Web 3.0 and the Virtual Proposal Manager, part 1

Web 3.0 and the Virtual Proposal Manager, part 1
by Donna L. Quesinberry, Washington Business Examiner

As an evolving field of expertise, proposal management and the ‘process life-cycle’ are entering yet another augmentation. The newest capture planning and business development solutions profile involves an ability to remain both an active and dynamic participant, while promoting a 24/7/365 winning game plan. The virtual scheme offers just the right mix of opportunity and capability for proposal developers / managers to mitigate emergent technological trends as well as ever-changing human capital demands while answering the proverbial mail. To remain continuously vigilant, and actively engaged, while responding to the proposal shop / team processes—embracing Web 3.0 and cloud computing, along with the new transparency’s inherent bells and whistles as we traverse the newest IT superhighway diadems, is essential.

If you ask any proposal management veteran about connectivity in response to a solicitation and engaging their team – they’ll pretty much say it is an arduous undertaking that often requires long days and sometimes even longer nights. Whenever a professional is working with deadlines and coupling them with scores of individual professionals, fielding information for a single point-of-contact’s (SPOC) throughput equates to a lot of hurry up and wait, or at the very least, last minute end-fielding. In the past this may have equated to mismanagement or a lack of planning and oversight, but that’s not necessarily true of today’s manager because the environment itself has shifted in consortium with modern work styles.

Indigenous to the contract professional is an ideal of movement in this era. We are constantly in motion, and our playing field is planetary at this time, more so than at any other time in our history. Throughout the work week, a predominate number of team mates we reach out to develop solicitation solutions, field subject matter expertise (SME), or secure reviews and feedback are away from, or located at, their home base. Traveling to and from field offices, conferences, informative meetings, test and certification venues, research facilities, etc. all while culling prospects for new business development efforts equals virtualization. The nature of our very art—is now virtual. So why would we question the prospects of Virtual Proposal Management and oversight?

War rooms, storyboards, and tasking ‘on site’ with a team of support personnel while working arduously under an iron thumb, micro or even macro management sounds arcane in today’s marketplace. Certainly, there are still those solutions that require in-house utilization in a setting where all parties must report and be identified, but the majority of the time, there is just not enough space and/or reason to house an entire proposal team in the confines of an office structure in order to respond to requests for proposals (RFPs). The contract environment itself involves jump sticks, shared portals, version control software, blackberries, mobile devices and personnel that are all working in tandem while moving and shaking all corners of the globe simultaneously.

Rising statistics prove immensely satisfying in regard to the new and improved virtual workforce (VW) arena. In Europe, for example, virtualization, telework and telecommuting have taken place with much higher rates of performance during the previous 15 year period than contemporary Western Society has engaged in. The European VW statistics have remained extremely proactive. The Euro Market tends to proffer a myriad of telecommute centers for the world traveler to conduct business inVirtual where resources such as facsimiles, photocopiers, binding equipment, conference rooms, etc. remain consistently ready in order to engage and facilitate site meetings and professional development requirements where flesh to flesh contact is imperative. The predominate quotient of VWs in the Euro Market are male, over 35 years of age, and above median wage earners, which touts success no matter how you measure it.

Essential VW environment data reach back covers an expanse well beyond the fifteen to twenty year mark, this is much longer a time frame than Western Civilization (namely American Society) may recognize when base lining and garnering nuggets of VW quantitative analytics. It is suggested that the VW saves both time and money for all procurement participants. The standard requirements to dress up; purchase business attire; drive to offices; be housed in offices, cubes, or suites; pay for parking; find parking; pay for gasoline; expend the environment; invoke ever-increasing forms of alternate transportation; heating; cooling; and revenue shares for office overhead are no longer issues within a VW environment.
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About the Author (in this instance “poster”: Ms. Quesinberry, DonnaInk Publications (DP) President, manages a Government (federal and state) and commercial consultancy; she is a published technical non-fiction and fiction author; university courseware developer | instructor; and recognized poetess-among other pursuits. Donna has interviewed live on CNBC and is a single parent to 5 adult children with 7 grandchildren. DP is a small, woman-owned sole proprietorship, with over 18 years of professional expertise featuring high 90% performance measurements and a 98% win ratio for multiple | diverse genres. To publish that federal ebook, call Donna!

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(Copyright © Donna L. Quesinberry-2009)