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The purpose of this document is to provide an insight into:
The user must have:
With the ICI Proposal Management application, Icertis has devised an opportunity to introduce out-of-the-box entities, drive the lifecycle and entire business process that begins with the inputs from an RFx, qualifies them, plans and reverts with a proposal, and finally facilitates the completion of the proposal. In addition, Icertis gives the flexibility to configure the Proposal Management App as per the customer requirement, making it a truly enterprise App.
Here are some terms that will help you better understand the Proposal Management process:
Some key challenges to overcome in order to set and mature your sell side practice include:
These challenges help shape the solution framework for the ICI Proposal Management App.
For businesses, responding to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) is a regular process. However, each RFP is a sales opportunity which contributes to growth. It is, thus, imperative for the RFP to be successful as its execution will have a significant impact on the final outcome.
Keeping this in mind, Icertis introduces the Proposal Management App, which is built on the ICI platform that presents out-of-the-box entities to drive the entire business process. This essentially consists of creating and qualifying RFx, and responding to the buyers with the Bid Proposal.
The App provides the ability to track KPI metrics such as Win Rate, Value Capture Ratio, etc. that help in executing incoming solicitation types efficiently and improving response processes paving the way for a mature proposal management team over time.
ICI allows creating a contract-centric proposal process connected with Sourcing and Obligation Management to flexibly drive the end-to-end business process for enterprise needs.
The functional decomposition of how the overall solution framework from capturing the Sell Side RFx to initiating a contract followed by knowledge management through configuration, integration, and usage of entities includes the following:
Based on this framework, the solution includes:
Icertis’ end-to-end solution connected with the ICI contract-led proposal management has several benefits including:
ICI Proposal Management typically involves the following set of users:
The Proposal Management process has the following stages:
When implementing the Proposal Management App, some entities such as contract types and rules, necessary for the flow, are seeded. Using these seeded entities, proposal owners can populate an initial set of data imperative to the entity workflow.
A dedicated “Proposals” tile is displayed on the ICI Home page for customers who have the license for the App. Users having either “View” or “Manage” access to the proposal management contract types can access this tile and use the available options - Dashboard, Sell Side RFx, and Bid Proposal to view and manage them.
The navigation tiles support localization and theming and can be configured by implementation teams.
The ICI Proposal Management provides seeded masterdata “Key Requirements” to capture the essential contents of an RFx that would help in winning the Bid Proposal.
Users can create masterdata instances as per the business requirements.
To create a masterdata instance:
1. Click “Configure” > “Masterdata”
Proposal Management contract types must be configured as agreement contract type with Business Application Type as “Proposal Management” and Business Application Category as “Sell Side RFx”. It is controlled through role action mapping.
Sell Side RFx helps in converting incoming solicitation types efficiently and improving response processes paving the way for mature proposal management.
Sell Side RFx comprises of the incoming solicitation types that the suppliers receive including:
The solicitation types are converted into successful businesses after winning the contract. For example, a supplier may place a bid for a firm fixed price.
The Sell Side RFx workflow is as follows:
Here is the workflow for Sell Side RFx at a glance:
The details that would help the Sell Side RFx to qualify and potentially win a bidding are captured during the creation of a Sell Side RFx instance. The details include information related to RFx, RFx Type, key requirements for RFx, RFx documents, templates, customer details, selection process and logistics details, RFx schedules, and so on.
To create a Sell Side RFx:
1. Click “Proposals” tile > “Sell Side RFx”.
2. Click the “Create” button. The “Attributes” page opens which contains key information required to be captured for creating the Sell Side RFx.
3. Select or enter values for the following fields in the “Customer Information” section:
o Request for Proposal (RFP): Is a solicitation type that helps obtaining the proposal for procuring goods and services. This is typically done through the bidding process.
o Request for Quote (RFQ): Is a solicitation type that allows organizations to request for quote from the suppliers for purchasing goods or services. RFQ is also called Invitation for Bid (IFB).
o Request for Information (RFI): The set of questions shared with potential suppliers to assess their ability to fulfil certain requirements to provide goods or services. This is done in the form of a questionnaire with specific and general questions.
o Tender: The invitation to bid for a specific project or supplying goods or services. For example, governments typically invite bids from organizations that should be submitted within the defined deadline.
5. Select or enter values for the following fields in the “Selection Process and Logistics” section:
8. Click “Next”. The “Verify” page opens.
9. Verify the details and click one of the following options.
The RFx is created in the “Draft” state.
The Sell Side RFx, being the standard ICI Agreement Contract Type, follows all ICI agreement functionalities such as adding members to Team, Rules and Approval process to approve the Sell Side RFx.
