics and produce / submit the bid.

Writing IT Bids to Central Government Departments

Our team has experience writing IT and ICT bids extends to all central government departments. Examples of Government departments we have helped write bids to include:

• Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS): They are responsible for a wide range of digital and cultural initiatives. We have helped IT and ICT clients write bids, proposals and respond to RFPs to the DCMS. The broad range of IT service requirements they have include:
  • Digital Infrastructure: developing and maintaining broadband networks, 5G infrastructure and other digital connectivity needs.
  • Cybersecurity: Including protecting confidential data and government IT operating systems from Cyber Threats, undertaking threat intelligence and responding to cyber incidents.
  • The provision and implementation of content management systems. The department has a strong social media and other presence. Contracts for CMS and other associated services are critical.
  • Electronic government (E-Government) services: These are bids and contracts for services which enable citizens and businesses to communicate effectively with the government department.
• Department for Education (DfE): The education sector has unique IT and ICT requirements and our team has helped clients across the UK bid for and win IT and ICT contracts with the DfE. Examples of the types of IT bids we have helped clients write include:
  • Learning Management Systems (LMS): These are platforms designed to deliver online courses and assessments. We have worked with software providers and developers to bid for DfE contracts.
  • School Management Systems: For the provision of software that managed school administration tasks including attendance, timetable and finance.
  • IT Infrastructure: Including bids and tenders for hardware, software and network infrastructure.
• Department of health and Social Care (DHSC): We have experience working on both IT and Healthcare tenders and bids across the UK. Our team has helped It and ICT businesses apply for bids and contracts for the:
  • Provision of systems for the management of Electronic Health Records.
  • Provision of Software providing Clinical Information System
  • Remote monitoring of health and virtual consultation solutions (Telehealth).
  • Analytics services to analyse healthcare data and provide insights and solutions to drive strategies for improving patient outcomes.
• Ministry of Defence: There are a range of ICT contracts issued by the MoD for Defence services and other services.
• Home Office: These IT and ICT contracts often relate to immigration and law enforcement needs. Our bid writers have helped software companies write bids to Home Office.

Examples of Trusts, Frameworks and other Government Departments that commonly release tenders include:

• Frameworks:
  • Crown Commercial Service (CCS): We have extensive experience writing bids for the CCS framework which you can read about here. The CCS manage a large amount of IT and ICT related frameworks including software, hardware, consultancy and IT support.
  • G-Cloud: This framework is designed for cloud-based services. We have helped many businesses that deliver IaaS, PaaS and SaaS Services submit bids for G-Cloud Frameworks. You can read more about our experience here.
  • Digital Marketplace: This framework was developed specifically to procure digital and technology services. Our team has helped software and data companies bid for the digital marketplace framework.
• Trusts:
  • NHS Digital: This is the Digital Arm of the NHS. Tenders to NHS digital require a mixture of IT and ICT bid writing experience with NHS bid writing experience. You need to integrate the NHS protocols and aims of patient outcomes into your IT bid and solution.
  • Education and Training Foundation: This foundation issues a range of contracts associate with ICT services.

The types of IT and ICT contracts and bids our bid writers have assisted our clients with

Our team of bid and tender writers have experience writing bids for a range of different types of IT and ICT services including managed services. These include:

• IT Strategy and Consulting: We help IT consultants write bids for the provision of advisory services associated with IT strategies, business case analysis and IT Governance.
• IT Infrastructure Services: We have written bids for IT equipment supply companies and other IT infrastructure service providers for the provision and management of IT infrastructure. This covers hardware, software and networking. We have helped write bids for the installation of network infrastructure (including LAN and WAN) and other connections). We have also written bids for the design, construction and operation of data centres and telecommunications infrastructure such as mobiles and fixed line.
• Software Application Development and Maintenance: We have helped software companies bid for the development and maintenance of software applications. These bids have been to the government as well as private sector and a number of trusts and frameworks. Our experience includes helping software companies write bids for custom software development, the implementation of off-the-shelf software packages and providing software maintenance and support. We work closely with a number of ‘approved suppliers’ for global software companies to bid for key bids and tenders.
• The provision of cloud-based services: Our team has helped write and win bids for IaaS, PaaS and SaaS contracts.
• IT and ICT helpdesk and support services: We understand the methodology and practical requirements of providing IT and ICT helpdesk services. We have helped our helpdesk and managed services clients to write bids to the government and private sector for the provision of helpdesk services.
• Cybersecurity: Including writing bids for Cyber security consultants and service providers providing consultancy services, firewalls and encryption software and training and awareness programs.

