A structured approach to bidding

For companies that are planning to spin off their IT departments into full-fledged IT service companies, this book has a lot on offer. It advises these freshly-minted companies on how to go about bidding for IT and consultancy projects. Winning competitive software projects through strategic bidding is something that most organisational IT teams are not used to.

According to the authors, the way an organisation decides and quotes for the project in question is quite crucial. If it low balls the bid, it ends up not making a profit while quoting on the higher side can result in losing the project. As the name suggests, the book is about defining systematic and structured bidding processes. It also helps analyse factors that may influence essential decisions, in a structured manner.

The book covers topics related to a structured bidding process, key strategic issues, cost factors and assorted points to be considered while making a successful bid. It analyses and offers systematic deliverable checklists that are quite practical. These discussions have been supplemented by block diagrams and workflow charts of various processes.

Title : Strategic Bidding: A Successful Approach Author : Vinod Kumar Garg, Lata Chablani Publisher : Shroff Publishers & Distributors Pages : 154 Price : Rs 250

Each chapter is dedicated to various aspects of bidding. The book is divided into six chapters followed by four case studies and references, checklists and templates.

The introduction defines bidding and what’s needed for this process. Then come the nine steps in a generic structured bidding process. Each step is further explained and discussed with diagrams. It also covers how to respond to a Request For Proposal (RFP) followed by a step-by-step approach to the entire workflow.

Next comes understanding RFP requirements. The chapter is accompanied by ways to analyse requirements along with deliverable checklists and bid analysis reports.

The book looks at the aspects that help conceptualise solutions and define automation levels. The definition is explained with an example related to HR application automation. This has been followed by a work breakdown structure diagram and explanation. The chapter ends with a list of definitions of jargon, buzzwords, and detailed checklists.

Various processes are described that complement response formulation. Gap analysis report charts and concerns such as strategic issues and risk simulation models are covered and the concepts are explained with workflow diagrams.

The final chapter has been dedicated to proposal preparation with a detailed best practices guide. All the chapters culminate in exercise and reference points to review. A generalised template is included for bid response.

The case studies and check list follow after chapter six. The three case study examples pertain to an HR application, a power corporation and a Records Management System.

— Dominic K