You can view existing Sell Side RFx from the “Proposals” tile.
To view the created Sell Side RFx:
1. Click the “Proposals” tile. The following options are displayed depending upon the access privileges of a user: "Sell Side RFx, "RFx Qualification", "Bid Proposal”.
2. Click “Sell Side RFx”, the Sell Side RFx index page opens.
The SSR index page opens displaying all available Sell Side RFx records. Users can refine the list of Sell Side RFx by applying filters, options and keywords using the Refine View search panel as well as the Saved Search functionality (“Save View”) functionality.
You can associate supporting documents with Sell Side RFx from the “Associations” tab in the left navigation pane on the Details page. This tab displays a list of associations relevant to the current Sell Side RFx instance such as All, Peers, Prerequisites, Post requisites, and No Constraint. It has following sub-sections.
The RFx Qualification association impacts the Sell Side RFx workflow. Refer to Making a Bid Decision for details.
To create an association for Sell Side RFx from Details page:
1. Click the plus + icon to “Create Association” corresponding to the type of association that you want to create, for example, "RFx Documents". The “Create Association” page opens.
2. Enter the details. The Sell Side RFx details are pre-populated.
3. Click “Create”.
You can modify the sell side RFx as per business requirements:
1. Click “Edit” on the sell side RFx Details page. The “Edit Sell Side RFx” page opens.
2. Make the required changes and click “Next”. The “Verify” page opens.
You can cancel a sell side RFx as per business requirements.
To cancel a sell side RFx:
1. Click “Cancel” on the sell side RFx Details page. The “Please Confirm” pop up opens.
2. Click “Yes” if you are sure that the RFx should be cancelled. The “Add Note” drawer opens.
3. Enter a note such as the reason for cancellation and select the reason code.
4. Click “Add”. The status of sell side RFx changes to “Cancelled”.
1. Click “Delete” on the three dots menu of Sell Side RFx Details page to delete the RFx. The “Please Confirm” pop up opens.
2. Click “Yes” on the “Please Confirm” pop up. The Sell Side RFx will be deleted.
You can send the Sell Side RFx for approval if not already sent during the creation process.
1. Click “Send for Approval” on the Sell Side RFx Details page. The Sell Side RFx is sent to approvers added in the record’s team.
The Sell Side RFx status moves to “Waiting for Approval”.
2. Click "Recall" under three dots menu on the Sell Side RFx details page if you want to recall the Sell Side RFx sent to approvers. The Add Note drawer opens.
3. Add a note and select a Reason Code for recalling.
4. Click "Add". The Sell Side RFx will be recalled and moves back to "Draft" state.
Approvers can approve or reject a Sell Side RFx based on the company’s objectives being fulfilled. They can see the Approval task listed in their “My Tasks” widget on the “Home” dashboard.
1. Click “Approve” under the three dots menu of Sell Side RFx Details page. The “Add Note” drawer opens.
The Sell Side RFx status changes to “Awaiting Qualification” once all approvers added in the Team approve it, the status changes to approved.
Approvers can reject a Sell Side RFx based on the company’s objectives.
1. Click “Reject” under the three dots menu of Sell Side RFx Details page. The “Add Note” drawer opens.
2. Entera note and select a reason for rejection.
3. Click “Add”.
The Sell Side RFx is rejected and goes back to the “Draft” state.
If the Bid Proposal submission deadline date is past the current date and the bid decision is not yet captured for the Sell Side RFx, then the Sell Side RFx moves to the “Expired” state.
For example, the Sell Side RFx, Enterprise CLM, is expired as its Bid Proposal submission deadline date - April 27, 2022 has already passed.
Based on the company’s objectives, the Sell Side RFx is qualified for a decision to bid or not to bid through RFx Qualification. RFx Qualification in ICI is basically an associated document with an approval workflow. Depending upon the type of RFx, the qualification may need approval from various business functions that help in making the decision about placing the bids.
The capture management or the sales team of the organization may or may not revert to every RFx, but the team has to ensure that it meets the business objective, and then make the decision to bid or not. They can mention the Bid Decision details for a Sell Side RFx in an “Awaiting Qualification” status by creating an RFx Qualification association.
There can be only one RFx qualification for a Sell Side RFx.
Based on the company’s objectives, the Sell Side RFx is qualified for a decision to bid or not to bid. The sales team of the organization can mention the Bid Decision details for a Sell Side RFx in an “Awaiting Qualification” status by creating an RFx Qualification association. There can be only one RFx qualification for a Sell Side RFx.
