Proposal Writing

This page details out what goes into a proposal submitted typically in response to RFP. The details provided here are in the context of consulting projects.

What is a Proposal and what does it contain?

Typical Sections in a Proposal

Few Best Practices

Choice of Pricing Model and Cost Estimation

All proposals need to have the commercial details and for this the choice of pricing model and estimation of cost are critical inputs. In consulting projects, the effort that is needed from each of the various consulting team members is an important component and requires sufficient thought to arrive this. Effort estimation can be done in typically three approaches.

Analogous: Based on actual efforts of similar past projects +/- Delta to accommodate the specifics in this context

Bottom-up: Identify the detailed list of tasks and estimate the effort for each of the task.

Parametric Estimation: Create and use reference models for Efforts wrt known parameters (E.g. Size)

Exercise:

1. Identify a challenge in that institute management or your organization is facing which can be addressed through Information Technology. Assume you are the consultant engaged by management to understand the situation in detail, come up with a solution, and prepare an RFP which can be floated to potential service providers for implementation. For the RFP prepared, assuming you are the Presale manager in a service provider organisation interested to service this RFP, prepare a proposal response.
2. Look for an RFP for IT consulting services available in the public domain, understand what is asked and prepare a response.