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E-procurement · BidMate · RFPs, RFQs and tenders

BidMate: e-tendering and bid evaluation

BidMate is our own e-procurement platform. Your buyers issue RFPs, RFQs and tenders, compare bids side by side and rank them L1, L2 and L3, with every award and its reason recorded.

Why Gulf Infotech

Why procurement teams choose BidMate

  • Our own platform

    BidMate is built and delivered by Gulf Infotech, so we configure it to your tender rules.

  • Since 2007

    with 1,500+ active cloud customers across the Middle East.

  • Offices in Dubai, Muscat (head office) and Doha

    serving all six GCC countries.

  • Requirements first

    we map your tender, evaluation and approval rules before configuring anything.

What runs in the vendor portal

  • Supplier onboarding
  • RFI, RFP, RFQ
  • E-auctions
  • Purchase orders
  • Invoices and approvals

Vendor portal · start here

BidMate is Gulf Infotech's own e-procurement platform for tenders and bids. Buyers issue RFPs, RFQs and tenders, suppliers' bids arrive in one place, and the procurement team compares them side by side and ranks them L1, L2 and L3 before the award. We capture your requirements first and set BidMate up as an end-to-end procurement solution around them. Gulf Infotech has served businesses across the Middle East since 2007.

Vendor portal · Explained

What does BidMate cover?

Most tendering in the region still runs on email: a buyer sends a spreadsheet to five suppliers, three reply late, one changes the template, and nobody can later show the auditor why the winner won. BidMate moves that work into one place:

It suits organisations that buy through competitive bids: contractors, facilities and maintenance companies, manufacturers, distributors, healthcare groups, semi-government entities and any company with a large supplier base. If you only need internal purchase approvals, Zoho Procurement may be enough; our e-procurement overview compares the platforms.

  • RFPs and RFQs: requests for proposal and requests for quotation in a standard format, sent to the suppliers you choose, with a deadline.
  • Tenders: tender documents and supplier submissions handled in one record per tender.
  • Comparison: bids side by side on price, terms, delivery and technical compliance.
  • L1, L2 and L3 evaluation: bids ranked from the lowest (L1) to the second (L2) and third (L3), the way procurement committees evaluate them.
  • Award: the chosen bid and the reason for the award recorded, ready for audit.

Vendor portal · At a glance

Email tendering or BidMate?

Takeaway: BidMate pays off when you run regular tenders or invite many suppliers. For occasional buying from a few suppliers, purchase approvals in your accounting system may be enough.

StepBy email and spreadsheetIn BidMate
Sending an RFP, RFQ or tenderEach buyer uses a different templateSame format every time
Receiving bidsReplies arrive in different formats and timesBids arrive in one place by the deadline
Comparing bidsManual comparison in a spreadsheetSide-by-side comparison
RankingDone by hand, often not recordedL1, L2 and L3 ranking recorded
AwardingReason for the award lost in emailAward and reason recorded for audit
  • Sending an RFP, RFQ or tender

    By email and spreadsheet
    Each buyer uses a different template
    In BidMate
    Same format every time
  • Receiving bids

    By email and spreadsheet
    Replies arrive in different formats and times
    In BidMate
    Bids arrive in one place by the deadline
  • Comparing bids

    By email and spreadsheet
    Manual comparison in a spreadsheet
    In BidMate
    Side-by-side comparison
  • Ranking

    By email and spreadsheet
    Done by hand, often not recorded
    In BidMate
    L1, L2 and L3 ranking recorded
  • Awarding

    By email and spreadsheet
    Reason for the award lost in email
    In BidMate
    Award and reason recorded for audit

Step by step

How do we deploy BidMate?

BidMate is quoted for your organisation once we know your requirements, the number of buyers and the expected number of tenders. Deployment and configuration, migration of supplier records, training and support are separate, paid components that we scope and quote with you, in your local currency.

Durations are indicative estimates that depend on your rules, supplier numbers and how quickly decisions are made.

  1. Requirements review

    tender thresholds, evaluation criteria, approval rules and the reports you need.

  2. Design

    RFP, RFQ and tender templates, comparison sheets and L1, L2, L3 rules.

  3. Configuration

    BidMate set up and tested with your buyers on a real tender.

  4. Supplier records

    your current suppliers imported and invited to your first tender.

  5. Training and go-live

    buyer and committee sessions, a first live tender, then support from our team.

Vendor portal · Explained

Need a supplier portal for your own process?

Where a customer needs a supplier-facing portal for a specific process, we build it as a custom solution on Zoho Creator. It can have an Arabic interface and runs in Zoho's data centres. See Zoho support and development.

Vendor portal · FAQs

Frequently asked questions

What is BidMate?

BidMate is Gulf Infotech's own e-procurement platform. It handles RFPs, RFQs and tenders, compares the bids side by side, ranks them L1, L2 and L3, and records the award and its reason. We set it up around your requirements and tender rules as an end-to-end procurement solution, for organisations in Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

What are L1, L2 and L3?

They rank the bids for a tender or RFQ: L1 is the lowest bid, L2 the second lowest and L3 the third. BidMate shows the ranking next to each bid's technical compliance and terms, so the committee's award and its reason are recorded in one place.

How is BidMate different from Zoho Procurement?

Zoho Procurement starts from purchase requests and approvals and runs the full purchase-to-pay cycle in Zoho. BidMate starts from tenders and bids: RFPs, RFQs, comparison and L1, L2, L3 evaluation. Organisations that tender often choose BidMate; those whose main need is approvals choose Zoho Procurement. We recommend one after a requirements review.

Run your next tender in BidMate, not an inbox

Tell us how you tender today and how many suppliers you invite, and we will show you BidMate on one of your own tenders.

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