Artificial Intelligence Agent Testing and Evaluation Platform

How to Respond to a Solicitation as a Supplier
Respondents are required to submit their Responses to this solicitation through the TRS electronic
procurement system called PAVES (Procurement and Vendor E-System). If awarded a TRS contract, the
Vendor will be required to set up a PAVES account which requires:
* 2-factor authentication with a cell phone
* A separate login and password to be created for all Vendor contacts, including the Vendor's accounting
department
* All invoices and deliverables must be submitted through the PAVES system
A. PAVES
Potential Respondents can find information about PAVES on the TRS website at:
https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/procurement_PAVES.aspx
The following instructions have been developed to assist Respondents in creating and
maintaining a PAVES account:
PAVES Basic Navigation for Suppliers
New Supplier Registration
How to Activate Supplier Profile (if awarded a contract)
B. Creating a PAVES Account and becoming a Confirmed Bidder
To submit a proposal or bid, all Respondents must either log into their current PAVES account
or create an account as a Confirmed Bidder. To become a Confirmed Bidder in PAVES, you
must complete the New Supplier Registration. By submitting your company's information, login
credentials will be generated, by which you can access PAVES. You will then be able to add
additional company contacts, edit your profile, and bid on TRS solicitations.
The first step is to log into the PAVES supplier portal and follow the instructions for New
Supplier Registration.
If, after submitting your registration, you receive an e-mail stating that your registration has been
rejected, this is most likely because your company is already registered in PAVES. The
registration request will only be rejected if the Tax ID Number that is submitted already exists in
PAVES. In this case, please contact the PAVES help desk at: PAVESHelp@trs.texas.gov.
C. PAVES Solicitation Overview
If you choose to participate in a solicitation, you may see various Rounds associated with each
solicitation. Rounds are used in PAVES and by TRS to gather information throughout the
solicitation process.
1. Initial Round
* This Round is used for a Respondent to submit their initial proposal or bid
* Occasionally, potential Respondents may receive email notifications that a Round
is 'On Hold'. This occurs when TRS makes changes to the solicitation and/or posts
an addendum.
2. Question Round or Question and Answer (Q&A) Round
* This Round is used for a Respondent to submit questions to TRS during the Q&A
period.
* Once the Q&A period ends, TRS will provide responses to submitted questions
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with an addendum. The addendum will be uploaded into the Overview tab within
the Initial Round. An email notification will be sent out when the addendum is
posted.
3. Subsequent Rounds
* Subsequent Rounds may be used by TRS to gather additional information. Such
information may include:
Presentations
o
Interviews
o
Demonstrations
o
Site Visits
o
Clarification Questions
o
Best and Final Offers (BAFO)
o
Others as needed
o
D. Responding to a Solicitation in PAVES
You may have been sent an automated email from PAVES notifying you of a solicitation or you
may have seen the solicitation on the ESBD or PAVES and wish to participate. Steps 1a and 1b
below outline how to locate the solicitation in both scenarios:
Step 1a: To participate in a solicitation and did not receive the automated PAVES email
notification from "Buyer trstx" <no-reply-trstx@ivalua.com> (this is different than the
email you may have received from the TRS Procurement and Contracts representative)
i. Log into the PAVES Supplier portal and select Solicitation and Show public request for
proposals
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ii. Click the pencil icon next to the Round Name of the solicitation you wish to respond to
iii. Click Participate in RFx
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Step 1b: To participate in a solicitation and did receive the automated PAVES email notification
"Buyer trstx" <no-reply-trstx@ivalua.com> (this is different than the email you may have
received from the TRS Procurement and Contracts representative)
i. Log into PAVES Supplier portal and select Solicitation and Manage Proposals
ii. The Proposal Progress column should read Awaiting Acknowledgement for the Round
you wish to participate in, if it is your first time opening that Round
iii. Open the Round by clicking the pencil icon next to the desired Round Name column
* To submit a proposal or bid to a solicitation, open the Initial Round
* If the solicitation includes multiple scopes of work (SOWs), each
SOW will be a separate Round and you will need to open each SOW
you wish to respond to
* To submit questions regarding a solicitation, open the Question Round
* To submit a response to any additional Round you are invited to participate in
(such as an Interview, Presentation, BAFO, etc.), open the Round with the
corresponding name.
Step 2: Acknowledge the RFx
i. You may be requested to acknowledge receipt of the Round by clicking I acknowledge
receipt of this RFx
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ii. Select WILL BID and click Submit
Step 3: Complete the Proposal Information tab
i. Click on the Proposal Information tab
ii. Enter a Label and Description for the proposal/bid
Label field: For each Round, enter the TRS solicitation number, Round number, and
o
your company name
Description field: This field is not mandatory but you may enter a brief description of
o
your proposal
iii. Click Save
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Step 4: Complete My Team Section
i. In the My Team tab, select a Supplier contact from the drop-down menu
ii. If necessary, add more contacts by clicking Create a new contact
iii. Enter the information for the new Supplier contact
iv. Click Save & Close
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Step 5: Solicitation Overview
i. The Overview tab includes the Round General Information, Round Documents, and
Round Links sections
* While completing the proposal or bid in the Questionnaire tab, you will see
instructions asking you to review or complete a document. The documents that
are referenced are found in the Overview tab, under the Round Documents
section.
ii. The Round Links can be used to navigate to the Questionnaire and Item tabs
* View Questionnaire links to the Questionnaire tab and is where the
Respondent's proposal or bid will be completed, if in the Initial Round (or where
the list of questions is uploaded, if you are in the Question Round).
* View Quotation Form (if available) links to the Item tab and is where the Price
Form will be completed
* Note: this link and corresponding Item tab may not be visible
because it is not applicable for every TRS solicitation. Some
solicitations will require the Respondent to complete a Price Form
document instead of the Item tab.
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Step 6: Complete the Questionnaire tab (where the proposal or bid, list of questions, or response to
any Round you are invited to participate in is uploaded)
i. In the Questionnaire tab, provide answers to each question to complete your proposal or
bid
ii. To complete the questions, click Access Questionnaire or click directly on a particular
section under Overview
iii. If needed, view a list of all requested information by selecting Download in excel format
* DO NOT enter any answers in the excel document. Use this only as a means to
view the questions offline, if necessary.
iv. Answers will automatically save in the Questionnaire. This will be marked by a green check
mark on the right side of the answer box.
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v. Please note: Throughout the Questionnaire, Responses will be provided by either entering
information into a text box, selecting a preset answer by radio button or drop-down menu,
selecting a date from a date-picker, uploading an attachment, or a combination of these.
* Attachments may be submitted in Word (.docx), PDF, or Excel (.xlsx) formats
* Word docs in .doc extension are not allowed (convert to a .docx
document to upload)
* Excel docs in .xls extension are not allowed (convert to a .xlsx
document to upload)
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Step 7a: Pricing - Item tab (if no Item tab exists or the Item tab is empty, follow instructions for Step
7b below)
i. If the Pricing section instructions in the Questionnaire ask you to complete the Item tab, click
on the Item tab
ii. Enter a Unit Price and a Delivery date for each item
iii. To view all line items, select Download in Excel
* DO NOT enter any prices into the excel document. Use this only as a means to
view the line items offline, if necessary.
iv. Click the pencil icon to review the individual line item details
v. If necessary, click the plus icon to add an additional line item
vi. Click Save
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