Facilitating multi-phase electronic bid evaluation
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method facilitating a multi-phase evaluation for a bidding between a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, said method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of information packets in a digital processing system, wherein each information packet is received from a corresponding one of said plurality of suppliers as a bid, wherein each of said plurality of information packets contains information elements associated with corresponding one of a sequence of phases as a part of said bidding for said goods or services;
storing said plurality of information elements in a non-volatile storage of a data store;
evaluating, by a server, sequentially each of said sequence of phases for said goods or services by examining said plurality of information packets received in said digital processing system, wherein only suppliers qualifying successfully in one phase are evaluated in a subsequent phase in said sequence of phases, wherein all of said plurality of information packets corresponding to all of said sequence of phases are received before start of said evaluating of a first phase of said sequence of phases;
receiving in said digital processing system an indication indicating that a specific phase of said bidding is to be evaluated starting at a time instance'"'"'wherein said specific phase follows a previous phase in an order specified in said sequence of phases and wherein said previous phase and said specific phase are contained in said sequence of phases;
allowing to said buyer access of information elements associated with said specific phase only after said time instance such that access to information elements associated with said specific phase is denied before said time instance,said allowing to allow access of information elements associated with said previous phase before said time instance, said allowing being performed in said digital processing system.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer implemented approach to facilitate multi-phase bid evaluation. In one embodiment, a digital processing system receives information packets (corresponding to bids) from different suppliers containing information elements associated with one of a sequence of phases. On receiving an indication (from a buyer) that a specific phase of the bidding is to be evaluated starting at a time instance, the system allows the buyer access of elements associated with the specific phase only after the time instance, while allowing access to elements associated with a previous phase (occurring prior to the specific phase in the sequence of phases) even before the time instance. In a scenario where the suppliers who have successfully qualified in the previous phase are received, the system allows access of elements associated with the specific phase corresponding only to the qualified suppliers in response to the indication.
16 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A computer implemented method facilitating a multi-phase evaluation for a bidding between a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, said method comprising:
-
receiving a plurality of information packets in a digital processing system, wherein each information packet is received from a corresponding one of said plurality of suppliers as a bid, wherein each of said plurality of information packets contains information elements associated with corresponding one of a sequence of phases as a part of said bidding for said goods or services; storing said plurality of information elements in a non-volatile storage of a data store; evaluating, by a server, sequentially each of said sequence of phases for said goods or services by examining said plurality of information packets received in said digital processing system, wherein only suppliers qualifying successfully in one phase are evaluated in a subsequent phase in said sequence of phases, wherein all of said plurality of information packets corresponding to all of said sequence of phases are received before start of said evaluating of a first phase of said sequence of phases; receiving in said digital processing system an indication indicating that a specific phase of said bidding is to be evaluated starting at a time instance'"'"' wherein said specific phase follows a previous phase in an order specified in said sequence of phases and wherein said previous phase and said specific phase are contained in said sequence of phases; allowing to said buyer access of information elements associated with said specific phase only after said time instance such that access to information elements associated with said specific phase is denied before said time instance, said allowing to allow access of information elements associated with said previous phase before said time instance, said allowing being performed in said digital processing system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for causing a system to facilitate a multi-phase evaluation for a bidding between a buyer and a plurality of suppliers for a goods or services, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said system causes said system to perform the actions of:
-
receiving a plurality of information packets, wherein each information packet is received from a corresponding one of said plurality of suppliers as a bid, wherein each of said plurality of information packets contains information elements associated with corresponding one of a sequence of phases as part of said bidding for said goods or services; evaluating sequentially each of said sequence of phases for said goods or services by examining said plurality of information packets received in said system, wherein only suppliers qualifying successfully in one phase are evaluated in a subsequent phase in said sequence of phases, wherein all of said plurality of information packets corresponding to all of said sequence of phases are received before start of said evaluating of a first phase of said sequence of phase; receiving a first indication indicating that a specific phase of said bidding is to be evaluated, wherein said specific phase is contained in said sequence of phases; allowing to said buyer access of information elements only associated with said specific phase in response to said first indication such that access to said information elements associated with a specific phase is denied before receiving said first indication; receiving a second indication indicating that evaluation of said specific phase is complete and that the evaluation of a later phase is to be commenced, wherein said later phase is also contained in said sequence of phases and follows said specific phase in an order specified in said sequence of phases; and allowing to said buyer access of information elements associated with said later phase in response to said second indication such that access to said information elements associated with said later phase is denied before receiving said second indication. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A computing system comprising:
-
a buyer system enabling a buyer to send a request data specifying that the evaluation of a bidding for a goods or services is to be conducted in a sequence of phases; a plurality of suppliers systems enabling a plurality of suppliers to send a corresponding one of a plurality of information packets as a bid in response to said bidding for said goods or services, wherein each of said plurality of information packets contains specific information elements associated with corresponding one of said sequence of phases to bid for said goods or services; a data store to maintain said plurality of information packets received from said plurality of suppliers; and a bidding manager to facilitate sequential evaluation of each of said sequence of phases for said goods and services by providing access to said plurality of information elements related to the corresponding phase, said bidding manager to allow access to said buyer of information elements only associated with a specific phase in response to a first indication indicating that said specific phase is to be evaluated and to allow access of information elements associated with a later phase in response to a second indication indicating that evaluation of said specific phase is complete and that the evaluation of a later phase is to be commenced, whereby access to information elements related to each phase is denied until corresponding indication of start of evaluation of the phase is received, wherein all of said plurality of information packets are received before start of said evaluating of a first phase of said sequence of phases, wherein said specific phase and said later phase are contained in said sequence of phases and said later phase follows said specific phase in an order specified in said sequence of phases. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification