IT Project Proposals Writing to Win

Whether responding to tender from a potential client or pitching a new IT project to the Board, a well-written proposal can be the difference between success and failure. IT Project Proposals: Writing to Win can help you to create high quality, persuasive proposals that will stand out from the crowd. The author explains how to determine the reader's basis of decision and the writer's unique selling points. It discusses the structuring of documents, the secrets behind persuasive writing, and the basic grammar and punctuation rules that will prevent writers from destroying a good argument through bad presentation. Case studies and numerous examples show how the techniques described can be used in real-life situations. The book also introduces an automated questionnaire allowing any IT proposal to be reviewed and rated. Written for IT managers, consultants and anyone else producing internal or commercial proposals promoting software products or services.

1. Introduction; 2. Establishing the strategy; 3. Choosing the content; 4. Structuring the proposal; 5. Tightening up the text; 6. Obeying the grammar rules; 7. Obeying the punctuation rules; 8. Finishing off; 9. Reviewing the result; 10. Summary; Appendix A. The document standard; Appendix B. References and resources; Appendix C. Case studies.

Paul Coombs is an expert in bidding, costing and proposal-writing for IT projects following twenty-five years of experience with the international systems house Logica CMG and the media organisation Reuters. He has worked on mission-critical developments for EMI, London Underground, IBM, the BBC, British Airways, and a large number of major financial institutions. He has developed winning proposal strategies for large fixed-price projects in industry sectors as diverse as finance, defence, government, media and communications. He currently works as an independent consultant, running courses in estimation, project-writing and the bid process as well as undertaking cost/benefit analyses and proposals for specific projects. He is the author of IT Project Estimation: A Practical Guide to the Costing of Software.