Qvidian RFP & Proposal Automation

We are very happy with the software and recommend it internally to other teams. I have personally recommended it to other people in the industry looking for RFP and Proposal management software.

This software is very well-suited to companies who find themselves expanding their footprint, the number of their Sales representatives, their territories, and/or their products and services and need to maximize their ability to both keep up with those demands whilst streamlining their proposal resources.

Further, this is a very powerful tool with a lot of features and functionality including CRM plug-in and reporting. Thus, it may be less appropriate for a very small organization with only one product and that is also blessed with lengthy cradle-to-grave turnaround windows.

In addition, to better the odds for success an investment in upfront personnel training and either a dedicated periodic window of time and/or dedicated person(s) for content upkeep are prudent.

Finally, working with the vendor is a delight as they make every effort to maintain and deliver a product that both meets your needs and on which you can rely.

I think its great tool to use if you need feed back from multiple folks to input into one proposal

I think this took works really well for most RFPs that people will respond to. If the RFPs you receive are not able to be produced with boilerplate answers, and are answered differently each time, it might not be the tool for you. From my experience in RFPs, I can't say I've seen many of those, though.

This tool can be used in any size company. The questions you should ask are:
1. How easy will this system be to implement?
2. What training is offered?
3. How does this tool compare with other proposal automation software?
4. What is the initial cost?
5. What is the yearly maintenance fee?
6. Is my company supportive on using cloud technology?
7. How long will this take to implement?
8. Will I need a full-time person to maintain the tool?
9. Is there a local company who uses this that I can visit?
10. Is there a user’s group?
11. How easy is the software to update and how often is it updated?
12. How do users communicate software update recommendations?
13. How does the support work/help desk work?

For each product that you are considering, ask for a demo on how to search for and maintain your files. Your initial file load and defining of the document architecture is only the beginning. You also need to easily find these files when you need them, and then update them - that will be the majority of your usage.

This system is perfect for building multiple word documents (RFPs, RFIs, proactive proposals, RFP Q&A templates, etc.), as well as functioning as a library of responses. Additionally, it's great for building slide decks. The auto-evaluate data feature is a great tool - as the architect, I can enter set values for specific data, so that any piece (Word and/or PowerPoint) that has that merge code populates with the appropriate value. All users have up-to-date information. This creates consistent information to be used across teams and reduces the time the user would otherwise need to find the current data.

I think its a great tool, but is very complex so it would depend on what kind of work the colleague did and how big of a group would be using it. We don't use it outside of our own department so I can't speak to that, but if we expand our team to Europe and Asia, we will appreciate the scope of Qvidian even more.

Overall, Qvidian is a great piece of software for those who have need for a robust knowledge database application. Its organization and ability to search for records is fantastic, especially if you have a large amount of information that is commonly used. It also has the ability to build finished RFP documents, though my department doesn't utilize this feature, as it doesn't lend itself well to our already established processes. I know that many other users praise that ability, though. When selecting a product such as Qvidian, you should take a look at the type of information that you will be handling, both in quantity and content. If you only have a couple hundred records, or if your records are mostly number-based, then it might not be worth the investment. However, if you're constantly responding to RFPs with several hundred or thousands of answers, and your responses are often lengthy narratives, then Qvidian will definitely be useful. Like any software, there are areas where Qvidian struggles, but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives compared to other software I've used.

The tool is well suited for situations where qualitative content needs to be centralized and updated regularly. There could even be opportunities for centralizing quantitative content. When researching similar tools, one should inquire about typical database logic and organization, which Qvidian does well. Technical compatibility and support is also an important consideration.

Overall I believe Qvidian offers one of the best proposal automation tools available and offers companies the greatest flexibility to build sales documents for both commercial and government clients. Additionally, its ability to control content access by user and content record simplifies information management.