The creation of an RFx Qualification Association invokes the Approver rule and workflows and moves the corresponding Sell Side RFx to the status according to the bid decision, upon RFx qualification approval.
Users can set Bid Decision using the following options:
The RFx Qualification workflow is as follows:
After the Sell Side RFx capture is complete, an RFx Qualification captures the outcome of the Bid/No Bid decision.
1. Click the plus + icon next to RFx Qualification in the “Associations” section, on Sell Side RFx Details page. The “Create Association” page opens.
2. Select or enter values for the following fields in the “Bid Decision” section:
3. Click “Create”. The RFx Qualification is created in a “Draft” state.
Users can access all RFx Qualifications.
Selecting the RFx Qualification option navigates the user to the “RFx Qualification” index page, where a list of qualified RFx is displayed. This option is visible only to users who have “View” or “Manage” access to the RFx qualification. On selecting a record, the user is directed to the “RFx Qualification Details” page that provides information such as Bid Decision details, Versions, History, Team, Notes, etc. in the left navigation pane.
1. Click “Send For Approval” on the RFx Qualification Details page. The RFx Qualification will be sent to relevant users for approval.
The approvers (sales or business or legal team) can approve or reject the RFx Qualification based on the company’s objectives being fulfilled or not.
To approve the RFx Qualification:
1. Click “Reject” on RFx Qualification Details page. The “Association Reject Note” drawer opens.
When a user deletes an approved RFx qualification, the RFx qualification instance is deleted and the corresponding Sell Side RFx moves back to the “Awaiting Qualification” state.
Bid Proposal comprises of the response provided by the supplier against the qualified RFx received such as Request for Quote, Request for Information, and so on. The Proposal Management team of the organization is typically responsible for creating the Bid Proposal. A thorough review of the Bid Proposal is performed by the reviewer team ensuring that the proposal meets the business requirements, quality, and compliance standards.
Proposal Management contract types must be configured as agreement contract type with Business Application Type as “Proposal Management” and Business Application Category as “Bid Proposal”. It is controlled using role action mapping.
A typical Bid Proposal has the following associations:
The Bid Proposal workflow is as follows:
Here is the workflow for Bid Proposal at a glance:
1. Click “Proposals” > "Bid Proposal" from the Home page.
4. Select or enter information in the “Customer or RFx Information” section.
4. Select or enter values for the fields in the “Bid Proposal Schedule” section:
The values in these fields will be inherited from the corresponding Sell Side RFx.
5. Select or enter values for the fields in the “Proposal Details” section.
o Counter Signed: Allows signing the Bid Proposal that is already signed by the other party.
o Account Expansion: The effort made through the Bid Proposal to expand the current business account with the other party.
o For Pre Bid Qualification: The process of identifying potential vendors who indicate that they are qualified for placing a bid for a potential project.
o Reverting to RFx: The process of creating the Bid Proposal as a response to the RFx received.
6. Select or enter the information in “Authorization”.
7. Select or enter the values for the fields in the “Outcome Tracking” section:
8. Click “Next”. The “Select Template (Step 3 of 4)” page opens.
9. Select the template and click “Next”. The “Verify” page opens.
10. Verify the information and click one of the following:
The Bid Proposal will be created in “Draft” state.
Associations of Bid Proposal
The Bid Proposal has following Associations:
You can search and view the created Bid Proposal from the “Proposal Management” tile.
To view the Bid Proposal:
1. Click “Proposals” > "Bid Proposal" from the “Home” page. The Bid Proposal index page opens displaying all the Bid Proposal records.
Proposal owners can create tasks to plan and track Bid Proposals using commitments in ICI. Commitment Tasks help to work and collaborate with different teams with the defined timelines to manage Bid Proposals.
To create a task using commitment:
1. Click the “Commitments” tab in the left navigation pane on the Details page. The existing commitments are displayed if any.
2. Click “Add Commitment”. The “Add Commitment” drawer opens.
3. Enter the details for the commitment.
2. Add Action Details and Commitment Details.
3. Click “Save”. The Commitment status is updated according to the action taken.
Refer to the Compliance Management for more details on working with commitments.
1. Click “Edit” on the Bid Proposal Details page. The "Edit Bid Proposal" page opens.
2. Edit the details on the Attributes page as required and click "Next". The “Verify” page opens.
3. Verify the details and click “Update”.
The changes will be saved to the Bid Proposal.
1. Click “Cancel” from the three dots menu on the Bid Proposal Details page. The Confirmation popup opens with a message that the agreement will move to a canceled state.
