Is there a resource to register for commercial RFPs (request for
proposal) for large professional service contracts ($500K+)? If not,
what is the best way to find these contracts?

I have searched Google and found a few but I don't think I have found
any that are actually used.

I'd prefer on-line sources but wish for all that are useful.

Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by ephraim-ga on 15 May 2002 09:49 PDT

When you say "registor for commercial RFPs," do you mean to say that
you want to be alerted every time a new RFP is issued by such-and-such
company?

/ephraim

Hello!

My research has turned up the following online sources for connecting
RFP suppliers and buyers:

Onvia.com

Onvia is a Business-to-Business (B2B) RFP portal, with over 200
categories posting RFP's from private industry, many state
governments, and the federal government. Onvia receives over 5,000 new
postings a week, with an aggregate value of over 2 billion US dollars.

Subscriptions to the Onvia Guide (listings in up to 15 categories)
cost $49.95 per month. Subscribers receive RFPs, RFQs, bids and lead
information from more than 40,000 city, state, and federal government
agencies. Lead filtering is available by keyword criteria (including
job size) and by zipcode.

A free trial of the Onvia Guide is available.

Onvia encompasses DemandStar, a additional subscription service for
matching local government contracting, and sub-contracting to bidders
and services.

DemandStar "BidWire for bids and RFPs 
1. Automatically notify suppliers of your bids and RFPs.
2. Distribute bid specifications and blueprints online -- reduce the
manual effort of copying and mailing document and answering supplier
phone calls.
3. Track all bid activity.
4. Verify that suppliers have received bid documents and addenda.
5. Research our ever-growing bid library of more than 8,000
specifications to develop your own bids and RFPs"

You may contact Onvia via e-mail: info@onvia.com or by telephone at
1-888-484-3374.

http://www.onvia.com/


CBD/FBO

Commerce Business Daily/Federal BizOps is the online version of the
print publication. The daily online service may be searched before the
print version is published. A yearly for the online service
subscription costs $299.

Commerce Business Daily is published by Necpac:

"Nepac. Inc. was formed in 1992 to facilitate the ecommerce directive
of the Federal Government.  We were one of the first data suppliers to
publish the Commerce Business Daily in "searchable" electronic format.
 With over 3,000 contractors using Nepac data services, we have become
one of the largest sources of government bid and award information
both online and offline." Framed content, About Us link to:
http://www.cbd-net.com/nepac.htm

The website notes that CBD has been successfully replaced by FedBizOps

Additional information and registration for the NEPAC service may be
obtained from Lois Rothchild at 800-932-7761 or email
online@cbdweb.com. You may register for a free (trial) guest account:

http://www.cbdweb.com/register.html


A free, online search service for RFP searches is made available by
SourceGuides.com. They offer RFP search capabilities by Region,
Industry, Commerce Type and Name. You may list your company
information to be found by those seeking RFP bids, or search their
current listing for RFP sources in specific areas. They list over 500
sources for RFPs in a variety of industries and regions. I would
suggest a quick browse of their listings by name to acquaint you with
these listings.

http://www.sourceguides.com/markets/byC/B2B/byN/byName.shtml


Business Patrol is an online business resources directory and search
engine, which provide broad search capabilities. Free registration
provides access to a number of resources, trade offers and
advertisements.

http://www.businesspatrol.com/


RFP Market is a online business directory listing RFPs. Their current
commercial services directory category provides listings in: Building
& Construction, Cleaning, Contract Manufacturing, Environmental
Services, Equipment Rental/Lease, Food Services, Hospitality, Imaging,
Import/Expert, Photography, Repair and Maintenance, Research &
Scientific, Security, Shipping & Delivers, Testing and Inspection, and
Transportation.

http://www.rfpmarket.com


MarketItRight.com offers a set of business tools for the obtaining and
marketing RFP services. You may search their listings for current
offers, or list your own services. Registered members may access a
large database of articles and tutorials on step-by-step procedures
for business growth using proven marketing techniques. Though geared
primarily for small business, these tools and online resources are
also applicable to larger commercial contracts. Subscription to
premium services, including a resource directory, costs $19.95 per
month, with a three month minimum.

https://www.marketitright.com/


BizBuyer is an outsourcing portal for commercial services. This site
is powered by WorkSmarter.com, "The Managed Marketplace for Business
Services TM". Registrants are screened, and the listings may be
accessed by companies searching for outsourced services.

http://www.smarterwork.com/


ProcureZone for buyers and suppliers:

"ProcureZone offers a unique and comprehensive compendium of the
latest product information from registered suppliers from around the
globe. Linkages will also be provided to major sources of technical
and trade data and information. This includes codes and standards as
well as industry associations."
http://www.procurezone.com/ObtainProductInfo.html


To market your services direct, you might investigate listings and/or
advertising on Business.com or Google's targeted keyword advertising.
As an online businessperson myself, I've found both of these venues
provide a method of targeted advertising that delivers business leads
directly to your door, so to speak. With carefully chosen keywords,
such advertising puts news of your availability for contracting
directly to those seeking such services.

https://secure.business.com/registration/suggestasite.jsp?mkt=ads.inh.nkw.listsite.bdc.ros.x
https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=Login


Search terms used:
obtain RFP information -
://www.google.com/search?q=obtain+RFP+information
commercial RFP B2B -
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&q=commercial+RFP+B2B
RFP Marketplaces - ://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&q=RFP+Marketplaces

I've provided listings for the general RFP process, without in-depth
information about specific industries, products, or services. I'll be
happy to provide more focused information and resources on a specific
industry, if needed.

As you have no doubt discovered, individual listings for an RFP search
yield many individual websites and agencies who list their RFPs
individually. The search terms I used (RFP B2B) lists over 33,000
results. A survey of the first 100 listings indicates that
approximately 25% of these general listings contain current (open) RFP
bids. By adding an industry or specific service to the search terms
you can increase the quality of search results considerably. You can
expand Google's functionality by requesting a up-to-the-minute search
of a specific site discovered in your general search strategy:

://www.google.com/help/features.html#sitesearch

An Amazon.com search lists educational books for RFP writing:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-2673075-7799148


I hope this information proves useful to you.

larre-ga

Yes, a very helpful answer - thank you!

Hi -

I saw your post and have done some investigation into the different
sites that were recommended by larre and have been unsuccessful in
finding any that do indeed post (or provide a notification of)
commercial RFP's.  Onvia is the closest, but only provides RFPs for
federal, state, and local--no commercial opportunities.

Is it really true that there is not a site (or sites) that posts such
information?

Marty, Onvia is, indeed, geared toward commercial bids for government RFPs.

For additional Business to Business portals and eMarketplaces try:

CommerceOne Net - http://www.commerceone.net/ 
Transora - http://www.transora.com/ 
Alibaba - http://www.alibaba.com 
Tenders.Net - http://www.tenders.net/ 

=l=

hey guys,

Iam looking out for similar type of info......want to find RFP for
Utilities industries-that mention the need for IT solution(preferably
real time solution)......kindly help...if any of u had the same
experience before....this is very urgent....

Thanks and regards,
icfai

I'm surprised nobody mentioned http://www.elance.com which is great
for all sizes of projects. You can also hire a company to manage
off-shore and outsourced development for you, like
http://www.escapesoftware.com who are based in the EU.