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Find Information Technology Tenders with This Checklist!

Posted on by John Hudson

Information technology tenders: What should you look for in a contract?

Before you start bidding for information technology tenders, you need to know what to look for in a contract. Luckily for you, the Technology Tenders Team are here to help.

By the end of this blog, you’ll know which contracts are most suitable for your business. As well as which ones to avoid!

What should you look for in a contract?

Next time you begin your search for information technology tenders, remember to ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do you have enough experience?

This is crucial. The buyer will expect to see case studies that demonstrate your experience with information technology tenders. These should be similar in size, scope and complexity to the buyer’s project.

Without this experience, it’ll be difficult for your business to stand out from the competition. So, you need to keep this in mind when you begin your tender search.

  • Is it financially viable? 

Tendering for contracts can be a lengthy, time-consuming process, that requires plenty of your time and resources. Therefore, you need to make sure that the information technology tenders you go for will actually benefit your business. In other words, you need to ensure that you’ll make a profit from the work. Otherwise, the time and resources you use to produce your tender response will go to waste.

Not only that, but there’s little point in tendering for work that won’t benefit your business in the long run. For example, imagine if you spent six months completing a project that didn’t result in a profit. That time would be better spent on delivering projects that are financially viable.

  • Do you meet the financial standing? 

Another thing that you should consider when bidding for information technology tenders is whether you meet the financial standing.

What do we mean by this? Well, sometimes, a contract will require suppliers to meet financial requirements before they can bid for the work. For example, you might need to reach a certain annual turnover before you become eligible for the contract.

So, when you’re looking for tenders, make sure you don’t choose contracts worth more than 50% of your annual turnover.

  • Can you offer something unique in the market?

Before you begin your search for information technology tenders, take a step back and assess your business. What are your USPs? Do you offer anything unique in the market? Are you offering something that your competitors aren’t?

When you spend time gathering this information, you’ll have a better idea of the contracts you’re likely to win. In turn, you’ll also know which contracts you should probably avoid!

  • Does this fit with your long-term strategy?

If you’re tendering for work, you’re probably thinking about ways to grow your business. So, during your search for information technology tenders, think about your long-term business strategy. As you assess the tender opportunities, consider how this will help you meet those goals. If you can’t make a connection between the tender and your strategy, it might not be the tender for you.

However, if the opportunity manages to tick all of your boxes, it could be perfect for your business.

In summary

By now, you should know how to find information technology tenders for your business. Remember, you should ask yourself the following questions as you search for the perfect tender:

  • Do you have enough experience?
  • Is it financially viable?
  • Do you meet the financial standing?
  • Can you offer something unique in the market?
  • Does this fit with your long-term strategy?

Are you searching for information technology tenders?

Technology Tenders can save you time on trolling through hundreds of sites. We source tendering opportunities so that you can focus on running your business.

What makes Technology Tenders different?

We use manual tracking

Other portals rely on the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes to categorise tenders. However, they have been known to be ambiguous and file tenders under the wrong codes. This means you could be missing out on opportunities to tender.

Instead of using CPV codes, our Opportunity Trackers manually tag contracts they find to ensure they reach the right businesses. You can filter all live tenders using keywords, industry, location and budget to find the best opportunities for your business.

Don’t just take our word for it! Below are five examples of past tenders that we’ve sourced on the Technology Tenders portal:

Wheelchair Services IT Software Solution

Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management Limited – North East – Budget: £100,000

Procurement of IT Technology Equipment for the South Central Institute of Technology

Craig Pullen Consulting – South East – Budget: £130,000

IT Consultancy Support

Minerva Learning Trust – Yorkshire – Budget: £180,000

IT Helpdesk and Managed Support Services

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)- Republic of Ireland – Budget: £400,000

RFT for New IT System for Ireland’s Department of Transport – Road Transport Operator Licensing Unit

Department of Transport – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £2,500,000

A subscription to Technology Tenders includes:

  • Unlimited portal access. You can browse the portal to your heart’s content. See hundreds of opportunities, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
  • A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any queries you may have about the portal. They can also answer any questions you may have about information technology tenders.
  • A free, 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer at our Hudson Succeed Division. Our expert Consultants will chat to you for 20-minutes about anything tender related. This could be questions about the process or a requirement in an information technology tender that you don’t understand.
  • A daily email bulletin sent directly to your inbox. When you sign up to the portal, you will choose the specific areas in which you would like to tender. Then, a bespoke daily bulletin is created for you with all the relevant opportunities that have been posted to the portal that day. You’ve got unlimited portal access, but the daily bulletin makes things even easier, saving you even more time.

If you want to know more about how Technology Tenders could help your business, contact our team today. Our team can provide a free live trial, so you can try before you buy.

What else can we offer you?

So, you’ve found a tender that you want to go for but can’t find the right words. Our expert Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed can support you at every stage of your tender. They can answer any questions you may have about the process. From passing the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) to finalising your response.

Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate and over 40 years of bid writing experience. We offer tender support through four services:

Tender Writing

Simply send the bid specification to our team and they’ll write the tender response for you. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf.

This service is priced per bid and we provide a full Tender Writing breakdown. You’ll know how long it’ll take, what we’ll need from you and when you’ll see an initial and final draft.

Tender Improvement 

With Tender Improvement, our Bid Writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Tender Mentor

You might also be interested in Tender Mentor. Our team will analyse your content and check for any errors before you submit your tender response.

Tender Ready

Tender Ready helps businesses that are completely new to the tendering process. We offer a three-stage process and a four-week programme.

Book a free, live demo to gain further insight into our services and see which opportunities can benefit your business.

On Technology Tenders, we post contracts for:

These are just a few categories in which we source technology tenders. We add new opportunities to our portal every day. The scope of buyers for whom you could deliver work is always expanding.

Now is the time for Technology Tenders – unlock your company’s potential.

IT Contracts: An In-Depth Guide

Posted on by John Hudson

How to win IT contracts

IT contracts can be expansive in their coverage. Over the course of the pandemic, a surge in IT contracts was needed to accommodate remote working. It’s even been argued that we’ve seen a shift in working, and technology is facilitating that. Contracts within the sector can include:

With this in mind, let’s look at how you can win IT contracts.

11 points to consider when bidding for IT contracts

For your IT contract response, you’ll need to give some real thought to the bidding process. This is where these tips will come in handy.

1. Can you meet the expectations of the contract?

Seems simple, right? But too many IT contractors overreach in their capabilities. Ultimately, it leads to disappointment for both parties when contractors can’t deliver. If the contract itself is worth more than half of your annual turnover, it’s not worth bidding for the contract. Only bid for contracts that line up with your experience. You’re wasting both your time and the buyers if you can’t meet their expectations. The closer the fit, the better your chances will be of achieving that contract.

2. How do you add value?

There’s no doubt that you’ll have competition in winning the contract. So, how will you convey your value to the buyer? This will be through your contract delivery, alongside what unique features you have to offer. Highlighting potential risks to the contract will also be a subtle method of showing your expertise. Providing solutions to these issues will help to show the buyer how right you are for the project. Ultimately, communicating that value will help you stand out from the market, impress the buyer, and prove your suitability.

3. Maintain a bid library

If you’re successful in your contracts, you’ll have quite the collection of written bids. This is an excellent opportunity to organise and use them when writing future bids. Be warned though, don’t copy and paste your past bids. This can confuse the buyer, and your bids can become unfocused and inaccurate. Frankly, they won’t be impressed if they figure out you’re sending previous bids to them. Instead, take some time to think about what the buyer is asking for and look through your bid library. Pick and choose the relevant parts and implement them naturally into your current bid. You’ll thank yourself for making the effort. Ultimately the buyer shouldn’t be able to tell that you’ve pieced previous bids together to make the current one.

4. Make sure your case studies are accurate

It’s great having some reliable and supportive case studies to back up your work. But if they’re not relevant to your buyer, their effectiveness will be halved. Really sharpen your focus, whether that’s through accreditations, training, or previous experience to the contract. Presenting irrelevant case studies to the buyer will not only confuse them, but they’ll conclude that you aren’t invested enough. This will decrease your chances of winning the contract significantly. For instance, you present a retail construction case study, when you’re bidding for a local council construction contract. The buyer’s confidence in your abilities will be diminished. The buyer ultimately wants to feel at ease, knowing that you’ve completed contracts of a similar (if not identical) nature. The closer your experience is to the project, the more likely you’ll be to win the contract.

5. Submitting your responses on time

Regardless of whether it’s IT contracts or any other form of contract, late submissions won’t be accepted. It doesn’t matter how amazing your response is, the buyer just won’t take your response into consideration. So, it’s imperative to stick to your deadlines and focus on completing your bids. The more time you allocate to a response, the more likely you’re going to win. Also, the earlier you submit your response, the less susceptible you’ll be to system errors. Ultimately, it pays to be organised, as it’s one aspect the buyer will admire once you start delivering the project.

6. Researching the buyer

Knowing as much as you can about the buyer’s needs is essential to tailor your response. And understanding why they’re posting the contract will help you collect relevant references/case studies. What’s the reason behind them needing this system/agreement? Let’s take cyber security for example. Why is the buyer tendering the contract? Was there a breach? Do they store confidential data? Focusing on the integrity of your security services will align with their needs.

7. Request feedback

If you lose this contract, it’s best to think constructively. Requesting feedback can be fantastic for your future bids. You can learn where you went wrong, and what went right for the contractor that won. There’s no downside to feedback, as the more you receive, the better you become in your future responses. It works both ways however, if the buyer requests feedback, provide it! The more constructive feedback you provide, the smoother an experience your future bids will be.

8. Proofreading

It doesn’t matter if it’s IT contracts, cleaning contracts, or a defence contract, poor grammar doesn’t reflect well on you. The bid could be full of persuasive writing and comprehensive plans, but it won’t compensate for poor grammar. So, block some time out to really work on your level of grammar. A good method for ensuring good grammar is having a colleague look it over. If the need is great enough, get it outsourced. We actually provide this service through ‘Tender Mentor’.

9. Substantiate your claims

It’s amazing if you can provide statistics to the buyer that reflect your level of success. But if they’re not backed up, you can find yourself in trouble. For example, if the buyer decides to fact-check your claims and you’re exposed, it could ruin your reputation. So, the best way to avoid this is through prior fact-checking. Make sure you keep your language engaging, but factual. If your claims aren’t realistic when bidding for IT contracts, it’ll bring your credibility into question.

10. Prepare for the buyer’s questions

Once you have the right contract, how exactly will you deliver it? How will you fulfil the expectations (and then some) of the client? And in the case of software licenses/agreements, how will you support the client after the contract is finished? Preparing for the buyer’s queries makes sure that everyone is aware of your plans once you’re awarded the contract. It reassures the buyer of your expertise and efficiency. Without this preparation, your chances of winning the contract are seriously cut short.

11. Maintenance

As you probably know, a good chunk of your revenue comes from support and maintenance. So, you should have plans outlined for supporting the buyer during and after the initial work has been delivered. The software/hardware you deliver could falter, so having comprehensive plans in place to support clients is vital. A good support/maintenance system will remind the buyer of how right they were in awarding you the contract. By providing a detailed response about your ongoing support during and after the contract, your chances of winning will increase.

In summary

So, now we’ve come to the end of this blog on IT contracts. You now have a clearer idea of what it takes to win these contracts. For those who need a recap, we covered:

  • What IT contracts are
  • 11 tips to winning IT contracts
  1. Meeting the expectations of the buyer
  2. Highlighting your value to the buyer
  3. Creating and using a bid library
  4. Keeping case studies relevant
  5. Making sure responses are on time
  6. Researching the buyer
  7. Getting and giving feedback
  8. Proofreading
  9. Fact-checking your claims
  10. Making sure the buyer’s questions are answered
  11. Getting the maintenance and support system sorted.

What can we do for you?

Our dedicated Technology Tenders portal…

We source technology tenders on a daily basis, manually searching through dozens of sites across the UK. We know how important it is to source the right tender for your business.

