Enterprise proposal management system

• US 20080114628A1
• Filed: 11/01/2006
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: I3solutions
• Original Assignee: I3solutions
• Inventors: Johnson, Christopher, Branson, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,001 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A system and method for managing an enterprise is provided. The system and method may be based on a layered architecture including a data center that may store all documents and data abstractions for an enterprise. One or more services may interact with an enterprise resource planning system and/or a customer relationship manager to facilitate interaction with the documents and data abstractions. A client access point of the system may include a graphical user interface that includes one or more enterprise management functions for managing the enterprise documents and/or data abstractions. The enterprise management functions may include a user proposal manager, an enterprise proposal manager, a proposal library, a content health manager, an archive library, a bid center, a contracts manager, a resume manager, a debriefing center, and/or a projects manager. The enterprise management functions may re-engineer business processes and enable users to manage all aspects of an enterprise using a single unified interface.

Claims

1. A method for managing proposal related tasks and data for an entity, the proposal related tasks including one or more tasks for managing a proposal lifecycle, the proposal related data including data stored in one or more data repositories derived from one or more past, present, and/or anticipated proposal opportunities, the method comprising:

developing business strategies for a proposal using the data in the data repositories, wherein the business strategies provide information about whether to pursue the proposal;

managing execution of the proposal when the proposal is pursued, wherein managing execution of the proposal includes using the data in the data repositories to develop the proposal; and

controlling proposal delivery when the proposal is won, wherein controlling proposal delivery includes interacting with the data in the data repositories and coordinating one or more areas for the entity,

wherein the data in the data repositories is automatically updated to reflect changes that occur during the developing, managing, and controlling steps.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the data repositories includes one or more documents and one or more data abstractions, wherein the automatically updating the data in the data repositories includes:

receiving a request at a graphical user interface;

communicating the request to the one or more data repositories; and

updating the data in the data repositories based on the request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein communicating the request to the data repositories includes:

communicating the request from the graphical user interface to a first service layer, the first service layer including one or more services for managing tasks and data for the entity;

communicating the request from the first service layer to a second service layer, the second service layer including at least one data service and at least one document service; and

communicating the request from the second service layer to the data repositories.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the data repositories include at least one operational data repository and at least one data warehouse.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the data repositories include an enterprise resource planning system and a customer relationship management system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the data repositories includes data abstractions for proposals, contracts, resumes, debriefings, projects, content health, and/or documents, wherein each abstraction includes one or more metadata fields.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include creating new proposals.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein creating new proposals includes:

entering information describing the new proposal at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a proposal data abstraction, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the new proposal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein creating new proposals includes generating a win score for the new proposal, wherein the generating the win score includes:

identifying at least one issue for the new proposal;

assigning a weight to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of at least one competitor to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of the entity to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying at least one technique to differentiate the entity'"'"'s ability to respond to the issue; and

generating a weighted result indicating relative competitive positions for the at least one competitor and the entity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling a proposal, wherein handling the proposal includes managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling the proposal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein managing the proposal includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the proposal, documents associated with the proposal, and/or tasks associated with the proposal.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein closing the proposal includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the proposal;

summarizing issues leading to the outcome of the proposal;

uploading documents used in developing, executing, and/or delivering the proposal;

evaluating one or more vendors that collaborated on the proposal; and

closing the proposal.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein assembling the proposal includes:

selecting one or more templates for the proposal;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a proposal document for the proposal by merging the one or more selected templates in the specified order.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining a proposal library, the proposal library including active documents and/or documents closed after a predetermined date.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include managing content health, wherein managing content health included displaying content that has expired and/or content that will expire within a predetermined amount of time.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining an archive library, the archive library including documents closed before a predetermined date.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising bids, wherein supervising bids includes creating and/or managing one or more bids.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein creating bids includes:

identifying an opportunity, the opportunity including a solicitation for bids;

developing a first score for the organization based qualifications of the organization;

developing a second score for the organization based on competitive factors relating to the opportunity; and

generating a bid score indicating a relative likelihood of the organization winning the opportunity.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling contracts, wherein handling contracts includes creating, managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling contracts.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein creating contracts includes:

