Discover the benefits of the Oklahoma Purchasing Group
The Oklahoma Purchasing Group is a free sourcing solution open to all local government agencies within the Sooner State. The Oklahoma Purchasing Group is one of BidNet Direct’s regional purchasing groups. Local government buyers utilize the platform for bid distribution, solicitation management and to connect with a diverse group of local vendors throughout Oklahoma as well as national vendors.
Oklahoma buying organizations streamline purchasing
Currently, Oklahoma County, Tulsa County, OSU Tulsa and The Center for Health Sciences, and Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County, utilize the platform to distribute bids and manage vendors and streamline the entire bid process. These agencies use BidNet Direct to publish formal and informal solicitations, track all vendor activity surrounding a solicitation and more. The platform is a full e-sourcing solution with optional features including: approval workflow, electronic bid submission, online Q&A, bid response evaluation, contract management, and more.
Vendor outreach
Vendors self-register to the platform to do business and gain instant access to bid opportunities with local Oklahoma governments online. Nearly 5,000 vendors are registered on the Oklahoma Purchasing Group. Vendors have direct access to matching opportunities, documents, addenda, and all specifications on the platform. The shared vendor database between local Oklahoma agencies helps to increase vendor outreach and competition. Participating buying organizations can also send a courtesy email through the platform, alerting non-registered vendors of open bids. In addition, new vendors register on the platform daily looking for open business opportunities.
Access to extensive bid library
Participating agencies registered to the Oklahoma Purchasing Group also have access to the extensive bid library, consisting of over 180,000 solicitations published by participating agencies to the platform, and the National Bid Library which contains hundreds of thousands more solicitations. Buyers utilize the bid library to find solicitation details, specifications, and/or documents for upcoming bids. Many buyers have found that utilizing the bid library saves days worth of time spent when compiling a new solicitation. Within the bid library, searches can be filtered by location, agency type, requirements, and more in order to find bids to use as templates. The tool assists buyers with the posting of bids, comparing awards, and piggy-backing off of other local agencies.
Outstanding buyer support
The BidNet Direct customer support teams are available each business day from 7am-7pm Central Standard Time. The live support team is one of the greatest benefits to a buying organization utilizing the platform. The vendor support team alleviates the need for participating agencies, such as Oklahoma County, to spend extra time on vendor calls about how to download bid documents or where to find open bids. All participating agencies simply point vendors to register on the platform or contact BidNet Direct’s vendor support team with questions regarding registration, navigation, or any other inquiries. In addition, the buyer support team has been called “outstanding” by participating agencies. “We try to help our agencies with any questions or problems that may arise. We know that their time is so important, and usually that is one of the main benefits of the platform - saving time. So we aim to help our participating buyers a quick as possible. Their time is so valuable,” explained Pat VanBuren, Buyer Support Specialist.
Find out how BidNet Direct can help your government organization today! 
