How to Manage Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Vendor Proposal Process with Hosted SharePoint Template

Managing volumes of RFPs can be tough. The process of submitting request for proposals and managing responses is a very important step in the procurement process as it enables an organization in making “preferred supplier” decisions. If handled inappropriately, it can take up a lot of time and effort. Setting up a system to manage this process helps in making sound business decisions that would best suit your organization’s requirements. Organizations need an application that presents RFP information in an orderly manner and helps organize the process of creating your own RFPs and managing proposals received from vendors. Such a system should make available all information specific to a proposal at one central location. Assigning ownership and tracking of tasks pertaining to a proposal should be made easier.

The Request for Proposal SharePoint application template helps team members in creating RFPs and managing proposals submitted by vendors. You can create and upload your RFP documents on the site under the user specific “My RFPs” location where the RFP title, description, owner, due date and status are specified. This template allows you to upload proposals submitted by vendors. It includes functionality to track the status of proposals. Users can specify details such as vendor information, date of submission, and status - whether the proposal is under review, accepted or rejected. Thus, proposals can be organized according to vendors or RFPs. Vendors can be notified about the status of proposals. This template enables you to upload a Statement of Work after a proposal is accepted. The statement of work is helpful in tracking details, milestones and deadlines. Team members can also host discussions on this site pertaining to specific proposals.

Windows SharePoint Services site hosting give you better control over your organization’s data, which otherwise involves high costs and complexity. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is often available with hosted application templates free with hosted SharePoint plans with WSS 3.0. These SharePoint hosting templates are highly scalable, flexible and easy to use. These can be deployed quickly and easily across organizations of different sizes. These templates provide advanced administrative control at minimal costs. They facilitate secure data storage and collaboration. The basic SharePoint hosting pricing plans start at $8.95 per month with access for unlimited users from hosted Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange vendors and one can also upgrade to a low cost dedicated SharePoint server with hyper-v hosting. Also, available additionally are free SharePoint hosting WSS 3.0 templates developed by Microsoft. The SharePoint hosting templates are available instantly after signing up for a basic SharePoint hosting plan.

When it comes to bicycles, there’s high- tech, and then there’s Orbea. With standard features like direct cable routing, carbon gold frame and one piece carbon-fiber monocoque stops, Orbea bicycles are some of the best you can get. Just ask Craig Alexander, the 2009 Iron Man champion.

The question we want to answer today, however, is how their SharePoint Driven web site stacks up. Does it perform well? Is the site pleasing to the senses? Is it easy to find the information I’m looking for? How does this site utilize the Dynamic capabilities of SharePoint? If I were a high- toned, bicycling uber- athlete, would I leave the site with all the info I needed and a desire to buy an Orbea? We shall see.

On first loading up the Orbea site, we are greeted with a splash screen with language options. Since this is an international site, this is expected and well done. Although there is ad material to hype the product, the only option on the splash page is for language choice.

After choosing English, we navigate to the main page, where we are greeted by a black and white color scheme that is heavily supported by photos. As a mater of fact, there are no expanses of color; rather what would have solid colors has photos instead, such as the background. Where you would expect a solid color or a gradient, there is an entire bicycle/ road photo.

Most of the home page is taken up by a flash intro, followed by an interactive presentation of an Alma, one of the bicycles built by Orbea. This is a reasonably interesting, easy to navigate, and unique way to present a product. After spending a few minutes checking it out, I know a lot more about the technology that goes into one of these two-wheeled wonders.

As with most sites, they do use drop down menus, and if you have read any of my earlier reviews, you probably know that it is a pet peeve of mine. It’s a usability thing. However, I do have to point out that they took a newer approach to this as well.

When you roll over the main links, as the menu drops down, the entire page fades to a dark background, and this does make it easier to concentrate on finding the link I’m looking for. I would have to say that although it does not follow best practice rules, it is an improvement over regular drop down menus.

After spending a bit more time perusing the site, I am comfortable giving it 3.5 out of five possible stars. It seems to be a very well put together site, everything in its place, and information where you would expect to find it. The biggest downfall is that there can be some difficulty navigating the drop down menu at times.

That’s all we have for this installment of SharePoint Site Hi- light. One can also upgrade to a low cost dedicated SharePoint server with hyper-v hosting. Check back often for more SharePoint info and news, along with new gadgets, iPhone Apps and other interesting tech topics.

It seems just yesterday I was reporting on the new hardcoded bottom that was shipping with the new iPhone 3GS that was reported to be ‘unhackable’ or ‘jailbreak-proof’. Not to be drawn in, I reported that I expected to see a hack before to long, knowing that the iPhone Dev Team, a group of iPhone hackers, was on the case.

