Learn More About Bid Management Software
What is Bid Management Software?
Bid management software helps construction professionals navigate the construction bidding process. These solutions facilitate the creation of requests for proposals (RFPs) and streamline the process through which general contractors and construction project managers source and vet potential contractors.
Bid management software handles all aspects of the subcontractor bidding process. Contractors can upload proposals and project details, share documents, invite specific parties to bid on a contract, manage data related to a network of subcontractors, view competing bids side by side, track adherence to relevant compliance standards, and produce reports on specific projects or subcontractors. Subcontractors can upload their bids, share documents, answer questions, and communicate with the contractors who have submitted a given RFP. Bid management is a vital part of the preconstruction process, and construction bid management software helps to streamline that part. These tools are typically used in commercial construction. Commercial projects need large numbers of subcontractors, including specialty contractors, so the bid management process is often complex.
For example, a general contractor secures a huge commercial project contract. The contractor would use a bid management solution to solicit bids from subcontractors looking to get involved in the project. The subcontractors would produce a bid, outline the price, and provide relevant documents, proof of compliance, and other required information. The contractor would then use the bid management system to compare bids and select the right fit for the project.
What are the Common Features of Bid Management Software?
The following are some core features within bid management software that can help users streamline the bidding process for their projects:
Document management: With this feature, users can store bidders' and contractors’ data and documents throughout the project lifecycle and afterward.
Compliance tracking: This feature helps track subcontractor compliance with relevant compliance standards. This feature is key in order to properly vet potential subcontractors during the bidding process and ensure that only qualified companies remain in the running to secure the bid.
Integrations: This feature allows the software to integrate with additional pieces of software. Typically bid management solutions integrate with construction project management software or construction ERP solutions. The more comprehensive the set of integrations a given bid management tool offers, the more interoperable the tool will be.
Bid invites: This helps produce bid invitations for construction projects using project-specific information and allows subcontractors to provide bid-specific information. Bid invites are central to bid management solutions and help contractors streamline the process of putting together proposals and soliciting bids.
Prequalification: This provides dedicated functionality to help prequalify and tag qualified subcontractors as eligible to bid on projects.
Bid comparisons: The software contains bid boards or dashboards on which bids are compared. These dashboards streamline the process of comparing specific bids head-to-head.
Project reports: This feature helps produce reports, often customizable, with project-specific data and information.
Optical character recognition (OCR): This software provides document scanning with optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities. OCR can help streamline the document upload process and increase the speed with which subcontractors can provide required information to the contractors they are trying to work with.
What are the Benefits of Bid Management Software?
Bid management software provides contractors and construction managers with a host of benefits during the bid process:
Streamline bidding process: Bid management solutions help general contractors streamline the bidding process throughout the bid lifecycle and transition into the delivery portion of the construction management process. General contractors benefit from the dedicated features that help accelerate the rate at which subcontractors can be qualified as eligible for a given project.
Consolidate documents: Bid management tools consolidate all bid-related documents in a single solution. This consolidation can save time spent looking for documents in multiple tools and improve a company’s bid process workflow.
Who Uses Bid Management Software?
A few different construction-related personas use bid management software:
General contractors: General contractors hired for a construction project use construction bid management software to put together RFPs, manage project documents, manage bidders, select subcontractors for particular projects, and bid solicitation. These solutions automate large portions of the bidding process, making it easier for bidders and general contractors alike. General contractors can manage any addenda added to RFPs as project details shift. These addenda may involve project dates, pricing, changes in the scope of work, and more. Bid management solutions help general contractors maintain profitability and ensure they comprehensively view all project-related documents, including financials, throughout.
Subcontractors: Subcontractors use bid management software to produce and submit construction bids. Companies looking to secure pieces of work for a particular project put together bid packages for that project and submit them to the general contractor, who chooses their preferred subcontractor. Bid management software pushes notifications related to subcontractors’ bids throughout the bid management process and allows them to track it while being evaluated.
Software Related to Bid Management Software
Related solutions that can be used together with bid management software include:
Construction project management software: Bid management software integrates with construction project management solutions. Construction project management tools may also contain bid management functionality, particularly those project management solutions that provide both preconstruction and during-construction features.
Construction ERP software: Bid management solutions typically integrate with construction ERP solutions to help provide comprehensive construction management tools.
Challenges with Bid Management Software
Bid management software solutions can come with their own set of challenges.
Adoption and collaboration: For a bid management solution to be effective, the administrator, typically the general contractor, should specify roles and expectations. Product adoption is always key to the success of any piece of software, so it is important to ensure that there is a comprehensive implementation and education plan in place to drive high, successful adoption.
Interoperability: The bid management process is integral to the preconstruction process, particularly for large-scale commercial projects. To facilitate more efficient handoffs from the bid management solution to the preconstruction or construction project management tool the construction manager uses, native integrations with solutions already in the company’s tech stack are important.
How to Buy Bid Management Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Bid Management Software
Prospective buyers should understand how many projects they will have over the next few years and how large those projects will be. They should also know their technology stack and understand the solutions with which a bid management tool must integrate. During the requirements gathering phase, all relevant stakeholders should be looped in and potential pain points for each person on the buying committee discussed.
Prospective buyers should put together two feature lists, one consisting of core features and the other of nice-to-haves. The requirements should ultimately consist of necessary features, security considerations, compliance requirements, potential volume, and the number of projected users.
Compare Bid Management Software Products
Create a long list
The bid management long list should include solutions that meet the list of core features requirements. Prospective buyers should look at point solutions and those more comprehensive tools that might meet multiple needs.
Create a short list
The short list should consider price, return on investment (ROI), and the availability of the nice-to-have features. Security concerns and interoperability should already be factored in, and the short list should comprise viable solutions that compete on the strength of their features and the product’s price.
Conduct demos
During the demo process, a prospective buyer should put together a list of questions designed to dig into specific use cases that are likely to occur during their use of the product. Buyers should also ask for a demo using scenarios common to their business.
Selection of Bid Management Software
Choose a selection team
The selection team should include finance, security, and other relevant users as well as budget owners. The size of the selection team will depend on the size of the purchase and the number of people involved, but the team should be as small as possible to streamline the process.
Final decision
The decision will likely be consensus-based at the committee level. If the general contractor outfit is smaller, the final decision may rest with a single person, but the decision should be rooted in the working reality of the bid process.
