Where public IT work is posted, how to read a tender, and how to decide which ones are worth your time.
A step-by-step way to read a government IT tender quickly, find the parts that decide whether you can win, and spot the traps before you spend a week writing.
4 min read
The official portals where public sector IT, software and cloud tenders are posted in Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, the EU, Australia and New Zealand, and how to keep up with all of them.
2 min read
How to build keyword and category alerts for government IT tenders that catch the right opportunities without burying you in irrelevant ones.
2 min read
How public buyers evaluate IT bids, what price-quality splits and scoring scales mean, and how to shape your response so evaluators can give you full marks.
3 min read
Why answering a government RFI or sources sought notice is one of the cheapest ways for a small IT firm to shape a future tender, and how to write a response buyers remember.
2 min read
How to ask good clarification questions during a government tender, what to listen for at bidders' conferences and site visits, and the timing rules you can't miss.
2 min read
How public buyers talk to the market before a tender through prior information notices, supplier days and pipelines, and how small IT firms can use these to get known and shape the work.
2 min read
How small IT firms can use published contract awards to learn what buyers pay, who wins, when contracts come back up, and who might need a partner.
2 min read
The warning signs that a government IT tender has been shaped around one supplier or product, what to do about it, and when it is still worth bidding.
2 min read
A simple bid/no-bid scorecard for small IT firms, with the questions that predict a win and the warning signs that mean you should walk away.
3 min read
The difference between a request for proposal, request for quotation, request for information, invitation to tender and expression of interest, and how to respond to each.
2 min read
How winning an open tender compares with getting onto a framework, standing offer or supplier list, the costs and payoffs of each, and how to balance the two.
2 min read