How do I view and create new Contracts as I could in Version 2?

A: In version 3 Contracts have been renamed Projects.  You can create and view projects using the new menu system found throughout the system when logged in as a buyer.




Where have my Templates & Steps gone in Version 3?


A: In version 3 Template & Steps have been renamed Workflows & Events respectively.  You can manage your Workflows & Events using the Configuration menu (you must have administration rights to do so as per Version 2)




How do I reopen an event that has been marked complete by mistake?


A: To reopen an event that has been marked complete you must have the Project Manager role within the project team.  You reopen the event by clicking on the Manage Events link found on the project dashboard.  Each completed event will display a reopen icon .  To reopen the event simply click on this icon followed by the “Update events” button to confirm the action.



As a verifier I don’t have an option to release supplier RFx responses back to the buying team, why not?


A: When verifying responses from supplier you need to make sure all response types have been accepted or declined including “opt outs”.  Once all responses have been verified then an action drop list will be available to release the responses back to the procurement team.



I have created a new project but I cannot start any events as I am informed I haven’t completed all mandatory project information, what have I missed?


A: There is a mandatory set of information that must be completed before you can start any event.  The data required is key to one or more potential processes within the workflow.  The main areas required are:-

    • Mandatory project information found in the 'Project Details' section of the project dashboard.
    • Project categories (found at the foot of the Dashboard e.g. CPV, UNSPSC, NHS e-Class etc.).
    • Region(s) of supply (found at the foot of the Dashboard)



I now need to select supplier company workgroups rather that supplier company contacts, what is a workgroup?


A: In V2 a supplier account belonged to one individual supplier contact for any given company.  The problem with this was two-fold.  If the supplier leaves the company, is on holiday or is sick then the account would have to be reassigned to another supplier contact to proceed and not miss a deadline.  Secondly if the procurement activity required more than one of the companies’ contacts to work on a response (e.g. specialisations within a tender response) then again the account would need to be reallocated as and when a new contact needed to work on the response.


In V3 a workgroup is used.  A workgroup can have one to many members (supplier contacts) from the same company. Each member has their own login and can be a member of other workgroups at the same time.  This resolves the common V2 problems encountered by the supplying companies.



When you export the Contracts Register to Excel most of the contract values appear as £0.00, why is this?


A: The contract value that may appear in this way is “Annual Contract Value”.  This was an optional field in the Contract Register in V2.  “Total Contract Value” on the other hand will be populated.



A colleague has accessed one of my projects and on the messages it says that there are 22 unread messages. I have accessed messages on this project on my log-on and there are no unread messages, as I have already read them.  When my colleague has access the messages there are no indicators to say that I have read them, why is this?


A: The unread marks for messages can be set to belong to the user rather than the project. This setting can be amended to project instead within the Organisation Configuration area.



When I produced an evaluation template recently I selected one section to not show but it still did when it was advertised and allowed the supplier to answer the questions.  As a system administrator, I’m of the impression that there will be times when a department wishes to evaluate a tender based on their own internal opinions.  We’d consider things like “How did you rate the supplier presentation?”  We can’t have things like that showing.  If I set the section not to show shouldn’t that prevent it happening?


A: “Questionnaire question” is the replacement for the “online” question from V2 which a supplier answers.  A “Question” is one the evaluator just gives a score for e.g. presentation score and will not require the supplier to add an answer.

If a questionnaire question is used in a section the section must show overriding the procurer selection not to, otherwise the questionnaire weighting could be compromised.



There is now no email option to send to specific addresses outside system (only internal to team members once they've logged in)?


A: All system messages in V3 now reside within the system.  You must be an authenticated user to view them and respond.  You will be notified a new message has arrived.  This approach increases security.  3rd party users can be created with the “Collaborator” right and can view messages within the system.



I don’t have the option to create lot template ranking scenarios when preparing my evaluation as I could in version 2, why not?


A: The functionality is still available but it has been moved to the “Score Evaluation “ event as rankings take place within this event.



In version 2 approvers could quickly find projects to approve by clicking on View My Projects to Approve. This does not seem to be in version 3 and approvers have to search through all projects to find the relevant project they need to approve.


A: There is now a narrow results filter on the my projects data grid (Sourcing > Projects > Search) to show all projects where the user is an approver in the team.



From the home page, when I try to click into ‘Supplier Approval’ in the ‘Suppliers’ section, it is stating I am not authorized.  What is this area and should I have access?


A: Proactis Support are managing all supplier approvals. 



When creating a project or editing project details what does ‘Limited to Mutuals’ mean?  You have to select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and cannot leave this option blank.  Presume this means subsidiary or partner companies but can you confirm please?


A: This is for transparency reporting in regards to the new UK regulations (public sector)

4.19 Procurement competition limited to Mutuals (Article 77):-

The competition for certain health, social, care, cultural and other services can be reserved for mutual organisations only and exclude all others, this is a major change from the previous regime were no entrant barriers were allowed. The requirements are:

    • Contract must be for a public facing service
    • Competition still required but can be limited to organisations who:
      • Reinvest profits into service development
      • Management/ownership is based on mutual principles/employee ownership
      • Mutuals have not previously in the last 3 years had the specific contract
    • Contracts are limited to 3 years duration.



