Enterprise Ireland – Best Connected -

Published August 10th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

You may have been reading recently that the contract for helicopter Search and Rescue services was recently signed by the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey for a value of up to €500m over the period 2012-2022.

The bid manager behind that success,  named Denis Thornton was entrusted by CHC to manage a contract bid that involved an incredibly complex set of requirements to deliver a successful bid. 

Utilising his procuring experience as a former UK Ministry of Defense Procurement official, technical knowledge of procurement requirements and experience managing one of the largest contracts signed this year Denis has developed a bid development methodologies and a software system known as the Evince system©.

He is now passing along some of this knowledge for free! He has created a series of 20 short videos and an eBook offering concise pointers and advice on public procurement in topics such as the following;
(1) Risk Management Plan development.
(2) General Do’s and Dont’s.
(3) Executive Summary Development Advice.
To access this information plus a free interactive webinar on the topic of the ‘5 Most Dangerous Trends Facing Irish Companies In The Public Procurement Market Today’ just follow the link below and go through the free sign up process.

Click Here

We are always keen to hear feedback on the services and ideas we highlight through best connected. Please spare a moment to reply to this post when you have had a quick look at the site and let us know what your impressions are.

Published July 20th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

When most people think of the Green Agenda, factories billowing smoke into the atmosphere come to mind, however software too will soon come under Green scrutiny when looking considering Government contracts.

Trends
The EU has mandated that by the end of 2010 50% of all government public procurement contracts in terms of both value and numbers will be subject to Green Criteria with an ever increasing drive and ambition toward it.

It is envisioned that with an average buying power equivalent to about 16-19% of all GDP governments will become the new drivers of the transition to Green technology which currently resides in the domain of private sector retailers.

Green in the Software Context
The implication for software is that your product development processes and the energy efficiency implications of using your product will come under scrutiny over the entire life cycle of the product. The following are just two considerations when thinking if you are ready for Green Public Procurement:
(1) The energy efficiency of the machines you use for product development are becoming relevant considerations for procurers seeking to lower the countries carbon footprint through applying entire life cycle methods of pricing contracts.
(2) The energy demands using your software places on the end user machine during its use must now also be considered in the coming era of energy efficiency. For instance can your product efficiently index files to reduce resource intensive search time and therefore save on energy consumption?

Solutions
Now that we established that Green is here to stay and that in the foreseeable future it will spread as far as the software sector. What can Enterprise Ireland do to help?

We have a toolkit of supports ready for our clients who wish begin measuring and reducing their carbon footprint to bring themselves in line with international best practises.

These include assistance in gaining (1) European Eco-Labels, (2) funding towards Environmental Management Systems implementation assistance such as the ISO14001 (3) funding assistance in sourcing a qualified consultant to measure your carbon footprint and help you lower it.

Further Information
Further information about Enterprise Ireland’s GreenTech offering can be found by clicking here.

Published July 8th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

In keeping with my short notice alerts regarding Public Procurement events of direct interest to the software sector The Tipperary Engineers Forum is running a two day workshop on Public Procurement best practises in the Tipperary Institute of Technology.

The workshop is being run by bid management who are the same company which deliver the hugely successful Go2Tender workshop series on behalf of Intertrade Ireland.

Why Go?

This workshop addresses many of the core and often overlooked questions in Public Procurement:
1. Knowing when to Bid and when to Not Bid.
2. Assistance in the formulation of Bid strategies.
3. Messaging and positioning your company to best deliver your unique selling point.
4. The presentation as part of tendering.
5. Tender evaluation process.

Networking Opportunities for Software
Many of the companies in the group whilst nominally servicing the engineering sector have a strong software aspect to their service offering for example some are involved in telecoms while others offer automation solutions to industry and still others Software integration services and ERP for enterprises.

If you find yourself in Tipperary on the 13-14th of July next week then this workshop may just be of interest to you as a means to gain valuable insight to one of softwares single largest and definitely most reliable market for future opportunities.

