Letter to a friend Letter to a friend from Jean JeanDevos Devos
Best and final! My dear friend,
My Dear Friend
Like you, I am disappointed to see how things are often conducted. Today I have in mind the culture behind or Bay” around the so called “procurement “Botany process”, and more specifically this terrible thing wrongly called “Best and final offer “(BAFO). I published recently a modest novel, whose title What a terrible word. In my mother language is Botany Bay. It is the place in Australia where it sounds like a “Baffe” a common for “a Alcatelword established a slam in the face” and that is what it is. None of submarine cable facthese 3 words – best, final, offer - are appropriated tory in 1989 as part of to describe this diabolic invention. It is no more its contract for the an “offer,” but a rape, more often endless than “final” and never the” best”.Tasman 2 link. In this same bay, where two
The very first side effect of the “Bafo” game centuries before the is to pollute the bidding process and clearly to French expedition increase the prices submitted“La at this stage. Why Pérouse” made of would suppliers come with their best prices if two ships, La Boussole
they know that no decisions will be take on this basis? A smart supplier – and they are all smart - come with a “reasonable” price and then spend a lot of time, effort, and often money to collect information from inside thein process get and l’Astrolabe, landed 1788 so to to discover that prepared for the coming Bafo. It also pollutes Captain Cook was already around bearing the the evaluation process since it is in the” buyers” British flag. So Botany Bay is now for me the prime interest to organise leaks, false info, symbol in ofview a dream which a reality! rumours, of pushing thebecomes prices down at the Tasman 2 has been yet another chapter Bafo stage. The final winner is often not the one in came this long Anglo-French who initially with the “bestcompetition! offer,” but the The one who have the best” intelligence award to Alcatel came out as aservice”. big surprise to many, including inside Alcatel. Everybody was
The worse case happensthe when the cable owner naturally expecting British to win that batorganises the evaluation through two separated tle, and such an expectation was at that time lines: the “technical” evaluation by one team, and very logical. the “commercial” evaluation by another team. were so many There isThere a genetic mismatch: Whendifficulties one team asksand misunderstanding between Australia for more things, more services, greater quality, and France, the squeeze main one being the French the other one prices, delivery time, presence guarantees, etc. in the Pacific area, the worse being the nuclear
The “winning” supplier hasinnoeveryone’s other choice but Warrior event was still memory. It to is play on this mismatch to recover a bit of money for these reasons among others that STC (UK) during the project implementation. I have even with a rejected the Alcatel‘s suggestion to come seen suppliers finally happy not to have been joint bid, to offer a “European” solution. selected! Would you believe this? They prefer to One of the winning factors has been the concentrate on small “niche” projects where they Port-Botany factory. Such a factory was a can at least enjoycable a little margin.
strong requirement from OTC (now Telstra) and the Australian Government. The suppliers should be clearly invited to give their “best offer”was at the bidding That is the Alcatel the most stage. motivated. Such a idea behind the bidding process and this is fair. factory could expand its influence in the Pacific The “buyers” then evaluate various where the should three other players the were historically offers and select the “winner” with whom they well established in this region, which represents then start to “negotiate” the deal they need, a large of their market. keeping thepart “second best” in the line. They saw this factory as a risk for their existing facilities! SubOptic ‘87 in Versailles came at the right time. I hope that the present paper will stimulate a debate on thisthe subject which could its It is where Australian teamsfind discovered the conclusion at SubOptic 07. It would be the French model, a close cooperation between honour of our adoptthey a more Alcatel andcommunity FT, exactlytowhat wanted to escivilised procedure. My intention is to show up in tablish in their country. Baltimore next year, wearing a tee-shirt labelled friend, things are changed since, but “Mort auMy Bafo”. I invite you to join me. one thing stays true: When you offer something, thefriend, reader can see between the lines if you are Your or not genuinely motivated and sincere. Then your offer becomes really attractive and this opens the route to “Botany Bay.”
Jean Devos See you soon.
Jean Devos Submarcom Consulting
bomb experiment in Tahiti! The sad Rainbow
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