How suppliers should get ready for TS3

Technology Services 3, or TS3 as it's also known, opens on the 20th October for applications. Here's what suppliers should do to get ready.

If you’ve read our other blogs on TS3, you should by now know that it’s going to be a biggie. Technology Services 2 has had great success as a framework and after consulting suppliers and buyers alike, the newly updated Technology Services 3 opens for supplier applications on 20th October 2020.

With the window open for around 6 weeks, closing on the 1st December 2020. This means that, because this time around it’s going to be much more competitive (more on that later), suppliers need to make sure they have everything in order. Especially if they want to get listed on the framework.

So, without further ado, here are some key ways suppliers can get ready to apply for TS3…

Make sure you’ve got examples

A big part of the application process comes in the form of case studies, which are usually required to also be signed off by the client featured in them. This is to show that you’ve done good business before and know your stuff. That means you should spend some time putting together some of your best examples. As well as know how to put together a great case study!

After all, case studies would be marked on a Pass/Fail basis. So if it’s not up to scratch, that’s your application out of the window.

Get your teams on board

As we briefly mentioned earlier, Technology Services 3 is going to be a bit more competitive than its predecessors. This is down to CCS raising the quality score threshold from 55% to 75%!

What this means for suppliers is that their ability to answer the technical questions correctly, and to the best of their ability, is going to be essential. We always suggest getting people from the relevant departments involved. You’ll want some details about delivery (the teams that will be involved), technical information (how your services work) and more involved.

Pricing is going to be very important too. So make sure it’s not just left to the marketing or sales department to get this application sorted. It usually is a bit of a team effort!

Don’t leave it until the last minute!

Frameworks such as G-Cloud or Digital Outcomes and Specialists notoriously have a straightforward application process. This definitely isn’t the case for ones like TS3. Split into two stages, Selection Stage and Award Stage, there’s a lot of information suppliers need to submit. This includes the aforementioned case studies, technical question answers, details about your company, and maybe more. So, it’s definitely not one that should be left to close to deadline.

Getting started early is definitely recommended. If you’re worried that you don’t have the time or resources to manage an application like TS3 right now, then maybe consider some outside help. Do some research into the framework and what it asks for – we’ve got a few blogs on just that – and have some conversations with some people in the know.