Booking Details
The course costs €280 euro for the two days. The course is open to anyone that has a genuine interest in public procurement. To book your place please contact Dr. Breda Kenny of the Tipperary Institute to arrange attendance at the course on the following details;
Phone: 0504 28154
Email: bkenny@tippinst.ie

Published June 29th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

I know that it is a bit late in the day to be posting this however the tender team will be running a Public Procurement Seminar in Limerick this Thursday the 1st of July.

It seeks to address vital issues that arise when SME’s seek to engage with the public sector such as the question of ‘branding’ bids, selling your company and personal experience  and best practise solutions to in-house tender management. For more details of course content and booking details please; click here

The seminar costs €190 and runs for half a day in Limericks Strand Hotel and starts at 1pm. Whilst it is short notice anyone from the software community that happens to find themselves in Limerick on Thursday with a few spare hours could certainly do worse than to attend this seminar!

About the Tender Team
The tender team is “A team of 16 experts skilled in all areas of bid support and business development including bid consultants, ISO specialists, marketing experts, business coaches, project managers, senior graphic designers and website developers”-Tender Team Website

Published June 1st, 2010 by Roy Scannell

The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) run by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board is an absolutely vital and ground breaking mechanism by which businesses can bring their research and ideas to market through use of public procurement.

What it is & how it works
In a nutshell the SBRI is an initiative from the British government which identifies a specific opportunity or need within a government department.
(1) It then invites companies usually SME’s to enter an idea to fill that need. The ideas are then screened.
(2) The more successful ideas are then passed along to a feasibility stage which is fully funded to £100k for a period of 6 months.
(3) After this phase is complete then most promising ideas are selected and brought forward to a development and prototyping phase with limits of £1m and 2 years.
(4) This phase then leads to complete product which is ready for market and the competitive procurement process.

Benefits
The benefits are many. Companies who would normally not have a chance of winning contracts but who have ideas addressing specific needs are essentially given a completely funded mechanism to research and develop their ideas.

They can bring them to the point whereby they can tender for competitive contracts to organisations they already have had extensive dealings with thus greatly increasing their chances of successfully winning public sector business and all in a shorter time frame than would usually be associated with product development and commercialization.

Sample Contracts and Software Applications
The SBRI operates in the Defense, Health, Security and Buildings spheres and offers several challenges to initiative thinkers.

One such need/question being posed right now (For more details click here) by the MOD is how to monitor, understand and influence group and individual reactions to events in the world through the cyberspace domain. Essentially understanding the Internets role in what is sometimes described as the ‘battle for hearts and minds’.

Other opportunities have revolved around the reduction of hospital burdens associated with manageing long term condititions with solutions developed from upgrading and integrating telehealth systems to the development of novel medical devices.

Are you Eligible?
YES if you are an SME in the EU. The SBRI is also equally open to pre start-ups, charities and Universities given certain restrictions. See here for FAQ’s

Published April 15th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

Public Procurement has finally hit the big time! Enterprise Ireland’s multiple award winning publication The Market ran an article entitled “The Winds of Change in Irish Public sector Procurement” which focussed on the ever increasing drive toward reforming the way in which the Public Sector Procures and as importantly how they interact with the market.

The focus of Government’s new drive is the newly established National Procurement Service which has the following remit “The NPS has a multi-tiered mission to provide a central procurement service for central government departments and government services; streamline the multiplicity of tender and contract documentation used across the PP in cooperation with the Chief State Solicitors Office; engage more directly with SMEs, and up-skill procurement officials in the PP process”-The Market.

What Does This Mean To SME’S?
It is well to remember that for EI clients and Ireland’s SME sector more generally the object is the outcome of the procurement process rather than the process itself. Here are some of the initiatives the NPS have underway to alleviate some of the bottlenecks which currently blight the procurement process:

(1) Development of clear guidance relating to the level of company turnover required for contracts of varying level.
(2) Encouraging a greater use of eProcurement using eTenders to advertise more and more contracts and contracts of lower value.
(3) The NPS is working with the Chief State Solicitors Office to investigate ways in which the levels of public liability insurance required for SME’s to have when bidding for contracts can be reduced.
(4) In collaboration with the Chief State Solicitors Office the NPS is finalising a project which is aiming to provide a standard suite of documentation for all contracts to eliminate the current system which often requires a myriad of varying documentation.
(5) The NPS will conduct up-skilling exercises aimed at both suppliers and buyers to allow them to be fully comfortable with the procurement procedure.