True to form, Eric McDonald, a member of the Dev Team, told Wired, “It’s not going to be impossible to jailbreak even if the exploit we used is gone.” He went on to explain that the latest batch of iPhone 3GS units can still be jailbroken using current tools. The exploit used to help jailbreak older iPhones, “24kpwn”, only makes it easier to boot the hacked devices.

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Welcome to another installment of “SharePoint Site Hi- light”, our ongoing blog series that focuses on web sites driven by SharePoint. Our aim is to show you who is using SharePoint and for what, and how good a job they are doing. We want to know if they are built right, and if they take advantage of SharePoint’s capabilities.

Today’s focus is on Australia’s number one energy provider and the only Australian producer of energy that has a full suite of renewable energy generation. Their lineup includes solar electric and solar hot water, with discount incentives to go “green”. AGL Energy provides energy solutions to over six million Australian residents.

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Hosted SharePoint App Helps to Get Organized When You Open or Renovate a Store

Are you in a situation where you are opening or renovating a store and you are finding it difficult to manage different activities for each of these projects?  Opening a new store at a new location requires diligent planning.  Remodeling an existing store also involves considerable time and effort.  Managing budgets allocated for the opening of each store is a very challenging and critical aspect which needs to be constantly monitored.  On the other hand, tracking project status and addressing overdue tasks and issues can be painstaking.  Various activities involved in new store opening such as checking supplier categories, finding the relevant documents, and assigning responsibilities to team members take up lot of time.  read more…

A short time after Apple launched their App Store, reports of odd and unexplained spikes in new user numbers started flowing in. Developers started getting angry because the number of downloads reported by iTunes had to be wrong; new user stats were far beyond what iTunes was logging.

The unfortunate became clear when it was realized that the reporting wasn’t wrong, but was a direct result of app piracy. As Apps were released, pirates hacked the software to make it available for use with jailbroken iPhones. As soon as the pirated versions of these apps become available, there is a massive spike in new user numbers.

Statistics reported by Pinch Media show that the typical lifecycle of a pirated app covers about 5 weeks of activity, starting with a massive spike and 2-3 weeks of sustained high activity, eventually trailing off to several weeks of much lower but still significant piracy.

This piracy is made possible by groups like iPhone Dev Team (not to be confused with actual Apple engineers), who work on each new release of iPhone OS to enable jailbreaking. Jailbreaking allows iPhone users to install unofficial software and access the core operating system of the iPhone.

Pirates have a new worry when it comes to the 3GS, however. Apple has been hard at work and seems to have released a bit of new factory installed code that so far has stumped those looking to jailbreak the device. Even the latest version of the PwnageTool fails to crack the new code, when it seemingly has no problem with iPhone OS 3.1.2.

While it is doubtful that the new security work done by Apple will last, it has definitely put a roadblock in the way of groups like the iPhone Dev Team, and may slow them down long enough to take the next step in the fight. The problem will only continue to grow, however, as long as the general public looks for the cheap way out.

Marketing Managers Get Help from Hosted SharePoint Template to Track Budget, Activities, Progress and Effectiveness of Integrated Marketing Campaigns

Marketing campaigns leverage your company’s position, helping you to broaden your reach.  Marketing managers are looking out for advanced marketing technology options to yield better results.  They need a system supporting fully integrated marketing campaigns.  These integrated marketing campaigns need to be such that they help in establishing your leadership position in the market and are aimed at generating sales.  As a significant percentage of a company’s budget may be spent on marketing campaigns, it is essential to ensure that the campaign is comprehensive and effective.  Organizations therefore need a system which allows tracking the output of each campaign. read more…

Use Hosted SharePoint Template to Document, Track, Streamline and Manage Manufacturing Processes

Are you looking at ways to streamline and enhance productivity of manufacturing processes? The need to stay ahead of competition amidst the constraint to manage with fewer resources and restricted budgets, has forced organizations to relook at their manufacturing process. Organizations need a software system to constantly track and gain tight control over the product manufacturing process.   read more…

If you’ve watched any television lately, it’s been hard to miss the ads from Verizon Wireless promoting their latest foray into the mobile device market. Interestingly enough, it isn’t enough for Verizon to just advertise their new device, dubbed “Droid”, but they need to slam the iPhone at the same time. The ads directly attack the iPhone by pointing out what it might be missing with an “everything iDon’t, Droid does” campaign. read more…

Thanks for stopping in to check out another installment of “SharePoint Site Hi- light”, a blog series where we examine web sites that are hosted on SharePoint. The main points of our critique are in design and usability, but we also touch on any factors where a company takes advantage of SharePoint’s dynamic nature. read more…