The City of Toronto is inviting counter-proposals to the unsolicited proposals received from PayIt LLC by them to find prospective suppliers for a digital government and payment platform.
The product and service categories mentioned by the City in the e-bidding portal include mobile application development, internet or intranet client application development services, Information technology consultation services, application implementation services and mainframe software applications design among others.
The bidding for projects for the City of Toronto officially transitioned to SAP Ariba Discovery, an e-bidding solution, on Sept. 1, 2019. The City says on its website that this tool “makes it easy for suppliers to download solicitation documents free of charge through the SAP Ariba portal.” Paper copies of solicitations are no longer sold via the Tender Office.
The SAP Ariba Discovery solution enables any buyer to post their immediate sourcing needs, and any supplier to respond to show they can deliver. It is open to everyone, free to post and free to respond. The solution offers a five-part strategy (analyze, identify, find, monitor, mitigate) to respond to supply chain disruption, with software and services for supplier discovery, supplier risk management, and supply chain collaboration.
The City says it is using the Swiss Challenge Negotiated Request for Proposals (SC-nRFP) method, a specialized procurement process that is distinct from its traditional RFQ/RFP procedure, to invite these counter proposals. This means the unsolicited quotations or proposals policy requires that all eligible unsolicited proposals be subject, upon council approval, to the Swiss Challenge.
The Toronto Office of Partnerships developed the SC-nRFP framework in Jan. 2008 to allow external organizations seeking to do business with the City, outside of the conventional procurement system, with an opportunity to have their ideas presented and evaluated.
The City says that the SC-nRFP process provides it with “a method for evaluating unsolicited proposals and then offers other interested parties, with the capability to deliver a like product, an opportunity to bid on the original unsolicited proposals by offering a counter proposal, while at the same time protecting the ability of the unsolicited participant to match any other competing counter proposal.”
Suppliers interested in viewing and bidding on City of Toronto opportunities will need to create an account (free) on SAP Ariba Discovery using the City of Toronto SAP Ariba Registration link. Those wanting to become familiar with the SAP Ariba registration and response experience can access the materials in SAP Ariba Supplier Guide and Mock Solicitations.
The City hasn’t posted the budget information and says that the opportunity amount mentioned in the Ariba Discovery portal does not reflect its actual project estimate. This Swiss Challenge ends on October 16, 2020 at 12:00p.m. Toronto Local Time.