For RFPs, it's useful. However, I've found the auto-build feature is not as useful as I thought it was going to be. Content management is extremely laborious thorugh Qvidian - as mentioned, each records needs to be downloaded to be edited. Search functionality is hit or miss; assigning metadata to each recordi is also laborious and requires continual manintenance in itself. Just be sure to have a backup plan when Qvidian goes down or is in maintenance which happens more than you'd like to see from a SaaS, especially if you're on deadline.

Qvidian is web-based, and sometimes is down for maintenance (although this is usually overnight and/or on weekends). However, if you need a system that is available 24-7, this may not be it.

I wasn't involved in the selection process, but I think the biggest question is ease of use and intuitiveness. To use it to the full extent of it's features, you really need full buy-in across the organization. I would think that would be the biggest obstacle.

Companies that have a Proposal department should invest in the Qvidian tool. It houses all of your content and it user friendly in terms of editing content and managing content folders. The Proposal Automation is an excellent tool to use for creating on the fly cover letters, Executive Summaries, and even Powerpoint presentations.

First of all, I feel obligated to preface this review by stating that I was not included in the research process leading up to us purchasing Qvidian, and have no familiarity with other programs out on the market. Thus, it is hard for me to say accurately whether I would truly recommend this product to anyone, as I have no experience with other RFI systems and their inherent pros and cons. With that said, I would say the library feature of Q is awesome. No more searching through millions of RFIs we have done in the past to try to find responses for current RFIs we are working on! The Advanced Search feature lets me pull up all the answers we have uploaded into the system and select with ease the one that best suits the current RFI we are completing. So I would say this program is very well-suited for someone looking to collect all the responses they have generated into one place, and which has a comprehensive search function to easily locate information. If a company is looking for a user-friendly system that is "Plug and Play" and requires minimal complex training (and retraining), I would hesitate a little in immediately recommending Qvidian. I personally would prefer a system that has an interface which requires fewer steps, is compatible with all web browsers, and generally has a more intuitive orientation for those of us who are strapped for time and maybe looking for something a little easier (and quicker) to use.

If I were to go research other programs to see what else is available, my key questions would be:
1) Is there a user-friendly library into which responses of previous RFIs can be neatly organized and housed? And can those Q&As be easily searched/accessed?
2) Is there a user-friendly and EASY (translation: not requiring lots of training and moderately sophisticated technical literacy) way to upload Q&As into the library?
3) Is there a user-friendly, and perhaps technologically advanced (so as to make it more convenient for the user) way of reviewing uploaded Q&As, possibly with a feature that sets a "timer" to indicate a response is due for review and updating?
4) How complicated is the process of uploading an RFI or due diligence questionnaire and then using the system to locate responses and export them into the RFI template?
5) Is the program compatible with all web browsers? Is the look and feel of it current, and easy for laymen to access the features they need and use them appropriately with basic introduction and training?

How often do they update their software to work with newer versions of Word and IE.

I have a created a proposal where the responses needed to very specific to scenarios rather than just our general information. That being said, very little information was pulled from the 'Q'. That is expected from time to time. On the other hand, there has been very small proposals where the client just wanted our company history, references, and safety policy and procedures and every bit of that information was pulled from the 'Q' and submitted virtually the same day!

Do you have outdated content that never seems to be revised for proposal use?
Who will be using the Qvidian software?
Do you have subject matter experts that would like to be able to have some functionality to search for content in the library?
What are the main issues with your proposal process today?

Qvidian is well-suited for smaller proposals with concise and basic questions and answers. It is not suited for large-scale proposals with in-depth questions and extensive answers, especially those that contain graphs or images. Not suited for storing multiple large proposals at one time. When Qvidian is pushed to its limits, documents get corrupted and information is lost easily.

As much as I like Qvidian, I feel there are less expensive options in the field for our needs. Because we only use this product as a repository, there are many good features of this product that we do not need or use. Other companies may find this a better product if they require assistance creating many proactive or latent proposals.