2. Click “Yes” to proceed. The “Add Note” drawer opens.
3. Add a note and select a Reason Code for canceling the Bid Proposal.
4. Click “Add”. The Bid Proposal will move to a Cancelled state.
You can delete Bid Proposals which are in draft state.
The Bid Proposal will be deleted.
Users can send the Bid Proposal for review for its quality and compliance check.
1. Click "Request Review" on the Bid Proposal Details page. The "Request Review" drawer opens to select a Reviewer.
2. Select a user and click “Send”. The Bid Proposal will be sent to the selected Reviewer.
The status of the Bid Proposal changes to "Review Pending".The reviewer can approve or reject the Bid Proposal following the standard ICI Approval/Reject workflow.
After the reviewers have reviewed (Approve/Reject) the Bid Proposal, it moves back to its previous state.
1. Click “Send for Approval” on Bid Proposal Details page. The status of the Bid Proposal changes to “Waiting for Approval” and a task is generated for the approver added to the Team.
2. Click “Recall” if you want to recall the Bid Proposal sent to approvers. The “Add Note” drawer opens.
3. Add a note and select a Reason Code for recalling.
4. Click "Add". The Bid Proposal will be recalled and moves back to “Draft” state.
1. Click “Approve” on Bid Proposal Details page. The "Add Note" drawer opens.
2. Add note and click "Add". The Bid Proposal will be approved and the status will change to “Approved”.
1. Click “Reject” on Bid Proposal Details page. The "Add Note" drawer opens.
2. Add a note and select a relevant "Reason Code" for rejecting the Bid Proposal.
3. Click "Add". The Bid Proposal is rejected and goes back to the "Draft" state.
You can send the Bid Proposal for signature to the external signatory added to the Bid Proposal team, once the Bid Proposal is approved.
To send the Bid Proposal for signature:
Click “Send For Internal Signature” on Bid Proposal Details page. The status of the Bid Proposal changes to “Waiting for Internal Signature” and a task is generated for a signatory.
You can recall the Bid Proposal sent to signatories using “Recall” from the three dots menu.
After you capture the Bid Outcome, the submitted Bid Proposal status will change to “Won”, “Lost”, “No Bid” or “Closed”, as per the selected bid outcome value for the Bid Proposal record.
To capture the bid outcome:
1. Click "Edit" from the three dots menu on the Bid Proposal Details page. The "Edit Agreement" page opens.
3. Click "Next". The "Verify" page opens.
4. Verify the details and click "Update".
The Bid Proposal status changes to “Won” based on the selected Outcome as “Win”.
If users want to make changes to a Bid Proposal after it is executed and moves to a “Bid Proposal Submitted” Business Status, they can do so by adding amendments to it.
To add an amendment to a Bid Proposal:
1. Click “Add Amendment” on Bid Proposal Details page. The “Add Amendment” page opens.
2. Make the necessary changes to the “Attributes (Step 2 of 3)” page and click “Next”. The “Verify” page opens.
3. Verify the information entered on this page and click “Create”. The amendment is created in “Draft” state.
The amendment workflow for Bid Proposal follows the standard ICI amendment workflow. The amendment status will be updated on the basis of outcome tracking such as Won, Lost, No Bid or Closed.
If the Bid Proposal is not submitted by the Bid Proposal submission deadline date, the Bid Proposal record expires and its status changes to “Expired”. For example, the Bid Proposal "Enterprise CLM Bid" is expired as the Bid Proposal submission deadline date- "April 27, 2022" has passed the current date.
ICI Proposal Management App allows users with appropriate privileges to access the “Dashboard” tile option, to use the Power BI dashboard reports seeded with the PM App, and it will be available to users out-of-the-box.
To access the Dashboard - click “Proposals” tile and then click “Dashboard”, and the “Proposal Management Summary” dashboard page opens.
The “Proposal Management Summary” dashboard contains these analytical Power BI reports - “Proposal Management KPIs” and “Capture Management”.
The “Proposal Management KPIs” report appears on the first report tab that opens by default on clicking the “Dashboard” tile option. This out-of-the-box report presents the KPIs for the proposal process as an overall dashboard for proposals.
Here are the specifications of the “Proposal Management KPIs” report:
The “Capture Management” report provides the KPIs along the capture management process, covering the journey of the Sell Side RFx entity. Here are its specifications:
Each report can be viewed as preferred based on the options/parameters given on the far right:
The Win Ratio and Value Capture Ratio can be calculated with the help of certain seeded attributes, and these base values will be used to generate desired Power BI reports. Here are the details of this feature:
Related Topics: Agreement Management | Icertis Business Apps | Biz Apps Release Notes
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