entering information describing a contract at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for the contract; and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the contract.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein managing contracts includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the contract, documents associated with the contract, and/or tasks associated with the contract.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein closing contracts includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the contract;

uploading documents used in delivering the contract; and

closing the contract.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein assembling a contract includes:

selecting one or more templates for the contract;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a contract document by merging the selected one or more templates in the specified order.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling resumes, wherein handling resumes includes creating, managing, and/or searching resumes.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein managing resumes includes generating an employee profile, wherein generating the employee profile includes:

entering information describing an employee at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a resume for the employee, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the resume.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein managing resumes includes managing employee proxies, wherein managing employee proxies includes associating an employee with one or more proxy employees, the proxy employees acting as points of contact when the proxied employee is unavailable.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising debriefing sessions, wherein supervising debriefing sessions includes deconstructing completed proposals.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein deconstructing completed proposals includes:

identifying one or more requirements for a proposal;

identifying the organization'"'"'s responses to the requirements;

identifying one or more competitors'"'"' responses to the requirements;

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the identified requirements and the organization'"'"'s responses; and

storing the competitors'"'"' responses in a customer relationship manager.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling projects, wherein handling projects includes creating, managing, closing, and/or searching projects.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the creating projects includes:

entering information describing a project at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a project; and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the project.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein managing projects includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with a project, documents associated with the project, and/or tasks associated with the project.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein closing projects includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the project;

uploading documents used in delivering the project; and

closing the project.

33. A system for managing proposal related tasks and data for an entity, the proposal related tasks including one or more tasks for managing a proposal lifecycle, the system comprising one or more data repositories for storing proposal related data derived from one or more past, present, and/or anticipated proposal opportunities, the system further comprising one or more processors collectively configured to:

develop business strategies for a proposal using the data in the data repositories, wherein the business strategies provide information about whether to pursue the proposal;

manage execution of the proposal when the proposal is pursued, wherein managing execution of the proposal includes using the data in the data repositories to develop the proposal; and

control proposal delivery when the proposal is won, wherein controlling proposal delivery includes interacting with the data in the data repositories and coordinating one or more areas for the entity,

wherein the data in the data repositories is automatically updated to reflect changes that occur during the developing, managing, and controlling steps.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the data repositories include one or more documents and one or more data abstractions, wherein the automatically updating the data in the data repositories includes:

receiving a request at a graphical user interface;

communicating the request to the one or more data repositories; and

updating the data in the data repositories based on the request.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein communicating the request to the data repositories includes:

communicating the request from the graphical user interface to a first service layer, the first service layer including one or more services for managing tasks and data for the entity;

communicating the request from the first service layer to a second service layer, the second service layer including at least one data service and at least one document service; and

communicating the request from the second service layer to the data repositories.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the data repositories include at least one operational data repository and at least one data warehouse.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the data repositories include an enterprise resource planning system and a customer relationship management system.

38. The system of claim 33, wherein the data repositories include data abstractions for proposals, contracts, resumes, debriefings, projects, content health, and/or documents, wherein each abstraction includes one or more metadata fields.

39. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include creating new proposals.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein creating new proposals includes:

entering information describing the new proposal at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a proposal data abstraction, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the new proposal.

41. The system of claim 39, wherein creating new proposals includes generating a win score for the new proposal, wherein the generating the win score includes:

identifying at least one issue for the new proposal;

assigning a weight to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of at least one competitor to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of the entity to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying at least one technique to differentiate the entity'"'"'s ability to respond to the issue; and

generating a weighted result indicating relative competitive positions for the at least one competitor and the entity.

42. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling a proposal, wherein handling the proposal includes managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling the proposal.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein managing the proposal includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the proposal, documents associated with the proposal, and/or tasks associated with the proposal.

44. The system of claim 42, wherein closing the proposal includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the proposal;

summarizing issues leading to the outcome of the proposal;

uploading documents used in developing, executing, and/or delivering the proposal;

evaluating one or more vendors that collaborated on the proposal; and

closing the proposal.

45. The system of claim 42, wherein assembling the proposal includes:

selecting one or more templates for the proposal;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a proposal document for the proposal by merging the one or more selected templates in the specified order.

46. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining a proposal library, the proposal library including active documents and/or documents closed after a predetermined date.

47. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include managing content health, wherein managing content health included displaying content that has expired and/or content that will expire within a predetermined amount of time.

48. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining an archive library, the archive library including documents closed before a predetermined date.

49. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising bids, wherein supervising bids includes creating and/or managing one or more bids.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein creating bids includes:

identifying an opportunity, the opportunity including a solicitation for bids;

developing a first score for the organization based qualifications of the organization;

developing a second score for the organization based on competitive factors relating to the opportunity; and

generating a bid score indicating a relative likelihood of the organization winning the opportunity.

51. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling contracts, wherein handling contracts includes creating, managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling contracts.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein creating contracts includes:

entering information describing a contract at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for the contract; and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the contract.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein managing contracts includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the contract documents associated with the contract, and/or tasks associated with the contract.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein closing contracts includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the contract;

uploading documents used in delivering the contract; and

closing the contract.

55. The system of claim 51, wherein assembling a contract includes:

selecting one or more templates for the contract;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a contract document by merging the selected one or more templates in the specified order.

56. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling resumes, wherein handling resumes includes creating, managing, and/or searching resumes.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein managing resumes includes generating an employee profile, wherein generating the employee profile includes:

entering information describing an employee at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a resume for the employee, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the resume.

58. The system of claim 56, wherein managing resumes includes managing employee proxies, wherein managing employee proxies includes associating an employee with one or more proxy employees, the proxy employees acting as points of contact when the proxied employee is unavailable.

59. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising debriefing sessions, wherein supervising debriefing sessions includes deconstructing completed proposals.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein deconstructing completed proposals includes:

identifying one or more requirements for a proposal;

identifying the organization'"'"'s responses to the requirements;

identifying one or more competitors'"'"' responses to the requirements;

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the identified requirements and the organization'"'"'s responses; and

storing the competitors'"'"' responses in a customer relationship manager.

61. The system of claim 33, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling projects, wherein handling projects includes creating, managing, closing, and/or searching projects.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the creating projects includes:

entering information describing a project at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a project, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the project.

63. The system of claim 61, wherein managing projects includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with a project, documents associated with the project, and/or tasks associated with the project.

64. The system of claim 61, wherein closing projects includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the project;

uploading documents used in delivering the project; and

closing the project.

65. A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions for managing proposal related tasks and data for an entity, the proposal related tasks including one or more tasks for managing a proposal lifecycle, the proposal related data including data stored in one or more data repositories derived from one or more past, present, and/or anticipated proposal opportunities, the computer-executable instructions collectively operable when executed on a processor to:

develop business strategies for a proposal using the data in the data repositories, wherein the business strategies provide information about whether to pursue the proposal;

manage execution of the proposal when the proposal is pursued, wherein managing execution of the proposal includes using the data in the data repositories to develop the proposal; and

control proposal delivery when the proposal is won, wherein controlling proposal delivery includes interacting with the data in the data repositories and coordinating one or more areas for the entity,

wherein the data in the data repositories is automatically updated to reflect changes that occur during the developing, managing, and controlling steps.

66. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the data repositories include one or more documents and one or more data abstractions, wherein the automatically updating the data in the data repositories includes:

receiving a request at a graphical user interface;

communicating the request to the one or more data repositories; and

updating the data in the data repositories based on the request.

67. The computer readable medium of claim 66, wherein communicating the request to the data repositories includes:

communicating the request from the graphical user interface to a first service layer, the first service layer including one or more services for managing tasks and data for the entity;

communicating the request from the first service layer to a second service layer, the second service layer including at least one data service and at least one document service; and

communicating the request from the second service layer to the data repositories.

68. The computer readable medium of claim 66, wherein the data repositories include at least one operational data repository and at least one data warehouse.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 66, wherein the data repositories include an enterprise resource planning system and a customer relationship management system.

70. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the data repositories include data abstractions for proposals, contracts, resumes, debriefings, projects, content health, and/or documents, wherein each abstraction includes one or more metadata fields.

71. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include creating new proposals.

72. The computer readable medium of claim 71, wherein creating new proposals includes:

entering information describing the new proposal at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a proposal data abstraction, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the new proposal.

