Consultant Management System (CMS)

The Consultant Management System (CMS) is the Asian Development Bank's dedicated registration and matching portal for consulting firms and individual experts, making it unique among the major multilateral development banks in offering a purpose-built database that connects qualified consultants directly to ADB-financed assignments.

What is the Consultant Management System (CMS)?

CMS sits at cms.adb.org and serves two functions. First, it is a registry: firms and individual experts create profiles describing their sectors, countries, technical disciplines, and past assignments. Second, it is a matching engine: when ADB or a borrower government begins preparing a consulting assignment, the system can draw on the CMS database to identify and notify registered consultants whose profiles align with the assignment scope. This is fundamentally different from how other multilateral banks manage consulting pipelines, where firms must monitor general procurement portals rather than relying on a dedicated database.

Registration in CMS is a prerequisite for accessing certain consulting opportunities under ADB-financed projects. Firms bidding on assignments selected through qcbs or other consulting methods will often find that shortlisting begins with a CMS search. The system also accepts expressions of interest (eoi) for specific assignments and stores tor-level information about upcoming work.

Why CMS matters for bidders

For any consulting firm targeting ADB-financed work, an accurate and complete CMS profile is the starting point, not a formality. Borrower entities and ADB task teams search the database when building longlist candidates for shortlisting, so a missing or outdated profile means you may never appear even when your firm is technically qualified. The practical discipline is to map your services to the sector and country categories CMS uses, keep your key staff profiles current with recent assignments, and update your profile whenever your portfolio changes significantly. Firms that treat their CMS registration as a live asset rather than a one-time sign-up maintain a visibility advantage throughout the ADB project cycle.

FAQ

Is CMS registration free?

Yes, registration in the Consultant Management System is free of charge for both firms and individual consultants.

Does CMS replace the need to monitor ADB's main procurement portal?

No. CMS is specific to consulting assignments. Goods and works contracts are advertised on ADB's main tenders portal and require separate monitoring regardless of CMS registration.

What is CMS2 and how does it relate to CMS?

CMS2 is the modernised replacement for the original CMS, being rebuilt on a commercial SaaS e-procurement platform. Existing CMS registrants should expect to migrate their profiles to cms2 when the new system launches.