You can sign up to our technology tenders portal and start receiving business leads today. Our Opportunity Trackers manually upload new live tenders daily. You’re able to filter the results by keyword, location, budget and more. You no longer have to rely on inaccurate CPV codes to find the right opportunity for your business.

Where can I find an IT Contract for my business?

Below are previous IT tenders sourced on our portal:

IT Support & Maintenance (1 Year)

Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) – West Midlands Budget: £39k

Provision of IT Maintenance Services (Managed Services)

Abbey Theatre Amharclann na Mainistreach – Republic of Ireland Budget: £500k

IT Consultancy Services Framework

Forestry Commission – South West- Budget: £700k

IT Consultancy Frameworks for SSE Group

SSE Services plc – South East – Budget: £50,000,000

Onsite IT Maintenance & Support

Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £400k

Bidding support

The tendering process is long and complex but the team are here to assist you in writing bids.  You can outsource the role to our dedicated Hudson Succeed team. They have 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Their team have secured contract wins totalling over £300 million for our clients.

They offer four bid writing packages:

Send your completed rail tender response over to our team. They can take a look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. They’ll notify you of any grammatical or spelling errors before you submit.

The Tender Ready programme is for those who have never tendered before. They work with you to ensure you’re on the right track to submitting a successful bid. The 4-week programme will develop your branded corporate literature and case studies. Their team will advise you on what tendering opportunities you should go for and guide you through your tendering response.

If you’ve found the perfect technology contract for your business but don’t have the time – they can help. Send it over to our Bid Writing Team and they’ll take care of the rest. They’ll even submit it on your behalf and provide a full Tender Writing breakdown.

If you’ve already tendering, but aren’t seeing the desired results from your efforts, the Tender Improvement package can help. Their Bid Writers will assess your submissions and provide guidance and feedback.

Additional support

If you only need the assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved. 

Discover Elite

Our recently launched Discover Elite service offers an upgraded level of support to our technology portal. We can help you with an even more efficient service, offering a fully managed tender tracking approach.

Your Account Manager will personally find opportunities for you. They are on hand to help you decide on the ever-important bid question. This can help save you even more time to focus on running your business. This package includes a subscription to the portal of your choice

Get in touch for more information

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Technology and Healthcare, for example.
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices are monitored on your behalf.
  • Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

On Technology Tenders, we source contract opportunities for:

What the Implementation of 5G Means for Telecom Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

How to win telecom tenders

Telecom tenders can be quite daunting if you’re new to the procurement process. The telecommunications industry itself is a giant industry that has seen an increase in funding over the last year. It’s an industry that is ever-expanding due to the demand for digitisation, increased internet speeds and security.

Last year, the topic of telecommunications was in the news quite frequently. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in employees working from home. This certainly stretched the telecoms and broadband providers to their limit. Broadband speeds got notably slower as providers struggled with an increase in users.

What 5G means for telecom tenders

5G is the newest generation of mobile telecommunications infrastructure. The UK government has ambitions to have the majority of the population covered by 5G by 2027. The National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) assessed the use of high-risk vendors (HRVs) regarding the instillment of 5G.

A new Telecommunications Security Bill came into place to protect the UK from cyber threats. This is because the government is focused on the security of the UK’s telecoms networks. The government decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the supply arrangements. This was done by the UK telecoms Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) in 2019. They identified the need to alleviate a number of risks from high-risk vendors. They sought to solve this by introducing a new robust telecoms security framework.

New Telecoms Security Requirements (TSR)

The government has rolled out their new Telecoms Security Requirements (TSR). These focus on the importance of having a sustainable, diverse and competitive supply chain. This helps drive innovation in the marketplace and reduces the risk of dependency on individual vendors. It will also explore new opportunities in the research and development subsectors. These have been created to ensure a secure ecosystem for delivering premium telecom products and services.

Telecoms Diversification Strategy

The Telecoms Diversification Strategy has a set a targeted plan backed by £250 million. It focuses on three core strands:

  1. Supporting incumbent suppliers.
  2. Attracting new suppliers into the UK market.
  3. Accelerate the development and deployment of open-interface solutions.

