On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:48:19 +0100, Clive Menzies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> On (11/09/03 17:58), Arnt Karlsen wrote: > > On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:18:51 +0100, > > Clive Menzies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > > > On (11/09/03 08:09), Oliver Elphick wrote: > > > > On Thu, 2003-09-11 at 00:36, Clive Menzies wrote: > > > > [ re Network Rail tender request ] > > > > > I'm London (UK) based and have a business background. I lack > > > > > the technical skills and knowledge to approach this but I'd be > > > > > happy to contribute. > > > > > > > > I'm an accountant by training, but technical by long-settled > > > > choice. > > > > > > > > Making a tender is very much a business and marketing exercise. > > > > We would need to convince the customer not only of the technical > > > > merits of our proposal but also that we have an organisation > > > > capable both of doing the job and of providing long-term > > > > support. We would first have to build such an organisation. > > > > > > > > If that can be done, I would like to be involved. > > > > > > > Well there seems to be some interest in pursuing this and I would > > > suggest that before going much further, we need to put together a > > > team, assigning roles and responsibilities to research the bid. > > > > > > I have some experience of successful pitches for consultancy > > > contracts but a task of this size and complexity is beyond what > > > I've done in the past. > > > > > > Please could we have suggestions as to what the roles are/or > > > should be. Then I would suggest a process as follows: > > > > > > Research the tender - what does Network Rail want? (scope and > > > scale) Assess the competition > > > Assess our ability to build a credible team > > > Assign roles and responsibilities > > > Collaborate on the Response to Tender > > > > > > Although the debian-user community has all the requisite skills to > > > do this, it will also require people on the ground, in the UK, to > > > pull this off. I've no idea of the number of people necessary to > > > convince Network Rail that there is a team with a comprehensive > > > skill set with cover and fall-back. If we are up against the > > > likes of EDS, IBM, HP, Sun or one of the big consultancies, you > > > can reckon that they will put a lot of man-power to this. > > > > .BR will wanna have several such vendors around to pre-qualify > > for the job, and we wanna reseach the tender first. ;-) > > > > > I've had a couple of responses off-list, one individual and one on > > > behalf of a company. I believe that this needs to be a community > > > effort to succeed. It is the unique nature of the Debian > > > community which may just be the USP (differentiator) that could > > > win this. I wouldn't exclude a consortium with a corporate but we > > > do need the willing involvement of some of the prime movers in the > > > Debian community if we are to put together a credible bid. > > > > .note that our bid does not have to exclude the other vendors. > I agree and to demonstrate credibility, it may be essential > > > > > > It is therefore most constructive if people express their interest > > > on the debian-user list. > > > > .agreed, but I do not wanna use this list to discuss the > > details of the tender docs. ;-) > > > Agreed again but as yet there seem to only six people interested on > list and two off. Is this enough? Or more importantly do we have > sufficient skills accumulated? Perhaps a brief summary of each > person's experience and particular interest posted on a web page with > a brief synopsis of what we are trying to achieve may encourage others > to come forward? ..maybe, maybe, maybe, yes, and we need to discuss this. > Do you want to develop this further off-list? ..I just asked Shri Shrikumar to set up a mailing list for this purpose, pointing to your message here, so moving this discussion to his new list is the appropriate thing to do. -- ..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt... ;-) ...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry... Scenarios always come in sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
