Are you an IT company looking to secure your first government contract?
Would you like to be appointed to a Framework for Digital Technology such as the Cloud-14 Framework?
Have you submitted bids to UK Government Departments in the past with limited success and want to know why?
Do you need extra help with your bid writing because you are so busy running your day to day business?
Are you a small to medium businesses looking to win more government contracts?
Are you an international or multinational businesses looking to break in to the UK market?
Our team here at Tsaks Consulting can help with all our IT, ICT, Digital and Technology bid and tender writing needs
Our team her at Tsaks Consulting is here to help. We have extensive experience and expertise in writing IT, Digital and ICT bids and proposals to the government and private sector across the UK. This includes writing digital bids including Software, Website development and design, Security systems and Network services, to name a few. This includes assisting businesses from all major cities and regional areas including London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.
Our team of expert writing consultants can help you:
- Respond to SQQ and PQQ.
- 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.
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 tender
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.