Strategies to win more IT, Technology, Digital and ICT Tenders and Bids

ICT, Digital, Technology and IT tenders in England are generally highly complex and technical. Procurement teams have a range of subject matter experts involved in the procurement process who will review the tender responses and provide them with advice. This means you need to tick the boxes of the procurement team whilst satisfying the relevant subject matter experts. So what can you do to win? There is no set formula. Here are some key learnings we have developed over the past eight years helping our IT clients win Government sector tenders and framework appointments:

• Leverage on your vendors if they are big brand names. Maybe you are IBM, which is great. However, if you are not IBM, then that’s fine. In order to give yourself more credibility, think about who your suppliers are? Will you be using Microsoft Azure for example? if you will be then you should leverage on it be talking about your proposed suppliers and leveraging on their credibility in the clients eyes. It’s also important to talk about your relationship with those vendors and any specific accreditations you have. You should also took about your track record in implementing solutions on behalf of the vendor for different other project and clients.
• Comprehensively answer each question. This is important as it takes time. You need to invest the appropriate resources to allow time to answer each question comprehensively. In many ICT tenders and bids, disaster recovery processes can be just important as the service you are actually providing. Therefore, it’s important in order to secure a contract, that you essentially do a good job of the response. The best approach is to brainstorm each question and develop a  structure for your response. Ensure you interpret the
• Detail how you will deliver real value. IT and Technology contracts are generally quite complex. It’s important that you demonstrate clearly to the buyer how you will deliver value. Not just in the short to medium term, but over the entire course of the contract. You need to show that you have the team, experience and systems and processes to deliver value over the term of the contract and will will maintain a high level of quality throughout the contracts for all services.
• Clearly explain your technical solution. If you are providing software solutions, or other technical solutions as part of your bid, these need to be clearly and simply explained. Although the subject matter experts on the procurement team will understand the technical jargon, decisions in procurement are often made by government personnel who are not overly technical. You need to appeal to both readers. Use graphics, infographics and mock-ups to explain the solutions you are providing. Adopt a simple and concise writing style. Use simple English where possible.
• Conduct a thorough bid/no bid analysis. This is important as we have seen many clients over the years get excited at an opportunity and bid for a tender they didn’t have a real chance of winning. Conduct a thorough opportunity analysis to ensure you are bidding for an opportunity that you have a real chance of winning. Make sure you meet the minimum requirements and that you have the required experience and qualifications.
• Demonstrate that you understand the requirements and have proposed an excellent solution: Read through the technical specifications with an open mind. Look at what they have listed, and then think about their overall aim of objective. I.e. What solution are they looking for and what problem or issue is the client faced with. Ask yourself – Do they have a specific product, piece of equipment, service or software in mind and do the technical specifications reflect this? If you are able to meet the requirements, back up all your statements and claims with evidence. References and testimonials from previous clients are always good. Attach copies of key policies and procedures that prove you have the right systems and processes in place.
• Don’t get complacent if you are the incumbent contract holder. For many of our clients who for example, are already on the Cloud-13 Framework, re-submitting for the same ITT or framework (in this case Cloud-14) can lead to complacency. The reality is that the client can only award marks for what is written down – even if you have close working relationships with all the procurement team and they know your business very well. Therefore, don’t make any assumptions and include detailed information where possible on your services, solution and capabilities.
• Ensure you have all the registrations and accreditations in place. This includes the Cyber Essentials accreditation among others. In order to secure a government tender, they all need to be up to date. In addition, make sure the have the correct documentation for data protection, information governance, security and risk management systems. Sometimes, it can be frustrating responding to questions which you don’t think are relevant to the actual service or technical solution you are tendering for. However, disaster recovery and risk management are a strong area of focus by government for any IT, ICT or Cyber tender and need to be comprehensively addressed.

What is contract disaggregation

Contract disaggregation is the methodology followed by the UK Government whereby they split large IT sector contracts up into smaller min–contracts. This leads to an opportunity for many small and medium enterprise contracts to secure public sector contracts.

You can forecast when tender opportunities will arise and develop a strategy to network with potential buyers. IT, Telecommunications and and ICT companies large and small can now more easily bid for tenders and contracts with the UK Government across the UK.

Contact our team for help with your next technology, IT, ICT or digital bid

Speak to our team of bid writers today about how we can help you with your next technology bid. Email info@tsaksconsulting.com or contact us through our contact us page.