The Proposal Business On The Net
The job of designing and developing a proposal requires access to information and tools. Some of our tools are software products. Many information sources are located on the Web. We want to share them with you the way we work with them.
Spotlight on Agencies that make our job easier -
The Department of Energy for:
Placing the TWRS Privatization procurement information on their web site for
immediate and simple downloading.
Sharing their Lessons Learned with us.
The Department of Defense Joint Strike Advanced Technology Program (JAST) for:
Paperless Acquisition Tools See how proposals will be submitted and evaluated in the future.
Professional Associations
The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP)
Resources and Tools
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Like reading the morning paper, the first thing we do over office coffee is check for information on the Commerce Business Daily. We search for both specific programs and agencies of interest.
The next periodic reading area is Current News and Events. This is a pretty valuable listing of Web resources with a decidedly DoD flavor, but of general value nonetheless. (Of interest is the Electronic College of Process Innovation for up to date BPR ideas.
If we want to locate a specific agency there are a large number of launching points. Our favorite is Planet Earth. The only downside of this home page is there are so many interesting places to visit that we occasionally do a little surfing. If Planet Earth is too overwhelming, try the Government Information Sources. Don't let the name scare you as there is a section called Other Valuable/Interesting Non-Government Links.
Occasionally we need to search a number of data bases to find important information. We try both FEDWORLD or the
GPO Searchable Database
Our Customers and Their Rules
Part of staying current with our profession is understanding the today and
tomorrow of Federal Acquisition Policy.
To understand today we review the latest in procurement issues by checking the Federal Acquisition Jump Station. This starting point for links us to procurement activity in most federal agencies as well as providing a searchable reference to the FAR and its supplements.
To prepare for tomorrow, visit the home of the DoD Acquisition Work Force
If you want to be a part of Acquisition Reform, visit the Acquisition Reform Net and contribute your thoughts as well as search the FAR clauses for data important for you.
ASCA Remote Proposal Submission is an example of how proposal submissions ought to be handled.
Navy CALS Home Page
Air Force CALS Home Page
FinanceNet is a treasure trove of Federal Government information
The Defence Mission is a top-down overview of Australia's Defense Strategy, Budget and Acquisition Planning. Useful tutorial for the way governments work.
Streamlining Procurement Through Electronic Commerce is a US Army Report on potential Acquisition System Improvements.
Our Profession
There are a number of references we like to have on our "bookshelf"
marked with our Bookmarks.
Professionally it is helpful to share thoughts with fellow professionals by visiting both APMP's and The Society for Technical Communication's home pages.
If a question of grammar, syntax, or other aspects of writing emerge we
visit the Purdue University Online Writing Lab where a number of dictionaries, from technical to language translation exist. An old friend Strunk shares his style guide and there is even an acronym dictionary.
There are on-line technical writing courses from Georgia Tech to MIT.
Finally, if we need specific information on either a customer or competitor, we use Starting Point, a Meta Search Engine and let Savvy do our preliminary work for us.
New Mexico Tech presents Writing Reports: Theory and Practice
J. A. Majors Company offers the Table Of Contents for the Engineering Manager's Guide To Winning Proposals. It is a useful checklist.
Grant Writer's Assistant includes a Proposal Manager's Guide and to alternative funding and links to funding opportunities
Our Competition
Carl W. Dickson's Proposal Center includes Proposal Development Information
Formtek presents Streamline The Bid And Proposal Process with Formtek:TDK
Dudley Glass
Greco Research Engineering A firm focused on government procurement.
Jim Kendrick
TDTechnologies' Website includes Slate's Proposal Process and article/newsletters about research, requrements development and System Engineering
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