Not every notice relevant to New Zealand tenders asks for an offer. Some ask suppliers to explain how a market works and what would make a future arrangement more effective. A request for information, or RFI, deserves a different response from a bid: useful observations, clear evidence and realistic suggestions matter more than a polished sales pitch.
The October consultancy RFI
New Zealand Government Procurement announced an RFI for the redesign of All-of-Government consultancy services on 2 October 2026. It seeks input from current providers and other interested businesses. The GETS notice identifies it as market research, with responses due on 30 October 2026 at 5 pm Auckland time, UTC+13. It anticipates a subsequent tender in the first half of 2027. That expectation is not a confirmed tender timetable or a guarantee of award.
Answer the market question first
Read the actual RFI documents before deciding what to contribute. For each question, identify whether the buyer needs a description of current practice, evidence of a difficulty, feedback on an option or a suggestion for improvement. A company history rarely answers all four.
Choose a few examples your team can substantiate. Explain the situation, why it mattered and what the example does and does not show. If a difficulty occurred once, do not describe it as universal. If an improvement is only an idea, label it as a proposal and describe how it could be tested.
Structure feedback so it can inform a decision
This is an editorial method for preparing market feedback, not an official response template. Use the RFI's required format where one is specified.
| Component | Useful content | Common weakness to remove |
|---|---|---|
| Observation | A specific experience within a defined context | A broad complaint without an example |
| Evidence | An anonymised record or explainable measurement | A number with no basis or timeframe |
| Effect | How the issue changed effort, clarity or delivery | An unsupported claim about the whole market |
| Suggestion | A feasible option and its trade-offs | A proposal benefiting only your own service |
Where a suggestion could create extra work for agencies or smaller providers, acknowledge that trade-off. Explaining implementation effort can make feedback more useful than presenting every idea as cost-free. Distinguish what your business can do now from capabilities that would require investment.
Protect information while showing enough detail
Check permissions before using client examples. Remove unnecessary names, confidential commercial details and personal data. A carefully explained process example may demonstrate the issue without exposing a former client's documents. Do not assume that marking a submission confidential resolves every disclosure question; read the notice and seek clarification where necessary.
Set one internal owner to reconcile contributions. Several colleagues may describe the same experience differently, particularly where sales, operations and finance saw different parts of it. Resolve those differences before submission and retain the basis for factual statements.
A fictional regional consultancy example
A fictional Dunedin research consultancy wants to explain why small assignments can involve disproportionate administrative effort. Instead of asserting that all procurement is inefficient, it describes an anonymised past workflow and identifies duplicated information checks. It then proposes a narrower information request at an earlier stage, explaining what would still need verification later. This is market feedback, not a demand for preferential treatment or a promise that the next competition will use that approach.
Adapt a requirements and evidence matrix to track the RFI questions and supporting examples. A proportionate go or no go review can help decide whether the time needed to contribute is justified, without treating the RFI as an immediate sales order.
Questions about participating
Is the RFI a contract award competition
No. The notice describes market research to inform a future solution. Follow its instructions rather than assuming a conventional bid format.
Does responding guarantee future access
Do not assume so. Any later procurement will need its own current documents, conditions and decision to participate.
Which date should the team use
Check the live GETS notice for updates and use its stated time zone. Set an earlier internal review deadline.
Prepare a focused contribution
MyWiseDocs can help analyse request documents and prepare a working draft. Have your team verify the evidence, confidentiality decisions and final response before submission.
Sources and closing information checked on 6 October 2026.