73. The computer readable medium of claim 71, wherein creating new proposals includes generating a win score for the new proposal, wherein the generating the win score includes:

identifying at least one issue for the new proposal;

assigning a weight to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of at least one competitor to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying an ability of the entity to respond to the at least one issue;

identifying at least one technique to differentiate the entity'"'"'s ability to respond to the issue; and

generating a weighted result indicating relative competitive positions for the at least one competitor and the entity.

74. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling a proposal, wherein handling the proposal includes managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling the proposal.

75. The computer readable medium of claim 74, wherein managing the proposal includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the proposal, documents associated with the proposal, and/or tasks associated with the proposal.

76. The computer readable medium of claim 74, wherein closing the proposal includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the proposal;

summarizing issues leading to the outcome of the proposal;

uploading documents used in developing, executing, and/or delivering the proposal;

evaluating one or more vendors that collaborated on the proposal; and

closing the proposal.

77. The computer readable medium of claim 74, wherein assembling the proposal includes:

selecting one or more templates for the proposal;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a proposal document for the proposal by merging the one or more selected templates in the specified order.

78. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining a proposal library, the proposal library including active documents and/or documents closed after a predetermined date.

79. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include managing content health, wherein managing content health included displaying content that has expired and/or content that will expire within a predetermined amount of time.

80. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include maintaining an archive library, the archive library including documents closed before a predetermined date.

81. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising bids, wherein supervising bids includes creating and/or managing one or more bids.

82. The computer readable medium of claim 81, wherein creating bids includes:

identifying an opportunity, the opportunity including a solicitation for bids,

developing a first score for the organization based qualifications of the organization;

developing a second score for the organization based on competitive factors relating to the opportunity, and

generating a bid score indicating a relative likelihood of the organization winning the opportunity.

83. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling contracts, wherein handling contracts includes creating, managing, closing, searching, and/or assembling contracts.

84. The computer readable medium of claim 83, wherein creating contracts includes:

entering information describing a contract at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for the contract, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the contract.

85. The computer readable medium of claim 83, wherein managing contracts includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with the contract, documents associated with the contract and/or tasks associated with the contract.

86. The computer readable medium of claim 83, wherein closing contracts includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the contract;

uploading documents used in delivering the contract; and

closing the contract.

87. The computer readable medium of claim 83, wherein assembling a contract includes:

selecting one or more templates for the contract;

specifying an order for the one or more templates; and

assembling a contract document by merging the selected one or more templates in the specified order.

88. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling resumes, wherein handling resumes includes creating, managing, and/or searching resumes.

89. The computer readable medium of claim 88, wherein managing resumes includes generating an employee profile, wherein generating the employee profile includes:

entering information describing an employee at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a resume for the employee, and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the resume.

90. The computer readable medium of claim 88, wherein managing resumes includes managing employee proxies, wherein managing employee proxies includes associating an employee with one or more proxy employees, the proxy employees acting as points of contact when the proxied employee is unavailable.

91. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include supervising debriefing sessions, wherein supervising debriefing sessions includes deconstructing completed proposals.

92. The computer readable medium of claim 91, wherein deconstructing completed proposals includes:

identifying one or more requirements for a proposal;

identifying the organization'"'"'s responses to the requirements;

identifying one or more competitors'"'"' responses to the requirements;

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the identified requirements and the organization'"'"'s responses; and

storing the competitors'"'"' responses in a customer relationship manager.

93. The computer readable medium of claim 65, wherein the proposal related tasks include handling projects, wherein handling projects includes creating, managing, closing, and/or searching projects.

94. The computer readable medium of claim 93, wherein the creating projects includes:

entering information describing a project at a graphical user interface, the entered information corresponding to a data abstraction for a project; and

automatically updating the data in the data repositories by storing the entered information in the data repositories as a data abstraction for the project.

95. The computer readable medium of claim 93, wherein managing projects includes displaying and/or modifying at least one of:

a data abstraction associated with a project, documents associated with the project, and/or tasks associated with the project.

96. The computer readable medium of claim 93, wherein closing projects includes:

collecting information describing an outcome of the project;

uploading documents used in delivering the project; and

closing the project.