Know the marketbefore you go to tender.
Independent technical market exploration for your IT tender: you receive a market comparison and well-founded criteria that you can review with your responsible departments for the tender documents.
What you receive
- Neutral requirements analysis
- Market report with comparison matrix
- Criteria recommendation with a rationale for each criterion
- Anonymized scenario and fixed evaluation framework
- Results presentation for business unit, IT and procurement office
When a market exploration helps
- The tender is coming up, but nobody knows the current market
- Your procurement procedures attract unsuitable bids or too few of them
- Business unit, IT and procurement office have different expectations
- You have to justify selection criteria and minimum requirements in the procurement record (Vergabevermerk)
How we work
From your needs to a well-founded criteria recommendation
- 1
Needs & sign-off
Needs analysis, drafting the requirements profile and joint sign-off with everyone involved.
- 2
Scenario & evaluation
Drafting an anonymous scenario that reveals nothing about the contracting authority or the contract. Defining criteria and their weighting.
- 3
Market screening
Selecting suitable vendors from 8-10 candidates and a shortlist of 3-5 potential bidders to consult. Preparing a neutral, anonymous interview guide.
- 4
Interviews & demos
Consulting potential bidders to uniform standards, with demos (60-90 minutes). Analyzing which criteria can realistically be met and why vendors might not take part.
- 5
Report & criteria
Preparing the market report and the well-founded criteria recommendation.
- 6
Presentation
Presenting the results to business unit, IT and procurement office.
- 7
Follow-up support
Answering follow-up questions and further support, including after completion.
What happens next
You review the recommendations with your responsible departments and adopt the criteria that fit into your tender documents.
Market exploration on a single page.
Deliverables, the 7-step process, duration and fixed price: a compact overview to share with your business unit, IT and procurement office.
Download white paper (PDF, 58 KB)Frequently asked questions about market exploration
No. We prepare the technical groundwork: your needs, a market comparison and well-founded criteria recommendations. You review the recommendations with your responsible departments, draw up your tender documents and run the procurement procedure.
The fixed price of €20,250 plus travel and incidental expenses and VAT covers the market exploration as described: from the needs analysis through vendor interviews and the market report to the presentation and follow-up support. You receive the five deliverables listed above. We agree the scope of follow-up support with you.
We discuss your planned tender date and a suitable schedule in the initial consultation. There we clarify which requirements already exist and when your stakeholders and the vendors are available for interviews.
The business unit and IT, ideally the procurement office as well. They contribute your needs and technical constraints to the discussions and sign off the requirements profile in writing. We coordinate between everyone involved as a neutral party and talk to all of them as equals.
Selection criteria concern the bidders, for example references, certifications and staff capacity. We base them on the average of the vendors consulted. Minimum technical requirements concern the solution and follow from your needs and the findings of the market exploration. A selection of 3-5 vendors provides the basis for the recommendation. You check each criterion for its suitability for your specific project; none is carried over into the tender automatically.
Vendors receive a scenario from which we remove any details about your organization and your project. Ekstend conducts every interview with the same guide and documents the answers. Criteria and weighting are fixed in advance. In the report the vendors are named A, B and C by default; we name them only at your express request.
Vendors only receive an anonymized scenario with no details about your organization or your project. We interview all of them using the same guide; no vendor contributes to your requirements or tender documents. Ekstend is product-neutral and never acts as a bidder in your procedure.
In the free initial consultation we discuss your project, your timeline and whether a market exploration is the right fit.
We present the results to business unit, IT and procurement office together, or in separate sessions if you prefer. Where useful, we add live demo elements to the presentation.
Preparing a tender? Talk to us.
In the free initial consultation we look at your project and timeline and tell you honestly whether a market exploration makes sense for it.