Proposal 101 From RFP release to Proposal Submission

Proposal 101 From RFP release to Proposal Submission Alan Schechter Solutions Director

Proposal Development – Team Sport • Proposal Manager – The PM for the proposal development • Sales Team • Business Team • Technical Team • Delivery Project Management Team • Procurement Team – Subcontractors and Product Vendors • Financial Team – Client Pricing • Independent Reviews – Legal Review – Technical Review – Financial Review • Management Approvals

Proposal Lifecycle • An intense project with all the phases of any IT project • Identify Opportunity – Idea Phase • Proposal Start-up Tasks • Development Tasks • Approval Tasks • Production and Delivery Tasks • Follow-on Support Tasks

Identify Opportunity – Idea Phase • Pre-release – – Identify the opportunity Identify the Subject Matter Experts Identify the Proposal Resources Identify possible partners and technologies

Proposal Start-up Tasks • Bid/No-bid review – Opportunity Costs including understanding proposal commitment – Development & Production Budget • Schedules – Client Dates: Vendor Conference, Questions, Submission – Internal Dates: Development, Approvals and Production • Compliance – References, Resumes, Forms, Signatures, Production requirements • Team Coordination – Assignment Matrix – Meeting and Status Reporting – Contact Information

Development Tasks • Understanding and addressing each requirement • Developing the Solution – – – Defining the approach Determining Resources and Products Creating the Implementation Schedule Writing the Proposal Identifying the Risks Developing the Costs • Subcontractors (A RFP within the proposal development cycle) – Requirement & Schedule – Statement of Work

Approval Tasks • Submission approvals – – Proposal review Technical review including implementation schedule Financial review including risks Legal review including any subcontracts • Management Approvals – Good Business Sense – Supporting materials

Production and Delivery • Editing & Formatting • Printing and Assembly – All forms and signatures – Quantities and packaging • Shipment

Sample Timeline Sunday Monday Tuesday 1 Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 2 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 RFP Released 7 8 Conference 14 Bid/No-bid 15 Questions due 21 22 Pink Team Review Red Team Review 28 29 30 31 Editing/Formatting 35 36 Financial Review 42 37 Pricing Due Finalize Pricing 38 Mngt Review 43 Proposal due 32 33 34 Gold Team 39 Production & Shipment 40 41

Typical Challenges • No two procurements are alike • From the Customer – – Unclear requirements Conflicting requirements Difficult or unrealistic requirements Requirements are not finalized until after the answers are available • Vendor – Communication /synchronization across teams – Short Timeline