Dateline:  03/24/98

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Are you thinking about whether proposal management or development software might be a good investment?  If you think it will save time and/or money, you may be surprised that it will require a much more significant investment of time and money up front than you anticipate before you have a working system.  The hidden cost is in the time needed to create the databases of information you will use for your proposals.

As amazing as it seems, there is no one product that has all the features most firms would like to see incorporated in proposal management software.  Here are some questions you may want to get answers to before you sign a contract.  Some of these questions may be very important to some firms, but not to others.  The main thing, however, is to get a truthful estimate of how much staff time will be required to set up the program and get it functioning like you want it.  Factor that lost time into your purchasing decision. And if you would like some professional support to help you with your purchasing decision, drop me a note.

Process Management

• Does it provide support for coordinating group activities (i.e., multiple users)?  Does it have built-in scheduling support for managing the effort?
   
• How does it provide for communication among team members?  Can it automate the workflow or provide support for maintaining the proposal schedule?
   
• Does it provide a system to manage naming conventions?
   
• Is it a web-based program or does it run on a LAN/WAN?
   
• How does it handle resume input and maintenance?  How does it handle those that are to be incorporated into the proposal? 
   
• Does it include a search engine?  Does it use key words that are hand coded or does it search text strings for matching text?  Resume searches are different from text searches.  How does it handle resumes?
   
• Can the program collect reviewer comments or provide review facilitation?
   
• Can field offices access the proposal databases and archives or is it limited to proposal writers and lead partners?  How is security handled?  Can team members access the databases?

Layout/Production

• Does the program also permit layout and production of the proposal, or is it necessary to convert the data to a word processing or layout program for production?  How does the program handle the transfer of data from the proposal software to production?
   
• Does the program accommodate graphics?  What graphic formats can it accept and use, for example, photographs, flow diagrams, organization charts and or other graphs.

Reporting

• Does it produce any reports to aid reviewers in checking for compliance with the RFP?
   
• What kind of project management reports can the program produce?  Is there extra expense involved in tailoring the reports for your firm's needs?
   
• Does it provide cost/benefit analysis support?  Can it help structure fee-setting decisions?
   
• Can the program track wins, losses and pending opportunities? 

Next feature:  Communication During a Crisis

(Special thanks to Carl Dickson at OPTYM Professional Services, Inc. for his many generous contributions to this subject.)

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