Welcome to the new BC Bid!

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1 BC Bid has a new design, new features and services, but most importantly, a new way of doing business. Beginning in early 2003, suppliers will be able to submit bids and proposals electronically in response to many of the opportunities posted to BC Bid by Purchasing Services. Later in the year other public sector organizations will begin to accept e-bids. Suppliers will gain valuable bid response time by being able to submit bids and proposals until just before closing time. Instead of printing, collating and binding multiple copies of documents, and then arranging and paying to courier or mail them in, you can simply submit a single, electronic copy of your final bid documents. The new BC Bid will also offer improved search and bid matching options in addition to all of the functionality that is offered today. This overview provides an outline of the changes that are being introduced. Comprehensive help screens and downloadable guides will be available directly from BC Bid. What are the Major Changes to BC Bid? In addition to e-bidding, the new BC Bid offers suppliers: - expanded search options - ability to create bid matching profiles - identification of other interested contractors on selected opportunities - ability for individuals to self-register for services and maintain personal information - ability for companies to enroll for services and maintain employee and company information. And, BC Bid will continue to link to a wide range of tender opportunities from across Canada, the United States and around the world. Notification As an notification subscriber you will be automatically notified of any new opportunities that match your commodity and location profile. You will also be automatically advised of amendments to previously issued opportunities that match your profile. To register, select Vendor Registration under the Start your e-service heading. A step-by-step guide to registering and maintaining your profile is available at Please remember to complete step seven of the process: Completing a Product and Location Profile. Anyone may register to receive notices. You do not have to be affiliated with a company. All information you provide to the Province is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. We will only use this information for purposes related to the Service.

2 2 How will e-bidding Work? Each opportunity posted to BC Bid will indicate if e-bids are accepted or not. E-Bidding is offered as an option to suppliers. In most cases you will still be able to submit a bid by courier, mail, fax or over-the-counter. Some buyers may require e-bidding. Two types of on-line tender documents will be used. Most organizations will post Opportunity Notices, which are e-advertisements that include an attached tender document. To bid electronically you will prepare your response in your own system, for example as a Word document, and then attach it to a BC Bid e-response Form. If you are responding to an Invitation to Quote issued by Purchasing Services you will complete an on-line form and submit it. In both cases your response is sent directly to BC Bid s secure database. All e-bids must include your company s e-bidding Key. Your e-bidding Key is a series of numbers and letters selected by you that, in conjunction with other identifying information such as your legal name, is the legal equivalent of your authorized signature. You may use your e- Bidding Key to electronically sign eligible bids, proposals or other communications in the BC Bid e-service. Only one key will be accepted from corporate entities (i.e. branch offices will not be issued separate keys). Enrolling for E-Bidding Companies that wish to submit bids electronically must first enroll with BC Bid. An individual who has registered for notices may also act on behalf of a company and enroll the company for e-bidding. Or, a company may designate a primary contact to enroll the company. Enrolling to e-bid is different from registering to receive notices. To start the enrollment process, select Vendor Registration under the Start your e-service heading. Please note that as part of the enrollment process you must complete an e-bidding Registration and Change of Information Form. After you complete and submit, via fax, the e-bidding Registration and Change of Information Form, BC Bid s registrar will check the form for completeness and, if the form is complete and accepted, will add or update your information with the BC Bid e-service. The registrar will enter the e-bidding Key that you have provided to us. Your prime contact will receive an confirming that the processing of the form is complete and that your e-bidding Key has been activated. If the form is not accepted or incomplete, your prime contact will receive an advising of this. If incomplete, the will also specify what mandatory information was missing and you will be asked to re-fax an amended form. Applications must include the correct legal name of the company, in the form approved by the Registrar of Companies. You are strongly encouraged to carefully read the terms and conditions that apply to enrollment for e-bidding and the submission of bids. All information you provide to the Province is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. We will only use this information for purposes related to the Service. A step-by-step guide to enrolling a company is at

3 3 Data Security & BC Bid Ensuring the security and integrity of e-bids during transmission and upon receipt is of the highest priority. BC Bid is hosted by the B.C. government s Common Information Technology Services division, on its secure servers. All transactions are subject to Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. And all e-bids must include an e-bidding key known only to a company and BC Bid. For more information on data security and BC Bid see the enclosed appendix. Important: Please Note E-Bidding extends the amount of time that is available to you to submit your bids and proposals. But please remember: if you attach a document to your response it must be transmitted to the system over the Internet. This usually happens in a matter of seconds, but delays are possible, especially if you are using a dial-up connection. Leave adequate time for your response to be received. If only minutes are left before bid closing there is no guarantee that your response will be received by the system. Virus checking is undertaken on all documents attached to opportunities and bid responses. You will be advised if your e-bid includes documents that are infected, and cannot be scrubbed. You will be given the opportunity to submit a new virus-free bid, but you must allow sufficient time for this to happen. Submitting an e-bid is not the same as submitting a bid as an attachment to an . Bids that are submitted electronically through BC Bid are entered directly into the system s secure tender box and subsequently stored in the system s database. Bids can only be submitted by your company, and not by someone falsely representing themselves as you. E-Bids are protected by Secure Socket Layer encryption. Purchasing Services will not accept bids or proposals that are attached to an . Minimum Hardware and Software Configuration Most suppliers will be able to access the new site as they do today. Some will need to upgrade their Internet browser. The minimum browser required to access the site is either Internet Explorer 5.5 with 128 bit encryption or Netscape 6.2. Please refer to the appendix that describes how to obtain the full benefit of the new BC Bid Need More Information? Help Desk services are available from 8:00 to 4:30, Monday through Friday. In Victoria, call For toll free access from outside of Victoria call Enquiry BC at one of the numbers listed below and request a transfer to or In Greater Vancouver: Elsewhere in BC: Outside BC:

4 4 We Value Your Feedback! Your comments and suggestions are welcome! s may be sent to: If you wish to write, our address is: BC Bid Project Team Purchasing Services Branch PO Box 9476 STN PROV GOVT Victoria BC V8W 9W6

5 5 BC Bid Backgrounder Subject: Hardware and Software Required to Operate BC Bid Intel based PC Minimum 133 MHz processor Minimum 64 Mb memory Browser: Minimum Microsoft IE 5.5 with 128 bit encryption or Netscape 6.2 (Note: BC Bid does not work with IE 5.01) Apple IMac Browser: Minimum Netscape 6.3 or Microsoft IE with 128 bit encryption. The above are the minimum requirements to access the system. Performance will be improved with a more powerful processor, larger memory or more recent releases of browsers. Browser upgrades can be downloaded from either Microsoft or Netscape at no charge. For more information refer to As well, BC Bid is optimized for 1024 x 768 pixel display. You may wish to re-set your monitor s display settings to this size. The on-screen presentation of BC Bid is also improved if your monitor is 17 inches or greater. The Province of British Columbia s standard is Microsoft Office. Most attached documents will either be MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint or MS Visio. Suppliers should consider acquiring this software or the appropriate viewers. To obtain full advantage of the print capability of the system suppliers are encouraged to install Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.0. This software can be downloaded at no charge from: BC Bid is a database-driven system that distributes attached documents. As with any system like this, response time is impacted by the nature and quality of a person s Internet connection. Cable and ADSL high-speed connections are likely to provide the fastest response times. If you are using a dial-up connection over a regular phone line you will likely experience slower response times.

6 6 BC Bid Backgrounder Subject: Internet Security and BC Bid The Internet has enabled people to exchange information as they never have before. Electronic files, , and data can be sent at volumes and speeds that can now support the conducting of business on-line. A global concern of all users is, How secure is my information?. We hope that the following information explains the steps we have taken to assure you that your BC Bid data is transmitted and stored safely. The BC Bid Web site employs 128-bit secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption technology to protect the information passing between your computer and BC Bid. What does 128-bit really mean? SSL protocol ensures the privacy of the information passing between your browser and our Web servers. SSL protocol provides a safe passage for the transmission of data and authentication processes by encrypting the information. Data can't be compromised when SSL is in use. This is the most secure form of encryption commonly available in North America. SSL encryption technology provides an optimum level of security, and does not require you to install special security software on your computer, such as personal digital certificates, or Virtual Private Network (VPN) client software. In simple terms, the information you fill out is broken down into small separate packages of information called packets, and SSL encrypts each packet. These encrypted packets are sent into the Internet individually, like pieces of a puzzle, each individually addressed. Once they've all reached the safety of our secure Web server, they're reassembled and decrypted. This is a typical requirement for Web-based services such as on-line banking or shopping where securing personal information is a priority. When you access BC Bid, our server will verify your browser's encryption capability.

7 7 BC Bid Backgrounder Subject: BC Bid Process Integrity BC Bid has been re-engineered to give all users a secure, reliable environment in which to conduct electronic procurement transactions. In addition to the employment of robust encryption technology and the latest anti-virus protection, BC Bid employs other methods of ensuring your bid and personal information is treated in a safe, secure manner. Anti-Virus Protection: Files that we post on BC Bid are thoroughly checked for viruses and other forms of malicious code before they are loaded with the latest anti-virus software. All files that are exchanged between your computer and BC Bid are similarly checked as soon as you send them to BC Bid. If your file does contain a virus, we will clean the file, if possible, and accept it. If the file cannot be cleaned, we will notify you immediately that the file has been declined. It will be your responsibility to ensure the file is virus-free before re-sending it to BC Bid e-bidding Key: The e-bidding key (the Key) is simply a short string of pre-registered text and numbers created and administered by the bidder. The Key provides us further assurance that, when you apply it to your submission, the associated information has been authorized by the bidding party, and is treated by us as equivalent to having received a signed, paper bid document from you. It s very important that only persons that you want to be able to submit legally binding submissions to us are given access to the Key. If you submit a response with an invalid Key your response will be logged as an invalid response. So, it s very important that you check to make sure you have entered it correctly before hitting the submit button! When we receive your submission, you will immediately receive electronic notification from us that the information was accepted. Secure, Auditable Workflow: The BC Bid system tracks, timestamps and securely stores all of your data. BC Bid maintains any and all previous versions of updated files you send us. The system clocks on our servers are regularly synchronized against a recognised standard and serve as the basis for other, non-system bid timestamps we use for hard-copy bids. All submissions are locked-down in the database until the closing time has passed. Only then can they be accessed by our staff for evaluation. The BC Bid system is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and passed the required Privacy Impact Assessment review process. The information stored in BC Bid will only be used for the purposes for which it was collected.

8 8 BC Bid Backgrounder Subject: BC Bid System Performance The original BC Bid was introduced in 1996, and was based on an electronic bulletin board design. BC Bid has now been upgraded into a full e-procurement application that introduces new capabilities for both bidders and purchasers alike while retaining its earlier functionality. The new BC Bid application is database driven, which means all data is stored in tables and can be easily processed, distributed and analysed. Due to several factors, previous users of BC Bid may experience slower system response times than they were accustomed to. The new application/database architecture has much more information flowing between a user s computer and the application, and it may take longer for the user s screen to be refreshed with new information. This is not uncommon in a database driven application. The use of SSL technology for security purposes may also impact user response times. The nature and quality of a person s Internet connection can also impact response time. Cable and ADSL high-speed connections are likely to provide faster response times than dial-up connections.