This is a guest post by Roy Scannell, formerly of EI’s Public Procurement Team, now working for the Go-2-Tender Programme.

What is Go-2-Tender?

Go-2-Tender is a programme that is essential for anyone who is currently or is interested in selling to the Public Sector in the future. It encompasses a two day training course with up to 3 days of free mentoring sessions post the course which really has a very strong positive impact on their tendering success rates.

For example last year’s graduates have posted an achievement of €7m of contracts won since the programme series ran with the most recent happening in November. Go-2-Tender is Ireland’s most developed and preeminent ‘doing business with the public sector’ up-skilling programme.

For the full programme of events including our next programme in Castlebar, Co. Mayo on the 13^th and 27^th of April click here.

This time around we have a few more strings to our ‘tendering’ bow with the roll out of our ramped up online offering which is complimentary to the training programme and mentoring. It includes:

• A free iPhone App with a live stream of cross border opportunities and a bid / no bid decision maker; which you can access if you click here
• A partner finding service
• Web forum
• Course materials
• A public sector directory
• Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook networking groups (These are only open to Go-2-Tender graduates)

Cost and Booking (more…)

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A mere 12 days after the fact I would like to say a big thank you to everyone that attended the Software and Services conference and showcase that was held in Enterprise Ireland head quarters here in Dublin last Monday. The showcase was quite a success with some clients reporting that they got to meet buyers that they had been trying to meet for quite some time.

How did it work?
The conference was attended by public sector IT buyers and Enterprise Ireland client companies and represented a valuable networking opportunity. Companies represented were from a broad spectrum of our indigenous software and associted services base. It was a half day conference with 7 excellent speakers from a broad range of bodies involved in the Procurement of software landscape.

The topics covered ranged from the future of eGovernment with interesting comparisons being drawn between Ireland and Estonia to the emerging drive toward Government usage of the Cloud dubbed the G-Cloud Programme in the UK.

After the conference was completed the specially designated showcase area was opened up for the It managers to get a flavour of the capabilities offered by Ireland’s indigenous software and services base.

Thoughts on the Event
While far from a perfect event we succeeded in getting a large swathe of Ireland’s Public Sector IT managers and our SME’s into a room and talking about the industries future and thinking of the synergies between the public sector’s current need to drastically reduce budget expenditures and client solutions designed to achieve just that.

While Enterprise Ireland have no concrete plans in place we are interested in running similar events in the future and are looking to add further value to the Public Sector Procurement of IT through our Public Procurement Department.

If you were at the event or are interested in finding out more about what you missed then please get in touch with me on the following email.

roy.scannell@enterprise-ireland.com

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There are alot of cliches relating to the recession making the rounds but there are some positives that have emerged for the software business community in the form of many graduates in the market for work experience.

What is being done and who benefits?

• The government through FAS and the third level sector has invested significant resources in retraining Ireland’s workforce to be orientated toward the knowledge economy.
• FAS has also rolled out a programme (WPP1) which seeks to provide a portal by which graduates can source work placements in areas such as the software.
• Participants can be eligible to retain their job seekers benefits for the duration of their engagement on the programme.
• Most importantly skilled graduates get to receive valuable work experience, retain their income (if eligible), work gets done and Ireland can retain and provide opportunities for our skilled young graduates.
• After completion of the programme the participants are more competitive in the jobs market and can have acquired a whole host of new skills.

FAS Work Placement Programme 1:

Caters for organisations in the Public, Private, Community and Voluntary sector who wish to provide a 9 month work placement to graduates seeking experience in roles which put their skills to use.

A Point to Remember:

• To get the best out of having a placement in your workplace try to challenge your graduate to put into use the skills they have learned in college to enable them to really add value to your organisation.

For job seekers details of current vacancies (139 in Dublin alone as of today) can be found by clicking here.

For employers details of how to have a position from your company added to the programme can be found by clicking here.

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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.

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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
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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?

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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

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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.

(more…)

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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.

(more…)

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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.

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