Cunniffe & Helm are experienced working on both the supplier and procurement sides of private and state tenders for IT equipment and infrastructure. Our technical expertise can be used to help design tenders and assess responses, achieving the best solutions and value for money.
We can also help preparing responses to tenders, with our in-depth technical knowledge, experience in quality control and assurance processes and understanding of requirements for public contracts.
Key Areas
Data Collection & Research
A successful procurement cycle or response to any tender is based on a deep understanding of the solutions and outcomes required. We work to look at the industry and the marketplace, thinking outside of preconceptions, to identify possible solutions and opportunities and how best to leverage or deliver them.
Solution Design & Documentation
As the heart of a tender response, solution design will fundamentally define if your solution meets the procurement criteria. Our technical design expertise can help detail and document the solutions your tender response will supply, demonstrating through documentation how they meet the requirements of the purchaser.
As a procurement partner, we build templates against which suppliers’ solution designs can be assessed, defining key pass/fail criteria and weighted scoring for other elements.
Deployment Planning & Quality Control
When submitting a tender response, delivery timelines are often a key scoring element, but ensuring the timelines you have committed to are realistic is important both for your cash flow and the credibility of your solution. The same applies for the processes you use to ensure the quality of your delivery. We work with you to build a deployment and QC plan that delivers these.
For procurement processes, we apply our industry experience to validate suppliers’ submissions, looking at the viability of their deployment plans and how realistic timescales are to ensure a consistently high quality of delivery.
Supplier Viability
Once a supplier is selected through a procurement exercise, performing due diligence helps ensure that they will be able to deliver the solution they have committed to. We look at the resources and finances available to the supplier to deliver, the impacts delivery may have on the supplier’s cash flow, and the long-term sustainability of the supplier to support their implementation system.
From the supplier side, we can help you make an early assessment of the suitability of a tender, ensuring it is a tender the business can and wants to commit to and not something that may be too much of a financial or resource drain. Our experience in building tender responses can be leveraged to help you provide reassurance to the procuring companies from the outset.
Project Financial Model
We help build and analyse your project financial model (PFM), looking at long-term revenues, OPEX risks, cash flow analysis and compliance with your solution design. We assess areas for savings, where contingency should be included, and the costs vs rewards of increasing or decreasing the delivery speed.
As a procurement partner, we look to lay down a standardised PFM framework with which suppliers can respond and against which they can easily be graded. We work to assess responses, looking for any inaccuracies or weaknesses that need exploring.
Compliance & Assurance
For tenders where there are specific compliance or assurance requirements, we look at what frameworks can be used to speed up the assessment process. We provide independent evidence of compliance, either as a one-off assurance exercise at the point of completion or through regular auditing.
Procurement Assessment/Grading
Working on the side of the buyer, we can design the assessment framework by which tender responses will be graded. Based on your requirements, this will clearly define pass/fail requirements for suppliers and areas where their solutions will be scored against competitors and how. Putting transparent scoring systems in place before the tender is released helps ensure the quality and consistency of tenders is high and in line with your requirements.
Tender/Procurement Process Management
Cunniffe & Helm operate as a procurement partner to:
- Identify suitable suppliers and stimulate interest.
- Design and create the procurement pack.
- Design the scoring mechanism.
- Ensure compliance and assurance throughout the process.
- Assess supplier responses.
For more details and to discuss your specific procurement support requirements, please get in touch.