Public Procurement as Part of EI strategy:
We, as you know are an export orientated organisation with a new focus on the public sector which initially focuses on Ireland. Our belief is that if our clients begin to successfully win contracts here in Ireland then this will be a huge spring board toward achieving public sector success overseas.

Solutions purchased by Irish State agencies can then be replicated and exported all over the world using Ireland as a first reference source and thus ticking two huge boxes as regards economic recovery (1) SME’s winning more public sector contracts and (2) These same SME’s gaining the skills and references to take those won contracts internationally.

To find out more about EI as a portal to public procurement please email the following address.

value4money@enterprise-ireland.com

Published April 12th, 2010 by Paul Browne

Sean MacEntee has a problem. He runs the Regional Development Centre in Dundalk, and due to the success of some of the companies based there they have now ‘graduated’ from the incubator space in the centre. Sean is now looking for startups and established companies to fill the space. As Sean says;

2009 was a significant year for incubation both in the RDC and at  Millmount, Drogheda with a total of 7 companies ‘graduating’ from both Centres. We are currently actively recruiting suitable entrepreneurs/start-up companies for both the RDC and Millmount. In addition, we  are also interested in speaking to established companies who may wish to set up a separate R&D facility in one of our Centres.

Some of the Enterprise Ireland clients graduating or hosting their R&D facilities at the Regional Development Centre are;

• Armac Systems who specialise in optimisation  software for spare parts for the aircraft industry.
• Big Mountain  Productions – Film Production company.
• Ergo (Link to  Best Connected Client Profile) who host their R&D centre in Dundalk.
• Intact Software who also host their R&D at the centre.
• Redmere - Smart Cables for better connections (more info about Redmere from the RDC blog)

Sean is available at sean-dot-macentee-at-dkit-dot-ie. Of course, there are twelve other incubation centres around the country if you’re looking for a place closer to you. Details are below.

Published April 6th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

We are pleased to announce the resumption of the Go2Tender workshop series which has been designed and run on behalf of InterTrade Ireland by Bid Management an Irish company which specialises in tender consultancy for both the public and private sectors.

What is Go2Tender all about?
Simply put Go2Tender seeks to provide companies with the skills to successfully negotiate the complex tendering processes for public sector contracts over the space of two non consecutive days. If this was not enough there is then a subsequent half day of in company consultancy which can, in certain circumstances, be extended to three days at no extra charge. The consultant will take the client through an actual tender

They have been highly successful with participating companies winning over €18m worth of contracts in recent times. The Workshop only costs €105 and is fantastic value for money.

The sectors I have targeted for attendance at the event include (1) the various software areas, (2) clean tech, engineering and construction, (3) life sciences and (4) Business Services. Interest is very high so book ASAP to avoid being disappointed.

We are also planning to have an Enterprise Ireland representative present at each of the workshops so that we can discuss how we are assisting our companies to gain business in the public sector.

If you have an interest in gaining business in the public sector in The Republic or Northern Ireland and would like to attend please contact Louise Carroll by clicking the link or call (01) 441 7155 for an application form.

Dates and Locations:
(1) Galway: Clayton Hotel; 9th & 16th of June.
(2) Mullingar: Bloomfield House Hotel; 18th & 25th of May.
(3) Derry:The Everglades Hotel; 5th & 12th of May.

Published March 31st, 2010 by Roy Scannell

This case study is based on the correlation and analysis of 138 contract award notices that the HSE have posted on eTenders in the years 2008 and 2009. In total this study covers contracts with a declared combined total of around 640Million Euro for 2008 & 2009 for 89 contracts which declared their total value.

The HSE is Ireland’s largest procuring organisation which spends in the region of 4Billion Euro per annum on various goods, services and works. However less than 10% of this expenditure appears on eTenders due to various below threshold spends and recurring contracts etc.

