Transforming Proposal Management with a Centralized Collaboration Platform

Case Study

Transforming Proposal
Management with a Centralized
Collaboration Platform

The Customer

And Their Challenge

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is one of the largest behavioral and social science research organizations in the world. Dedicated to using the best scientific approaches to enhance everyday life, AIR manages a wide range of research projects, requiring a highly efficient and organized proposal management process. Given the critical role that proposals play in securing funding and advancing research initiatives, AIR needed a system that would streamline the creation, management, and storage of proposal documents.

However, AIR’s existing proposal management process was fragmented and inefficient.

Proposal materials were scattered across individual hard drives with no version control, making it difficult to locate accurate and up-to-date information. Collaboration among teams was minimal, as employees relied on email to share documents, leading to duplicated efforts and inconsistent messaging. Without a centralized system, proposal generation was time-consuming, prone to errors, and lacked the necessary tracking capabilities to monitor past performance and key metrics. To overcome these challenges, AIR sought a robust, automated solution that would enable seamless collaboration, document management, and process efficiency.

The Solution

Enterprise Proposal Management System

To address these challenges, i3solutions developed and implemented the Enterprise Proposal Management System, a powerful, automated platform tailored to AIR’s specific proposal management needs. This system introduced a Proposal Resources Library, a centralized repository where users can store, search, and retrieve past proposals and related materials. By leveraging this centralized archive, AIR is able to reuse high-quality content, ensuring consistency while reducing the time required to create new proposals. Over time, this library has evolved into a valuable knowledge base, tracking proposal performance, win/loss data, and key business insights.

Another key feature of the solution is the Collaborative Workspace, designed to facilitate teamwork and eliminate redundant efforts. This virtual workspace allows team members to assign tasks, schedule meetings, and communicate in a secure, shared environment. The Collaborative Workspace not only improves efficiency but also fosters a culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing across AIR. By integrating industry best practices with an intuitive, user-friendly interface, i3solutions transformed AIR’s proposal management process into a streamlined, strategic, and highly effective operation.

Technologies

Used in the Solution

SharePoint provides a centralized document management and collaboration platform, enabling easy access to proposal resources.

SQL Server serves as the database for storing proposal information, allowing for fast searches and data retrieval.

InfoPath enabled the creation of structured electronic forms for capturing and managing proposal-related data.

.NET Framework powers the back-end logic, enabling workflow automation, task assignments, and document tracking.

Measurable Benefits
and Business Impact

By implementing the Enterprise Proposal Management System, AIR transformed its proposal operations into a highly efficient, data-driven process that enables collaboration, reduces manual effort, and positions the organization for continued success.

Increased Efficiency in Proposal
Generation

The new system significantly reduces the time required to create proposals by providing easy access to past proposals and standardized content.

Enhanced Team
Collaboration

The Collaborative Workspace improves communication, allowing teams to work together seamlessly without relying on inefficient email exchanges.

Improved Accuracy and
Consistency

Reusing previous high-quality content ensures consistency in proposal messaging while reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.

Expanded Visibility
and Tracking

AIR gained real-time insights into proposal activity, including value, start and end dates, and win/loss tracking, helping to refine strategies and improve future proposals.

Centralized Knowledge
Management

The Proposal Resources Library consolidates all proposal materials into a single, searchable repository, eliminating document fragmentation and version control issues.

Customer Says

The Enterprise Proposal Management Suite provided us a flexible platform to build our dedicated Proposal Resource Center that supports the proposal management needs of our entire company. The system allows us to use our specific proposal management best practices and adopt them into the system. [It] helps one program to know what others are doing and promotes collaboration across the firm.

- Terri Horn, Director of the Proposal Resource Center at AIR