The funding is to help implement priority measures and build momentum to achieve all three. This is so they are no longer dependant on a small number of suppliers. This is great news, particularly if you’re on the lookout for more telecom tenders.

Digital Secretary, Oliver Dowden said:

We are investing billions to roll out 5G and gigabit broadband across the country. But the benefits can only be realised if we have full confidence in the security and resilience of our networks.

“This ground-breaking bill will give the UK one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world. It allows us to take the action necessary to protect our networks.”

Such activity is likely to mean increased telecom tender opportunities for network operators, telecoms suppliers and international governments. All to achieve a shared goal of a vibrant and competitive telecoms supply market.

What’s does the telecom tender process typically look like?

The Request for Proposal (RFP) process

An RFP is typically used for a project that will have a lot of technical information. An RFP is frequently used within telecom tenders. They are notoriously tricky when you consider how complex the many systems and processes can be.

Applying for telecom tenders can be a lengthy process. If you’re struggling over where to even begin, we can help!

Bid Writing Support

Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate. They have over 40 years’ experience across numerous sectors and are happy to support you with your telecom tender. Whether you’re tendering for the first time, or simply need advice on improving your success rate, we can help. We offer four packages:

A 4-week programme for those who are completely new to the tendering process. The programme consists of creating and branding your corporate literature and helping you to identify opportunities. 

This package is for businesses who aren’t seeing success from their own tendering applications. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous tenders and work with you to develop improved content.

Simply send the tender specification to our Bid Writers and they will write the telecoms tender response for you. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf.

The Bid Writing team will analyse your telecom tender response. They’ll then check it for any errors making sure you’ve crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s before you submit.

Past examples of telecom tenders that we have sourced on our portal include:

Equipment for Optical Telecommunications Laboratory Testbed for Open Networking Apps

Education Procurement Service (EPS)- Ireland- Budget: £750,000

15-01-2021

Framework for Provision of Telecommunication Services to Ervia – PQQ

Ervia- Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

11-11-2020

Telecommunications Equipment

ESPO- East Midlands- Budget: £2,800,000

14-09-2020

Telecommunications Technical Consultant

Saint Helena Government- London- Budget: Undisclosed

28-09-2020

Voice and Data Telecommunications Framework

Saint Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust- East Midlands- Budget: £25,000,000

17-12-2020

These are just a few examples of previous telecom tenders that could be found on our Technology Tenders Portal. Our team search thousands of sources every day to find the latest opportunities.

What makes our Technology Tenders portal different?

Unlike other portals that use Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes, we use manual tracking. Telecom tenders may be tagged with several different CPV codes. However, this coding system can be ambiguous, leaving room for missed opportunities.

Instead of using CPV codes, our Opportunity Trackers manually track and tag contracts. They do this to ensure the tenders reach the right business. You can filter all live tenders by using keywords, budget, industry or even location. This takes a lot of the headache out of searching for tendering opportunities. Leaving you time to focus on the important things such as the running of your business.

Which tenders do we source?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but not limited to:

We cover many sub-sectors, including:

These are just a few categories in which we source tenders, amongst others. Our portal posts all stages of tenders. Whether it’s the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, an ITT, or a Request for Quote – Technology Tenders has it all.

A subscription to Technology Tenders includes:

  • Unlimited portal access. You can browse the portal to your heart’s content. See hundreds of opportunities, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
  • A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any queries you may have about the portal. They can also answer any questions you may have about telecom tenders.
  • A free, 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer at our Hudson Succeed division. Our expert consultants will chat to you for 20-minutes about anything tender related. This could be questions about the process or a requirement in a telecom tender that you don’t understand.
  • A daily email bulletin sent directly to your inbox. When you sign up to the portal, you will choose the specific areas in which you would like to tender. Then, a bespoke daily bulletin is created for you with all the relevant opportunities that have been posted to the portal that day. You’ve got unlimited portal access, but the daily bulletin makes things even easier, saving you even more time.

If you want to know more about how Technology Tenders could help your business, contact our team today. Our team can provide a free live trial, so you can try before you buy.