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11.C.2. INTERNET PROCUREMENT AGREEMENT DEMANDSTAR.COM, INC. The Board reviewed a Memorandum of June 13,,2000: Date: June 13, 2000 To: The Honorable Board of County Commissioners Thru: James E. Chandler, County Administrator )) From: Thomas W. Frame, General Services Director /Lr,,4 CtJ Subject: Internet Procurement Agreement with DemandStar.com, Inc. EXHIBIT: Proposed Agreement between DemandStar.com, Inc. and Indian River County BACKGROUND: DemandStar.com. Inc. (formerly known as IOD — Information On Demand) is a Florida corporation that provides a multi -faceted approach to automating the procurement process. As such, the company uses a combination of technologies including fax -on -demand, fax broadcasting, and the Internet to manage vendor and bid information. The basic concept to this interactive procurement process is that the agency (county) enters into an agreement to use the services of DemandStar.com at no cost to the agency. Any time the agency needs to bid a purchase, obtain written quotes, issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) or issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), DemandStar.com will provide this information to a database of qualified vendors. DemandStar.com charges each vendor $30.00 per year for fax or e-mail notifications. For a fee of $100.00 per year, the vendor can be placed on a vendor list for the entire state or nationwide for $750.00 a year. Currently, when Indian River County goes out for a bid, RFP or RFQ, an advertisement is placed in the newspaper and notices are sent by Purchasing to a list of vendors who may be typically registered with the Purchasing Division and are maintained on a vendor list. With DemandStar.com, when the agency prepares a request it would still run the required advertisement, but instead of sending out numerous invitations or requests to the vendors on the agency's list, the agency would send the request to DemandStar.com. DemandStar.com then would notify all the vendors who have subscribed to their service via fax or e-mail. The list of vendors would be regional at minimum rather than just the listed number of vendors that agency has maintained. Plus, any vendors who have subscribed as statewide and nationwide would be notified. As can be seen, the pool of potential vendors will have greatly increased providing for a higher probability of more competitive bids and more consultants from which to choose. Another benefit to the agency is that hard copies of various documents that the agency will generate will be able to be downloaded from the Internet or may be faxed to the vendors. The documents are sent via DemandStar.com without the agency having to pay the cost of reproduction, mail or pay the cost of postage. Presently, if a vendor is interested in bidding on a project, it will have the capacity to review the plans and construction documents on line and actually downloads the items if so desired. Currently, the agency would have to provide copies. While the agency may charge and recoup some costs, it still cost for the time involved with the work. Many times plans are available through the consultant at the cost of copying plus a multiplier. All these cost are either reduced or eliminated saving time and money for both the vendor and agency. June 20, 2000 89 BOOK f1 r�1i;E cl I