What is etendering?

etendering is an online version of the tendering process. Tendering is the process of a buyer publishing their requirements and inviting offers from potential suppliers who can fulfil their needs. The objective of the process is for the buyer to find the right combination of capability, scope and price.

A good etendering system takes this established process into the 21st century. It enables the buyer to operate a transparent process that can be audited and evaluated. It also makes it easier and more cost-effective to operate the process.

In addition, etendering should offer additional features that protect the details of the bidders and their bids and make it apparent if bids have been tampered with. By doing so, the process becomes more accountable and it has been proven that ICT-enabled factors are the most effective tools for addressing corruption and process subversion.

What is process subversion?

Process subversion takes many forms. It isn’t only concerned with eradicating ‘backhanders’ and ‘kickbacks’. A subverted process may mean that the wrong solution is selected or even that potential suppliers choose not to bid. Subversion just means that the procurement process has been made less effective than it could have been.

Anything that brings the integrity of the procurement process into question makes it less likely that future processes will be effective. It is, of course, a high-profile issue in public tendering but is also highly relevant in the private sector. Integrity should be seen as key to maximising shareholder value.

Why use etendering?

etendering makes it easy to publish and publicise available tenders, increasing the range of potential suppliers who can participate. Indeed, in many countries, the need to publicise tenders is a legal requirement.

As well as protecting the distribution and submission of bids, etendering should protect the information submitted from being shared with other bidding parties or used to support collusion among bidders. This is achieved through the use of so-called Secure Bid Process technology that ensures that every interaction with the process is recorded and time-stamped.

When it comes to evaluation of bids, etendering automates something that may previously have provided and opportunity to attract bribery or inefficiency. The system can rank and report on bids, applying policies, weighting and scoring without the potential for subversion.