When creating/reviewing an evaluation template for an online evaluation, I can’t seem to discover how you edit questions e.g. change it from ‘Pass/Fail’ to ‘Scored’ or edit the question type (text, attachment) etc.  You used to be able to do this in V2.  However, in V3, it looks like you have to delete the old question and create a completely new bespoke one.  Is there a way to simply edit an existing question on the template?


A: If you click on the question title link when viewing a draft template you can edit the question type information.  The exception is library questions as only question library administrators can modify these.



When creating/adding a new question to the evaluation template, what is the difference between a ‘Questionnaire Question’ and a ‘Question’?  I opted for Questionnaire Question which appeared to do the trick but wondered what the difference was?


A: A “Questionnaire question” is the replacement for the “online” question from V2 which a supplier answers.  A “Question” is one the evaluator just gives a score for e.g. presentation score and does not require a supplier answer.



I cannot publish my RFx without a linked advert event, why not?


A: The RFx event setup is set to “Automatic Invitation”, meaning it will auto-add any suppliers that express an interest in the advert (if an advert has been created in project, it can be linked in the RFx Information area). If this is not required, an administrator will need to change the RFx event setup to “Manual Invitation” to remove this dependency, and you will need to re-add the new and updated RFx event into your project.



I have no option to add additional suppliers to my quick quote, why not?


A: When an administrator creates a Quick Quote RFx event, they choose how many local, non-local and additional suppliers can be added. If you have administrator access you can view you Quick Quote RFx event setup by going to Configuration  > Workflow > Events.  You can edit the RFX set up from here for any future quick quotes.


Why is there now a seal on non-verified procurements exercises in V3?


A: The seal has been added as a mechanism to close the procurement exercise.  Verifiers are not needed to remove the seal, the procurer can do this.  This action prevents any further submissions beyond the deadline and signals the start of a given evaluation process where applicable.  



Currently on V2 contracts register there are 2 sections namely current and redundant contracts, I cannot see this in V3 so do current and redundant all list together or do redundant contracts disappear?  If so this is a concern as we may still need to access redundant contracts?


A: There is an additional filter on the register (Status) in V3.  Redundant has now been replaced by Archive.  The default results are “Active” but you can check the “Archive” option to display either or both.



Which internet browsers are supported for use with Version 3?


A: The browsers supported include the latest desktop/mobile versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge, Google Chrome and Apple Safari.



Not sure if I am missing something but is it still possible to copy question set template once they have been published through the RFx event?  In V2 you would have to manually copy the template and reattach to the amended RFx.


A: It works slightly differently in V3.  When a questionnaire is added to an RFx and an amendment is needed, you amend the RFx and edit the evaluation from there.  This creates Version 2 (a copy of the original) you then make your changes and publish the RFx once more.  In addition when editing the questionnaire you can now state if the change in major or minor e.g. major forces the supplier to re-answer the question by removing their previous response to it.


The greatest benefit with this new method supplier answers to questions are not lost when you amend the questionnaire as they were in V2.



What is the list of file types that you will be restricting as I need to ensure that it will not impact on our tenders as we send out CAD files and others when tendering IT we have sent scripting via the portal?


A: The file types allowed are:-


txt, rtf, mpp, vsd, dwg, rar, msg, ics, html, gif, jpg, png, jpeg, tiff, tif, zip, pdf, doc, xls, ppt, docx, xlsx, pptx, mp3, mov, m4a, swf, wmv, mpg, mpeg, avi, wav, odt, odp, ods, numbers, pages


We do restrict certain areas to specific type e.g. xlxs when we require a spreadsheet upload. We can also add other types upon request where we will consult with the security team and add them or let you know the concerns.



What is the purpose of the Create Contract Function from the menu bar if you have run a project? It should automatically pull through the finished project data?


A: Create contract is for creating contract register contracts where the procurement wasn’t ran through ProContract e.g. historical data.  The create contract option is also associated with a separate right which allows a support person to create contract register contracts without the full project workflow knowledge.  The project is created in the background but with minimal data required.



Government Transparency Agenda - What does the amber indicator mean?


A: Amber indicates that some information required by the transparency agenda has been populated but other information is still required to fully comply.  The help icon next to the amber icon will tell you what is still required.



Supplier Ring Fencing - What is this?


A: Ring fencing is the list of suppliers that have been involved in procurements for your organisation.  As we have moved to a national portal some clients only want to see their historical suppliers.  The ring fenced suppliers appear on the "Organisation" tab at supplier selection as opposed to "Portal" suppliers which show all suppliers registered on the national portal.  This functionality area can also be used to invite suppliers to register, and registered suppliers can also be manually ring fenced.



A supplier message hasn’t appeared in message area, but I have received a notification of a new message, why can’t I see it?


A: There are 2 areas for messages in V3, project level and RFx level.  If a supplier raises a message at the project level it only appears in the project messages area on the project dashboard and not in the RFx message area.  If the supplier raises a message in the RFx it will appear to the buyer in both the project messages area and the RFx message area.



When adding a contract to register (a quick contract) a new Project with a dashboard was created.  Does this have to happen for every contract we wish to add?  We will have some contracts not procured via ProContract which we will want to add to the register without creating a project.


A: Yes this is required, but they will be auto-created as 'Awarded' projects so will not appear in your active project list..  The reason they are projects is to bring the system in line from an integration perspective.  It also allows you to manage the historical contracts using the new contract management module.