Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-23
2002-03-12
Shah, Sanjiv (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06356909
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a web-based computer system and method for preparing requests for proposals, responding to questions, and analyzing questionnaires used to identify vendors for products and services.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Industries require goods and services that are specific to their particular line of business. These goods and services could be anything from machine parts to benefit services. While there may be no particular way to go about purchasing these goods or services, they are typically purchased by performing some degree of due diligence so that industries can justify their purchasing decisions.
In some cases, the due diligence may be as simple as sending a letter to a vendor describing the desired good or service and asking the vendor to respond to the letter with pricing information and a capabilities description. However, a typical method for the due diligence process is creating full-blown Requests For Proposals (RFPs) or Request For Quotations (RFQs). The process is typically one of significant labor and effort, requiring substantial time and monetary investment from the purchasers, as well as, from the potential vendors. Depending on the industry, the term RFP and RFQ is often used interchangeably. The distinction is industry specific and for the purpose of this invention, RFP is used for both. Moreover, the term user, RFP creator, and purchaser are used interchangeably; and the term vendor, respondent, proposal creator, and user are used interchangeably, throughout this application.
Goods and services that are purchased through this process need to be customized to the purchaser's specifications that are described in detail in a RFP. For many specialized goods and services, there is no retail market place that defines these specialized goods and services because these goods and services are not typically available or financially accessible to the general population. The budgets that support corporate purchasing decisions tend to be very large, often times in the millions of dollars. As a result, purchasers and their counterparts want to fully disclose their requirements to the potential vendors of goods and services. Likewise, the vendors require clear and well-defined requirements from their potential purchasers because, if they promise capabilities that they cannot deliver, they run the risk of losing the current and possibly future business. The detailed RFP or RFQ clearly defines the requirements from the vendor.
The current environment for RFPs is one where a purchaser identifies a need within the organization and creates a detailed RFP to present to the potential vendors of the desired product. The RFP is typically comprised of questions related to the potential vendor's capabilities, operations, financial history, service areas and more. The scope of the questions is not limited to these areas, however, these are typical areas of interest for purchasers of goods and services. The process of identifying, compiling and creating RFPs tends to be labor intensive. This process, which is relatively manual, requires a serious and tedious commitment to detail. RFP questions are created from a variety of sources from inside and outside of the purchaser's purchasing organization. When all questions and specifications are completed, the RFP is compiled and prepared using a word processing program.
Once the RFP is completed, the rules for responding to the RFP and the RFP itself are printed, bound and sent out to the potential vendors. This portion includes any necessary contact information or other pertinent information. Potential vendors are identified using a variety of methods. Typically, purchasers have relationships with many of the potential vendors. Additional vendors are identified by compiling contacts from industry contacts and colleagues.
Once an RFP is received by a vendor, the vendor goes through its own due diligence process. Vendors review the RFP to see whether or not the vendors are qualified and whether they want to respond. If a vendor decides to respond, the RFP is sent to its proposal unit under the direction of an account manager or some other form of management. The proposal unit reviews each of the RFP questions and finds appropriate responses in its response manual or has to research the capabilities of the company. This response is then entered into a word processor to respond to the question. Once all of the questions have been addressed, the response to the RFP is prepared and sent back to the purchaser.
The purchaser, upon receiving the completed RFP from the vendor, begins the manual process of analyzing the results of the RFP. By reviewing each response, the purchaser can establish which vendor best meets the organization's needs. This process requires that each question be reviewed manually to ensure the question has been answered completely. While the RFP responses are being manually reviewed, often, a manual scoring mechanism in a scorecard is used to track results and responses. Once all of the results have been reviewed, the scorecard typically indicates a winner. These results are ultimately used to make final purchasing decisions.
As an example, the employee benefits industry uses this process for generating RFPs and responding to RFPs. Typically, employee benefits providers are requested to provide a proposal and description of their products by consultants who deal directly with clients such as businesses that seek health coverage for their employees. The consultant generates a RFP to be mailed to several competing health insurance providers. The RFP includes a group of questions related to the providers' products, offerings, and policies. These RFPs or questionnaires generally include numerous complex questions that require different answers depending on the purchaser requirements, size, and type of business. Furthermore, RFPs need to be customized for different purchasers based on their own specific requirements and tailored to the types of vendors providing the requested goods and services. However, many of the questions in the RFPs may be common to a variety of purchasers.
Moreover, answers are usually short lived, and need to be generated by interacting with resources located at various locations within the provider's company. The time needed by the users to generate the RFP and for the vendors to respond to a given RFP in a quality manner has increased, while the deadlines established by the purchasers have been increasingly condensed.
Some attempts have been made to computerize some aspects of the process wherein questions and corresponding answers were stored in a database that could be accessed by responding vendors to respond to a RFP. Other systems have been described that are based on a word processing system and run in a heterogeneous environment. These semi-computerized systems lack the ease of use and portability. Users would have to acquire specialized and complex software to be able to use the system. It would be advantageous therefore to have a system that automates the entire process of creating, responding to, and analyzing a RFP in a common and homogeneous environment that is accessible by selected users without having to acquire specialized and complex software.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With respect to the processes described above, there is a need for a more efficient method of managing the entire RFP process that can automate and facilitate the creation of a RFP, response to the RFP, and analysis of the RFP in a common, secure environment accessible by selected users.
These and other needs can be met by an embodiment of the present invention. One embodiment of the present invention is a method and apparatus that enables users to create a common environment for all RFP users, both creators (consultants) and respondents (vendors), to facilitate the RFP process. An Internet based computer system assembles and organizes the information into a common format in a plurality of databases accessible through a web site interface by se
Christie Parker & Hale LLP
Proposal Technologies Network, Inc.
Shah Sanjiv
LandOfFree
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