The HSE is also one of the most varied public buyers in the State. There are five major buying categories which involve expenditure of over 100 Million Euro per annum and a further 14 which involve expenditure of between 10 Million and 100 Million Euro per annum. For a more detailed break down of these purchasing categories: Click Here

In 2009 the breakdown of what the HSE buy (on eTenders) was divided thusly with the ICT and Professional services sector making up the largest  number of contracts awarded. In 2008 the figures largely mirror this trend.

HSE Purchasing Category Activity, 2009

Average Overall Weightings for Tendered Contracts, 2009

The above graph makes up an aggregated average of weightings (Contract Requirements) applied by the HSE in 2009. I have correlated several HSE procurement language terms into the above categories for example product quality includes a number of factors directly linked to the overall quality of the product.

Important Factors:

• Price continues to dominate the overall chart of weightings with a combined importance of 43%  however not in the traditional way. When broken up initial price makes up 23% of overall pricing and Life Cycle costing makes up 20% (up 3% from 2008) of total over all contract weightings.
• As alluded to in previous posts this marks a shift towards taking into account the total cost of products and services over their entire life cycle. This may allow for new and technologically advanced suppliers with in depth knowledge of their products cost in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions  to enter the market.
• To some extent there is an increasing interest in doing business with the HSE as mirrored by the increased average of tenders per contract in 2009 7.66 up from 5.14 in 2008.
• Finally and perhaps most encouragingly of all, the proportion of contracts awarded which includes an Irish winner increased from 80% in 2008 to 93% in 2009.

There are without doubt challenges involved in doing business with the HSE. However the time has never been better for the Irish SME sector to engage with Ireland’s leading and most varied buyer of goods and services from Fruit and Vegtables (just over 3 Million Euro worth of contracts awarded in 2009) to Software Systems (2.4 Million worth of contracts with declared value awarded in 2009).

To find out more about doing business with the HSE CLICK HERE to view the HSE Supplier Charter.

To speak to a member of EI’s public procurement team about doing business with the HSE,  leave a comment on this post and we will revert to you as fast as possible or alternatively email this address.

value4money@enterprise-ireland.com

Published March 26th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

It is one month to the day (at the time of writing) since  the Forum on Public Procurement.  The public sector buying community was very well represented with officials attending on behalf of (1) the RPA, (2) Bus Eireann, (3) The defense Forces, (4) Department of Social Protection/& Family Affaris, (5) Bord Gais Eireann, (6) Various Higher Education Institutions and (7) The HSE  amongst many others.

It offered a stark reminder that the future of Ireland’s economic recovery is more and more inextricably linked to the increasingly professional and open nature of public procurement both in Ireland and in the European Union.

Some Quick Points to Bear in Mind: EU

• Over 150,000 Contracts were advertised on an EU wide basis in 2009.
• On Average there were only 5 applicants per contract. In anyone’s language those odds are attractive as regards securing business.
• Legislation is in place to allow contracting authorities to favour new, emerging or clean technologies in the issuing of their contracts such as through the use of full life cycle costing for example to take into account overall energy costs through the entire life of the product. This reflects the emerging emphasis on green procurement.

Some Quick Points to Bear in Mind:  Irish Procurement

• Ireland has disproportionately favoured suppliers domiciled outside the country by awarding a massive 17.7% of Public Procurement contracts to them which is an incredible statistic given that the EU average is 1.5%.
• In 2008 there were an average of 5 applications per contract award notice on eTenders for the HSE (Ireland’s largest procuring agency) across their entire product portfolio. 
• Life cycle costing accounted for the third highest of  average criteria in 2008 with 17% of overall criteria and 20% in 2009 for judging the award of contracts on eTenders. This is only beaten by various measures of product quality and use of initial measures of price.

*Figures relating to HSE procurement patterns taken from EI study of Contract award notices on eTenders.

With the downturn continuing to grip the nation, more and more Irish SME’s are turning to the public procurement market to source new business opportunities both in Ireland and abroad.

Are you involved in the buying process or a potential supplier to the public sector? To find out how our dedicated public procurement team can help you please email this address:

value4money@enterprise-ireland.com