Publishing a Sourcing Event (Non-IT)
A Sourcing Event is the vendor-facing part of a Sourcing Project. The Sourcing Agent can establish the bidding dates and time, as well as compile all information the vendors will need to respond, as guided by a template established by the state. Once the Sourcing Event is in a ‘Published’ status, it will be automatically posted to the Public eVP, and interested vendors can click the ‘Intends to Participate’ button to receive an email with a link to respond electronically through their Ariba accounts.
For a video demo regarding this topic, click here.
For more detailed step-by-step information regarding this topic in a printable and downloadable format, see the following job aid.
The Sourcing Event template is found within the 'Documents' tab. Users will navigate to that tab, click on the event template, and edit it to begin the process of managing their Sourcing Event.
The first of four sections to edit and set in a Sourcing Event are the Event ‘Rules.’ Most importantly, the rules section allows the buyer to establish the ‘Timing Rules’ outlining when the bidding starts and stops. Users should always set a 'Fixed time' for their 'Due date.' Many of the fields within the six sub-sections on this page are pre-populated, and it is advised that users leave them as is.
The ‘Content’ section of the Event is where the user can share all information about the products or services they wish to receive bids on, and it serves as the framework for vendors to provide a response. The State has created an extensive template in this section, that complements the default 'Solicitation Document' generated on the Sourcing Project, and it is advised that users follow the suggested outline.
If the solicitation is over agency delegation, it needs to be approved by P&C before publishing. Users will do that via the built-in 'Gain P&C Approval of Sourcing Event' task in 'Phase 04' of the 'Tasks' tab.
After receiving approval from P&C, users should finalize and PDF their 'Solicitation Document' then return to Section 1 (Rules) of the 'Sourcing Event' to update any dates that may have changed during the approval process, and Section 3 (Content) to attach the final version of the 'Solicitation Document' to subsection 3.1 and make any other necessary updates.
Once the Rules and Content are finalized, users will be ready to go back to the section they previously skipped, Section 2 (Suppliers). In this section, the user will select the designated ‘NC eProcurement Sourcing’ supplier to invite, which, once the Sourcing Event is published will trigger its automatic posting to the Public eVP. Vendors wishing to respond will then click the ‘Intends to Participate’ button to receive an email with a link to respond electronically through their Ariba accounts.
If the user has received approval for a ‘Procurement Exception – Waiver of Competition’ to conduct an RFQ with a limited set of vendors, they will NOT select the designated ‘NC eProcurement Sourcing’ vendor, but rather, directly invite the identified vendor(s) for which approval was granted. The solicitation will not post to Public eVP, and only the directly invited vendor(s) will be able to respond.
When section 2 is completed, the user can return to the fourth and final ‘Summary’ section. This contains the summary of the first three sections and allows the user to review and edit before clicking ‘Publish’ to finalize the Event.
