Using Microsoft Project and Deltek Cobra to Support the Proposal Process

Developing a proposal for a US Government Agency can be a very dynamic process.  The proposal process tends to get chaotic and fast paced near submittal time.  This is especially true when your client is pressing for multiple revisions to get to your Best and Final offer.  

Several things can go awry during the proposal process.  Scope and Costs can become detached, by this I mean Scope is added and some or all of the elements of cost for that scope can be overlooked.  This holds true for Risks tied to Scope as well.

Using MS Project and Deltek Cobra to build the WBS, Schedule and integrating costs allows our clients to quickly react to changes.  Deliverables and their associated Schedules and Costs stay aligned during this iterative process.  

Moving from Proposal to Project execution

Another common issue is the disconnect between the Proposal Schedule and the Project execution schedule.  This will often cause a great deal of re-work, as opposed to refinement post award.  Refinement is fine and it should be expected, but re-work is an issue.  This can be costly to you and your client. It can also cause problems for the Integrated Baseline Review

Pinnacle has recently used Microsoft Project 2010 and Deltek Cobra 5.1 during the proposal process for a number of our clients. We have worked on a number of BARDA and NIH proposals and these seem to have a great deal of volatility in scope until the very end of negotiation.

Our clients have found that using the same tools to schedule and estimate a project during the proposal process makes the transition to an operational schedule more:

• Efficient
• Complete
• Stable
• and require less variance reporting

Pinnacle has seen that integrating a Scheduling Engine (MS Project and MS Project Server 2010) and a Cost Engine (Deltek Cobra) during the proposal cycle supports good planning practices and provides a much better starting point for performing and controlling projects.  It starts the EVM process earlier in the Project Lifecycle.

In addition to helping build solid cost and schedule integration, using this approach allows the program team to transition quickly into an EVM orientation.  If the project execution team is different from the proposal team then this approach can be a lifesaver.  Project information and assumptions are preserved to be passed on to the project team.

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