What is a
tender portal
A tender portal is a website where buyers publish their needs for goods and services, and where suppliers can find and respond to these opportunities. For public procurement in Norway, Doffin is the official tender portal.
How does a tender portal work?
When a contracting authority (buyer) needs something, they publish a notice on the tender portal. This can be anything from office furniture to consulting services. Suppliers can then search through these opportunities and find relevant contracts to bid on.
Most tender portals offer these core features:
- Tender search to find relevant tenders
- Tender alerts when new opportunities appear
- Download of tender documentation and other documents
- Ability to ask questions to the contracting authority
- System for submitting bids
Which tender portals exist?
In Norway, there are several important tender portals:
- Doffin: The official database for public tenders in Norway
- TED (Tenders Electronic Daily): The EU's official database for larger tenders
- Private tender portals offering additional services -- for example Cobrief
Tools like Cobrief can help you keep track of relevant tenders across multiple tender portals simultaneously, making it easier to stay on top of new opportunities.
A tender portal is essentially where buyers and sellers meet in the public procurement market. By actively using these portals, suppliers can discover new business opportunities and generate new revenue for their business through public contracts.