Sample
Proposal: Superior Systems Proposal for CapState Relocation Project to
capstate chemicals proposal for computer system relocation project presented
by superior systems
Prepared by John Ryan, Superior Systems, August 5, 1999
BACKGROUND
CapState
Chemicals, Inc., is a chemical company based in Commerce City, providing
custom chemical compounds to the pharmaceutical industry. Based on a Request
for Proposal issued on July 21, 1999, and on an informational meeting
between Ron Gimble, CapState Chemicals, and John Ryan, Nick Campbell,
and Sandy Root, Superior Systems, Superior Systems understands that CapState
Chemicals intends to relocate its computer systems and networks from multiple
locations in the metropolitan area to its new world headquarters, currently
under construction. Based on the information presented in the RFP and
subsequent meeting, we understand that CapState wishes to engage an IT
consulting firm to provide the following services:
Technical assistance
in the planning and execution of the relocation project;
Project management
skills to create detailed project plans, schedules, and budgets and
to ensure effective execution of those plans;
Assistance with
the disconnection, reconnection, and testing of all computing devices
affected by this relocation project; and
Follow-up support
to provide CapState associates with uninterrupted use of their computer
systems following the relocation.
This
proposal describes Superior Systems’ understanding of the goals CapState
Chemicals has for this relocation project. It defines our proposed approach
to achieving those goals, the deliverables to be generated, and our proposed
budget of time and expense estimated to produce the described deliverables.
SUCCESS
CRITERIA
Based
on the information presented to Superior Systems, our consulting team
has identified a series of success criteria for this project. In the interest
of clear communication and mutual understanding, we have enumerated in
this section the priorities and success criteria of this engagement as
we understand them.
As identified in
the RFP, critical success criteria include the following:
Avoidance of
disruption of user access to IT services.
Provision of
special handling for CapState’s Research and Development Division,
including a plan for relocation of this division with no interruption
in service. This includes the provision of technical subject-matter
expertise in the UNIX systems and graphics workstations that are in
use in the R&D group.
The complete
relocation and testing process must be performed over the holiday
break between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.
Special provisions
must be made for the relocation of the production department.
The provision
of “hot spare” systems and spare parts is an important component of
this relocation.
Other specialized
technical skills, such as expertise in IP addressing, video conferencing,
voice communications, and imaging may be required.
We have catalogued these success factors
in order to ensure agreement regarding their priority, the budget and
schedule associated with them, and the risks and assumptions inherent
in each. Our experience with projects of this type indicates that clear
and open understanding of these success factors leads to greater probability
of project success.
APPROACH
Superior
Systems approaches information technology projects with a unique perspective:
We believe that the application of a structured project management discipline
is the deciding factor in the success of IT projects. Every engagement
we undertake follows our IT Consulting Framework, which enforces a strict
project discipline to ensure that we deliver the expected results. Our
discipline requires that we perform a detailed project assessment, which
results in documented objectives, milestones, and deliverables for every
project. In addition, our IT Consulting Framework also enforces the use
of a detailed discovery procedure, in which we review the client’s current
business work flow, technology architecture, application usage, and data
needs, in order to certify that we have a clear understanding of the current
environment before we attempt to design a solution. Our experience with
this methodology allows us to make the following assurance to our clients:
If
you agree to follow our project methodology, and you are not satisfied
with the results of our engagement, you don’t pay.
We
are proud to say that, in our nine years of providing IT services, we
have never had a client ask us to honor this pledge. In addition, we have
never had a client who has not agreed to be a reference site for our project
work. We have built this record because our methodology works, because
we focus on client service, and because we honor our commitments. We appreciate
the opportunity to present our proposed approach to CapState Chemical
Company.
Superior
Systems proposes to deliver the CapState System Relocation Project in
the following manner:
Project Assessment Phase
Superior
Systems will collaborate with the CapState Chemicals project sponsors
to create a joint CapState-Superior Systems Relocation Project Team, with
the responsibility of defining the objectives, priorities, and deliverables
for this project. A Superior Systems project manager and a CapState Chemicals
primary project sponsor will be designated. Superior Systems will then
meet with the designated IT and departmental resources, and other CapState
Chemicals associates, for the purposes of:
Defining the
requirements, time frames, and priorities of the relocation project;
Developing consensus
regarding the success criteria;
Understanding
the roles and responsibilities of the CapState team and the Superior
Systems team;
Assessing the
requirements for post-move support;
Assessing the
requirements for hardware support, such as spare parts or “hot spare”
systems;
Performing site
walk-throughs of all current sites to be relocated;
Reviewing all
blueprints and schematics for the new site; and
Designing project
status reporting formats.
