Private colleges and universities face unique challenges when it comes to procurement. While every higher education institution grapples with shrinking budgets and pressures to do more with less, for small and medium sized campuses, saving on administrative systems and services is imperative. Like their larger counterparts, small and medium sized campuses frequently need to manage complex purchasing projects across teams and departments. Yet, they frequently have fewer resources in terms of both time and money to do so.
At Popcorn RFP, we are excited to support the unique needs of the HESS Consortium member campuses! We attended the annual member meeting in November 2019 and heard from many of you with key features and functionality you wanted to see and have worked hard to incorporate those requests. Our software-as-a-service platform allows you and your colleagues to collaborate seamlessly to create high-quality RFIs and RFPs and receive and evaluate vendor responses with a minimum of time and effort. We also recorded a webinar for HESS that includes a demo and overview of the software.
Efficiently create RFIs and RFPs
With Popcorn RFP, you will use document recipes that we call “kernels” to draft new RFIs and RFPs. Whether you’re a seasoned procurement professional, or someone who wears multiple hats and is called upon occasionally to lead a purchasing project on your campus, kernels will prompt you to enter the relevant details to quickly populate your RFI or RFP with the information you need to attract the right vendor for your project.
The diverse kernels available in our community Kernel Library combine structure and flexibility to ensure that they are tailored your needs, without the burden of having to reinvent the wheel or search widely for templates with every new project. Or if you’d rather use something tailored to your exact requirements, you can also upload a RFI, RFP, or template and we’ll create a kernel just for you.
Collaborate seamlessly
With Popcorn RFP’s Team plan, you can collaborate in real-time with your colleagues across departments. Instead of sharing multiple drafts of an RFx via email or via cloud file sharing, and then having to keep track of versions and wrangle formatting, Popcorn RFP enables up to 10 team members to work simultaneously on a single RFI or RFP, facilitating a faster, easier process of sharing expertise. Once you receive vendor responses, team members can review and add their comments to participate in the evaluation and selection process.
Ensure compliance
Popcorn RFP makes it easy and straightforward to ensure your requirements are included in every RFI or RFP that you issue. “Kernels” are encoded with the relevant legal and policy provisions and are designed to ensure that the team creating the RFx can’t modify that required test. They answer questions to provide information specific to the specific purchasing project as well as set up questions for vendors. In addition, as you work on your RFx and receive vendor responses, Popcorn RFP creates an audit log of the process – guaranteeing that you will always be prepared for status questions or a bid protest.
Finally, Popcorn RFP gives you full control over the access and security of your purchasing documents, and lets you provide access for trusted team members according to various permission levels. Instead of emailing business confidential materials back and forth and not being sure exactly where they’ll end up, with a purchasing project in Popcorn RFP you always have control over who has access.
Special offer for the HESS Member Community
We hope you’ll give the software a try and see how Popcorn RFP can support your campus’ needs! You can get started with our free Basic account anytime, or upgrade to our paid Individual or Team plans. We’ve worked with the HESS Consortium to offer additional discounting to member campuses, and the discounting will be automatically applied when you upgrade to a paid plan using your campus email address.
