Editor’s Note: While this article – written by a UK-based SME – speaks directly to the challenges associated with pursuing public sector business in the UK, is the pursuit of government contracts in North America a lost cause for the majority of SMEs?
“In order to give Customers using the Framework a balance between choice of suppliers and best value, following completion of the evaluation of tenders a maximum number of five suppliers will be awarded a position on the Framework. It is therefore vital that Tenderers can offer each of the five modules detailed on the following page. As referenced previously in this ITT it is anticipated Customers will elect to procure one or more modules or may choose to purchase a complete solution incorporating all of the five modules. It is therefore essential that Tenderers can offer all of the five modules to meet the requirements of those customers looking for a complete solution. Any Tenderer who cannot offer one or more of the elements listed above in 3.1 will be removed from this procurement process.”
The above is a quote from an invitation to tender by the UK public buying…
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Procurement Insights 
Kelly Barner
December 5, 2013
Alun’s post makes two very interesting points, each of which stands on its own.
The first is the dilemma that arises when selection criteria requires that a single solution be able to support an entire process rather than specializing in one area – such as eAuctions in order to compete.
It reminds me of piece of advice I got when I first started skiing. I was in the process of selecting a pair of boots and observed to the sales person that if I got the ones I liked best I was going to look like a crazy person based on the color combination of my skis, poles, bindings, boots, etc. The sales person pointed out that serious skiers pretty much always clash due to the fact that they select the best piece of equipment in each category regardless of appearance. Being overly coordinated is the best way to be dismissed as someone trying to look more impressive than you really are.
I fully understand that this may have been a practiced sales technique, but the point stands nonetheless. You will rarely see the same strength across all functionality in a suite solution that you will see in a series of specialists offering each piece.
This is made all the more frustrating by the point that most large, end-to-end solutions were built through acquisition. And if you believe that the integration points between these solutions are as seamless on the back end as they are marketed to be, you are in for a big surprise during implementation. The decision each organization needs to make is what their technology requirements are: one with broad coverage but mediocre functionality or a portfolio of point solutions with leading capabilities.
The second question is whether public procurement will ever get out of their own way, learning to act in a way beneficial to constituents without every requirement becoming a matter of law.
Alun’s point about Market Dojo being worthy of a merit-based grant but not a contract reminds me of a post I wrote for the Procurement Insights US Edition about a public sector contract for marketing services here in my home state of Massachusetts. I’ll paste a link to the original post below, but the main point was that in order to be qualified for an award, every prospective supplier had to certify that the would subcontract some portion of the work (no matter how small) to a diversity supplier. One of the businesses was eliminated for not meeting this requirement, and no amount of explaining and protesting made it clear that since that company was certified woman-owned themselves, 100% of the business would be going to a diversity supplier – no subcontract needed.
Sigh…
If the UK public buying organization can’t see the value of what Market Dojo has to offer, their loss is the private sector’s gain!
How NOT to Follow a Strategic Sourcing Process, July 16, 2013
https://procureinsights.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/how-not-to-follow-a-strategic-sourcing-process-by-kelly-barner/