System and method for facilitating bidding transactions and conducting project management utilizing software metric collection
First Claim
1. A method for electronically conducting over a communication network a project bidding transaction for a software item to be developed, said method comprising the steps of:
- transmitting from a contractor client system over the communication network software requirements definition identifying the software item to be developed;
controlling a bidder client system connected to the communication network to display the software requirements definition identifying the desired software item;
sending bid information along with an identifier of a bidder of the software item project from the bidder client system over the communication network to a connected central bidding server system;
retrieving at the central bidding server system historical metric data previously collected and stored for the bidder identified by the identifier in the bid information received at the central bidding server system;
generating by the central bidding server system a bid record along with historical metric data information; and
communicating said bid record and historical metric data information over the communication network to the contractor client system for review prior to selection and award.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A software metric collection method facilitates bidding and project management transactions. The system and method permit a contractor to solicit bids from one or more interested bidders for an open project in an efficient and cost effective manner and to select a suitable bidder based on bid amount and stored software metric data reflecting past performance accrued by each bidder based on past completed projects. The system and method further enable the contractor upon designation of the successful bidder to track and manage the pending project through the collection and analysis of software metrics procured during the undertaking of the project. In this manner, the system and method provide the contractor with competitive pricing from bidders, while ensuring a high level of quality, performance, and timeliness in the resulting product or service where reliability and quality are critical issues for the contractor.
52 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for electronically conducting over a communication network a project bidding transaction for a software item to be developed, said method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting from a contractor client system over the communication network software requirements definition identifying the software item to be developed;
controlling a bidder client system connected to the communication network to display the software requirements definition identifying the desired software item;
sending bid information along with an identifier of a bidder of the software item project from the bidder client system over the communication network to a connected central bidding server system;
retrieving at the central bidding server system historical metric data previously collected and stored for the bidder identified by the identifier in the bid information received at the central bidding server system;
generating by the central bidding server system a bid record along with historical metric data information; and
communicating said bid record and historical metric data information over the communication network to the contractor client system for review prior to selection and award. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for electronically conducting over a communication network a project bidding transaction for a software item to be developed, said apparatus comprising:
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a contractor client system connected to said communication network, software requirement information identifying the software item to be developed being transmitted from said contractor client system over said communication network;
a bidder client system connected to said communication network and including means for displaying the software requirement information transmitted over said communication network from said contractor client system; and
acentral bidding server including a software requirement and specification data base, means for storing historical metric data, and means for generating a bid record along with historical metric data information, said generated bid record along with said historical metric data information being transmitted over said communication network to said contractor client system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification