Searching the Florida Vendor Bid System (VBS) Vendor Meeting: March 18, 2010

Searching the Florida Vendor Bid System (VBS)

Vendor Meeting: March 18, 2010

Agenda

Overview Registering for Notifications Searching in VBS VBS Tips & Tricks SPURSView Contact Us

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Agenda

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Overview

The Vendor Bid System (VBS) is a place for state agencies, universities, and water management districts to post announcements, solicitations and public meeting notices per Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) requirements

http://vbs.dms.state.fl.us/vbs/main_menu

Rule 60A-1.021, F.A.C. Electronic Posting of Decisions and Intended Decisions

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Overview

Who uses VBS?

Agency customers who post solicitation notices, single source notices, or public meetings

Vendor customers who wish to be notified of upcoming business opportunities

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Overview: VBS Benefits

Why should vendors use VBS?Agencies are required by Rule 60A-1.021 to post all

bids for public view in VBSState of Florida guarantees the validity of all bids

posted in VBSMFMP vendors receive automatic notifications of

new bids posted in VBS• Based on commodity codes

VBS is one of three bidding tools available to vendors at no chargeeQuoteSourcing

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Registering for Notifications

VBS Notifications When vendors register in the Vendor Information Portal (VIP)

and select ‘Yes’ for solicitations, they automatically register for VBS e-mail notifications

- https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com

- Based on the commodity codes selected in their VIP account

-Sent to the VIP main contact e-mail address Vendors receive VBS notifications for all new and modified

advertisements posted for a commodity code (notifications are not sent for single sources or agency decisions)

To change notification settings, vendors update their contact information in their MFMP VIP account

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Vendors sign up for VBS notifications by logging into their VIP account and selecting ‘View/Edit Solicitations Selections’ from the drop down menu

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Overview

After clicking yes and saving changes, the registration for electronic notifications is complete

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The following table displays VBS advertisements that trigger vendor notifications:

Yes No

Single source X

Agency decisions X

Grant opportunities X

Competitive solicitations X

Public Meeting Notices X

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VBS

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VBS Main Page

Select Search Advertisements to search for active solicitations

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VBS

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Type Competitive Solicitations Public Notices Agency Decisions

Agency Number Title Commodity CodesClosed by Date

VBS Search Parameters

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VBS

-VBS Search Results are displayed with Title, Number, Version and Type

-Links are provided in the Number Column to the solicitation documents

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Now, let’s punch-out to VBS and perform a search. We’ll review:

Open solicitations Closed solicitations Agency decisions


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VBS

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Wrap-Up

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VBS Toolkit – http://dms.myflorida.com/vbsguide

The VBS resources section includes a screen by screen guide and tips and tricks

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VBS Helpful Hints

VBS notifications are sent to the VIP main account’s e-mail address and are driven by commodity codes

Consider creating a general e-mail account as the main contact e-mail address

This ensures multiple parties have access to notifications received by the state

Easy to forward on internally by region, location or notification type Eliminates the need to update contact information if an employee

leaves your organization

Make sure commodity codes are up-to-date and accurate If you offer a new product/service and have not updated the commodity

codes, you could miss out on a bid opportunity

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Responding to Bids: General Tips

The instructions for preparing a bid response will vary based on the solicitation type (ITB, RFP, or ITN)

Respondents should review the instructions with the evaluation criteria established in the solicitation to ensure that all critical elements are addressed

Provide a professional looking response

If there are questions, contact the agency solicitation contact listed in the actual solicitation

Utilize the checklist provided in the solicitation to confirm compliance with the basic requirements

Allow enough time to have someone in your organization review the proposed response (preferably someone not associated with the preparation)

Common Pitfalls

Submission of incomplete or unsigned documents

Exceeding established page limits for response

Not participating in mandatory meeting/site visit

Relying on information that is ‘heard’ rather than getting the information is writing from the solicitation owner

The most common pitfall is not allowing enough time to prepare and submit the bid

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Responding to Bids: Tips

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SPURSView is a public portal

Offers insight into agency purchasing activitiesContains a search for commodity codesAllows for searches for Certified Business

Enterprises (CBEs)

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SPURSView

http://www.myflorida.com/apps/spurs/spurs.main_menu_form

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SPURSView

Click on any of the links to perform the desired search

Now, let’s punch-out to SPURSView and perform a search. We’ll review:

Commodity code searches Purchase Order (PO) information

http://www.myflorida.com/apps/spurs/spurs.main_menu_form

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SPURSview

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Resources

Solicitation specific questions Contact the Agency Contract Administrator / Purchasing Office

responsible for the solicitation- this information is available in the solicitation documents

http://dms.myflorida.com/agencypurchasingofficials

For technical questions concerning solicitations, please contact Vendor Help at: [email protected] or 1-866-352-3776 Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:30 pm EDT

Vendor toolkit: http://dms.myflorida.com/vendortoolkit

Resources

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Resources

For general State Term Contract (STC) information, please contact the Division of State Purchasing:850-488-8440 http://dms.myflorida.com/contracts

For questions about becoming a certified minority vendor, please contact the DMS Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD): [email protected] http://www.osd.dms.state.fl.us 850-487-0915

Resources

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Resources

Today’s presentation is available on MFMP vendor toolkithttp://dms.myflorida.com/vendormeetings

Future teleconferences:4/7/2010: MFMP Overview5/12/2010: How to Find Business Opportunities

• Register at http://dms.myflorida.com/vendormeetings

Questions / Comments

Be on the lookout for a participant survey!

SPURSview

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Wrap-Up

Questions?

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Wrap-Up

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Documents

Searching the Florida Vendor Bid System (VBS) Vendor Meeting: March 18, 2010