The desired outcome
of the assessment phase is an accurate profile of the objectives, success
criteria, expectations, and skills required to deliver this project successfully.
The deliverables
from this phase include the following:
A Preliminary
Project Objectives statement,
A Project Success
Criteria document,
A Roles and Responsibilities
document,
A Project Status
Reporting procedure, and
An assigned project
team from CapState and Superior Systems.
These documents will
be presented for review to the CapState project sponsors. Upon acceptance,
they will form the basis of the agreement between CapState and Superior
Systems to collaborate on this project.
Current
State Discovery Phase
In order to
assure a complete understanding of the devices, systems, and applications
affected by this relocation project, Superior Systems will perform a discovery
process that will include the following activities:
Review of the
asset management database to increase our familiarity with the asset
base to be relocated;
Review of any
existing system documentation, such as network diagrams, domain structures,
addressing schemes, and cabling diagrams;
Review of any
network baselines or traffic statistics, such as those generated by
a network audit or network management station;
Review of any
business process work flow documents, such as flow charts or operating
procedures manuals;
Observation of
existing data centers;
Review of any
data warehouse or database schema documents;
Review of backup
and contingency plans;
Creation of a
user survey form, to collect data regarding CapState associates’ use
of technology and expectations for relocation;
The scheduling
of facilitated work sessions with IT staff and with user departments,
to discover special needs and requirements for the relocation. (This
will be especially important with the R&D and Production Departments,
to ensure that all special requirements are documented and addressed.)
The purpose of this
discovery phase is to prepare an accurate “as-is” model of the enterprise
and to enable the project team to create a detailed project plan, budget,
and schedule for the relocation project. By developing a complete understanding
of the technology, application, and business needs of the R&D and
Production Departments, as well as all functional areas affected by the
move, we ensure that each CapState department receives the specific handling
and attention required to assure uninterrupted system access.
The deliverables
from the discovery phase include the following:
A technology
architecture document describing our findings regarding the current
technical infrastructure. This may include any diagrams, network maps,
or other material discovered or developed in the effort to document
the current systems.
A work flow diagram,
documenting the interactions of major systems and procedures.
A verified asset
inventory, or, if asset verification is not possible, we will submit
a plan for asset discovery.
A data storage
map, to ensure that all data that are required for uninterrupted processing
are available after the move.
These detailed
“as-is” documents will form the basis for the project plans to follow.
Project Design Phase
Based
on the information discovered in the assessment and discovery phases,
the CapState-Superior Systems Relocation Project Team will collaborate
to create a detailed project plan. This plan will define the specific
tasks associated with this project, the resources assigned to those tasks,
the sequence of events and schedule of deliverables, as well as any risks
or open issues for further review. This plan will present to the CapState
project sponsors the team’s estimates of time and expenses required to
deliver the relocation according to expectations set out in the previous
phases.
The deliverables
from the Project Design Phase would be as follows:
A Scope of Work
Document that would contain the final agreements regarding objectives,
success criteria, priorities, and deliverables;
A detailed project
plan, including tasks, task sequence, assigned resources, estimated
task durations, and a Gantt chart;
A project schedule
including estimated start and finish dates for each task;
A materials list
enumerating any hardware or software products, tools, or other materials
required to deliver this project;
A project estimate,
including estimates for services, materials, and expenses;
A risk management
plan, including backup and contingency plans to ensure that all systems
have data backups and that essential equipment has spare parts or
hot spares;
A change control
mechanism for managing changes or impacts to the project;
A special plan
for the relocation of the R&D Department;
A plan for special
handling of the Production Department;
A support plan
for providing after-move support to CapState associates; and
A communication
plan to ensure appropriate participation among all the entities involved.
