State transportation officials are missing the on ramp to privatizing their technology department, contractors say.

The Texas Department of Transportation conducted two pre-bid conferences in February for a contract that could be worth up to $700 million, but vendors said the department was woefully unprepared.

Such conferences typically provide potential bidders with answers so they can set their prices. But TxDOT officials didn’t provide an adequate number of chairs during the first conference and detailed questions were left unanswered, some said. Instead of a conventional informational meeting, representatives from more than 40 technology companies were cycled into the room in smaller groups and presented an eight-minute video.