Portals of Doom?

Our theme for #BidBites in August was 'portals'. We had an hour session as always, with each attendee taking a turn to answer the theme questions and provide their tips. How we managed to let everyone have a turn within the allotted time, I do not know. We all agreed we could talk for DAYS about these amazing and frustrating electronic submission platforms. I don't normally share our discussions as articles, but I thought in this case it would be a good idea to open up further discussions and tips for the bidding community.

Portals have a lot to answer for. On the plus side, I don't miss printing out twenty folders and putting them altogether, only to find someone has printed the wrong date in the margins. On the other hand, I get incredibly frustrated with complicated portals that take a while to master, when I should be spending my time on the bid. Or worse, when my rural wifi decides to have an off day and it takes me four hours to upload something, only to find it disappear at the next click.

We started the session by trying to compile a list of all the portals we use - there are more, but this is what we came up with on the day. Some are facilitators for many different buyers and come in different guises. What would you add to the list?

• Procontract/Proactis - Local Authorities
• Bravo Solutions - Highways England and others
• Bentley Systems
• Sellafield Nuclear
• Client-owned portals
• Transport Northern Ireland
• In-Tend - Local Authorities
• Delta
• Eu-Supply
• Home Office
• Award - MOD and others
• G Cloud
• Public Contracts Scotland (PCS)
• Blue Light
• Sell2Wales
• Banks own portals
• London Tenders (Procontract)
• Leidos
• Multiquote
• Tenders Northern Ireland
• Ariba

What has been your worst experience of portals?

(I've decided not to name and shame - all opinions were different - some of us liked and hated the same portals!)

• Cannot find a 'submit' button
• Clock on portal not the same as computer
• Not a 'one click and it's done' too many clicks to complete one activity
• Can't bulk download documents
• Have to answer in order or you can't see the next question
• ITT asks for 500 words but the portal box is 2000 characters
• 1500 actions to upload and accept
• No formatting in boxes
• Emotional trauma - just couldn't get to grips with the portal!
• Safety questionnaire in a separate portal that has to be linked with the tender portal
• Language complicated so it was difficult to understand what the process was
• No obvious place for attachments
• Client asked for new price after submission - whole thing had to be submitted again, including SQ and quality questions

What has been your best experience of portals?

• Easy to upload and can modify and tinker between submission and end time
• Familiarity as the same platform is used all the time
• Structure, straightforward and simple
• Seeing a progress bar
• Exemption questions
• Prefilled sections
• Easy navigation
• Self-correcting - tells you when and what you've done incorrectly
• Download as excel, fill out and upload excel back into portal
• Validate button - highlights any missing bits
• Allows you to see what you've submitted
• Bulk download of documents
• Bulk upload of documents

What tips would you give other bidding professionals to help make portals easier?

• Review portal thoroughly - what needs to be uploaded, what the character counts are, whether you can submit more than once, file size restrictions etc
• Don't be afraid to have a go - press buttons and see where it takes you. There is usually a portal helpline if you get stuck.
• Know which internet browsers work best with each portal
• Ensure other team members know exactly what the upload has to look like and what it entails - prepare a portal map to show them at kick off
• Add float into your programme and aim to upload a day or two early
• Find the submit button
• Ask clarification questions if you are unsure - there is never a bad question
• Manage people who have access - you don't want everyone tinkering with your submission!
• Name files appropriately so they upload in order (if allowed)
• For portals that don't progress until you've answered - just stick anything in to open up the next question until you get to the end (but remember to put the proper answers in before you submit!)
• Copy and paste answers into Notepad as this will give you the correct character counts. Remember to find out whether character counts include spaces.
• Keep a local copy - don't leave all your answers on the portal
• Do a practise run through a few days before if the portal allows
• For freelancers - ask clients to set up auto forward so you can see when there are changes
• Even if you think you know a portal, it might have changed, so always always always do a complete recce at the start
• Compare portal upload requirements with ITT instructions and highlight any differences to the client
• Get full sign off in writing from decision-makers before you submit, so they understand what has been uploaded.

A word to the portal developers...procurers...and users

Developers: PLEASE think about us poor bidding people when working with clients to develop portals.

Clients: Work with your suppliers during pre-bid and market engagement processes to ascertain the best way to use these platforms for effective procurement.

Users: User feedback is so important. We found out at the session that software developers are never told about the pain points to fix. If they don't know, how can they fix it? One of our attendees at #BidBites was so frustrated with one bid, she actually contacted a major platform provider to explain what was wrong and why it didn't work. Her suggestions were taken on board and the next bid was very different. Let us all, as expert portal users, make good use of our knowledge and frustration to let the developers know where they can improve - it could make our lives so much easier!

I would be interested to know YOUR thoughts on portals - drop your best and worst experiences below, along with tips to share with other users.

Thank you to all my regular attendees of #BidBites and #ThursdayThrong. Our bidding community is thriving - we are supporting and learning each other at every session and I am truly grateful for your input.

(If you want to join us at these sessions, drop me a PM and I'll send you the Zoom details)