Project Implementation Phase
During
the implementation phase, Superior Systems and CapState will work together
to execute the plans designed during the previous phase. We will manage
and control the resources to ensure that budget and schedule expectations
set forth earlier were met and will deal with any open issues or scope
changes that arise. We will apply quality control procedures to ensure
that all deliverables and activities meet our expectations and standards.
Deliverables of the
implementation phase include:
Status reports based on the reporting
process laid out earlier,
Change control reports,
Periodic budget and schedule updates,
and
Open issues reports.
Project
Review and Maintenance Phase
At
the completion of the relocation, we will perform a structured review
process with CapState project sponsors to ensure that all open items were
addressed, that the project delivered the results expected, and that CapState
was properly prepared to resume system operations in the new facility.
As is our standard process with all engagements, we will request that
CapState project sponsors fill out a project review and acceptance form,
to document acceptance of project completion and to record any issues
or comments regarding our performance.
The
maintenance activities include any after-move support that we have agreed
on, as well as any warranty work or other additional activities that CapState
requests us to undertake.
PROFESSIONAL FEES
Superior
Systems estimates that the consulting budget for the assessment and discovery
phases of this effort, as described above, would be $ 22,500.00. This
estimate is based on our rate of $150.00 per hour for System Consultants
and Project Managers. Professional fees are billed monthly based upon
actual hours expended in your behalf.
This
estimate is presented for budgeting purposes only, and should not be construed
as a fixed bid or “not-to-exceed” price. CapState Chemicals will be
billed for actual effort expended at the professional rate defined above.
This estimate of professional fees is based on the scope and assumptions
identified herein. Changes in scope or variances in assumptions can impact
engagements either negatively or positively. Should any changes or variances
occur that may affect the outcome of this engagement, Superior Systems
will notify the designated CapState Chemicals Project Sponsor within seventy-two
hours.
Please
note that the fees estimated in this section apply to the assessment and
discovery phases only. They will result in the delivery of the documents
as described under “Deliverables” for those phases. The planning, implementation,
and review phases outlined in this document are not included in this estimate,
and will be separately proposed, priced, and delivered.
ASSUMPTIONS
The following is
a list of assumptions made during the development of this proposal and
its related work plan.
Client Participation. CapState Chemicals will appoint a Project
Sponsor to oversee the direction of the project. The appointed Project
Sponsor will have decision-making authority over all aspects of the project.
The
success of this project is dependent on the participation of CapState
Chemical’s employees. CapState will provide access to required personnel
to perform assigned tasks, review documents, and approve deliverables
in a timely manner in order to avoid negative impact on the project schedule.
CapState
Chemicals will review interim and final deliverables and report acceptance
or discrepancy within forty-eight hours of the submission of deliverables.
Other
Agreements
Guaranteed Satisfaction. The guarantee of satisfaction alluded
to in this document is subject to certain restrictions and guidelines.
These restrictions are documented in a separate document entitled “The
Superior Systems Customer Satisfaction Guarantee,” which will be presented
as an addendum in the event this proposal is accepted and our services
are contracted for this project. Superior Systems will devote its best
efforts to the engagement defined in this proposal. In no event shall
Superior Systems be liable for indirect, special, or consequential damages
arising from its service.
Expiration. The terms of this proposal expire in
ninety days from the date of receipt and are subject to renegotiation
at that time, unless a formal extension is provided by Superior Systems.
Quality Management. All engagements performed by Superior
Systems are subject to quality assurance reviews to assure they are being
performed to the highest standards. During the course of this engagement,
Superior Systems’ quality personnel will be calling on key CapState Chemicals
personnel as part of this process.
Post-Engagement Review.
The success of CapState Chemicals in this initiative is our prime interest.
Therefore, as part of this process, Superior Systems will be conducting
a Post-Engagement Review within ninety days after the completion of the
engagement. By accepting this proposal the client agrees to participate
in a project review session.
Proprietary Information.
All materials, ideas, concepts, knowledge, and techniques presented to
CapState Chemicals during the performance of this engagement by Superior
Systems shall belong to Superior Systems. Deliverables produced remain
the property of Superior Systems until all invoices for services provided
are paid in full, at which time ownership of the deliverables produced
will transfer to CapState Chemicals.
(Note
to readers: References, financial data, and other information requested
in the CapState RFP are not included in this sample proposal.)
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