Solid Program, Though Not Entirely Without Flaw
February 22, 2014

Solid Program, Though Not Entirely Without Flaw

Megan Jennings | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

10.1

Overall Satisfaction

Qvidian is mainly used by our marketing team, although our legal/compliance team has touched upon it too. The purpose of purchasing Qvidian was from both an efficiency and a legality standpoint; to 1) streamline our RFI process, and 2) to have a consolidated system to house standard, legally-approved responses to commonly asked questions. The latter was particularly important, as it helps us ensure we are being consistent in the way we respond to questions by drawing upon the Qvidian Library, which can be reviewed and updated periodically by our legal team.

Pros

  • I confess we do not yet use Qvidian to its full potential, but one thing I really love about the system is our ease of access to our SalesEdge Rep, who has always been more than available to train our staff, address our questions, jump onto a call or webinar to train us or help solve our problems, or show us work-arounds for issues we are having. Every system has it's pros and cons; service is really what matters the most, in my opinion.
  • The Qvidian plug-in in Word has never failed me. I really do like the feature they created to apply brand-standard styles (via the use of Templates) into the process of uploading responses into the library. When exporting those responses and using them in RFIs, it saves a lot of time in having to go through the document and constantly re-format each response.

Cons

  • Perhaps it is because I don't spend time EVERY day in the system, but Qvidian maybe isn't the most user-friendly program I have had experience with. There are a lot of technical components, a lot of steps and things you have to be aware of and careful about when using the system, and it can get pretty confusing for those of us who are not program savvy. There are instances when programs need to be opened or closed or whatnot before Qvidian features can be used, for example. which can make the system frustrating to those of us who don't really have a lot of time and prefer a "plug and play" program. Truth be told, this is why I have never used Qvidian to import an RFI document and export our answers directly into it (which I guess is about half the functionality of the system). Instead, I search my library and copy/paste answers into my RFI documents. I understand that if I were to spend more time orienting myself with the program, this "confusion" would be mitigated. However, I don't often have the time to.
  • I'm not particularly fond of the User's Manual. When I am trying to do something in the system, I feel like I need to reference various, often times unrelated chapters in the manual to retrieve the help I need, and sometimes even that doesn't work. I've come to rely solely on reaching out to our rep whenever I have a problem -- which works great for me! But maybe not so much for her ;)
  • One little thing that reeeeally annoys me about the program (and this might not be Qvidian's fault, I don't know!) is that I always have to be in "Compatibility Mode" in my browser in order to use the system. I don't know, but I think it's because Qvidian is not yet compatible with various web browsers or such? I remember I spent about 50% of my initial in-house Qvidian training just trying to find a browser that worked and supported Qvidian, and even then I had heinous issues with the system logging me out. I haven't had problems with that ever since (FireFox seems to work just fine) but I still occasionally have compatibility issues.
  • The positive impact has been to know we have a system that can house legally-approved responses to questionnaires. The good about this is that if we have a simple RFI that does not require a lot of response customization, we can draw upon previously-approved responses and create output MUCH quicker, without the need of laborious and time-consuming legal reviews of RFIs or DDQs we produce for prospective clients. Quicker, easier output with less internal review = efficient RFI process and quicker turnaround time to respond to our client/prospective client base.
  • The negative impact has only been the time it takes to orient oneself with the program, and REMAIN oriented. As we do not do RFIs on a daily basis, it is easy for us to become rusty, or to take short-cuts because we do not have time to re-train on the program. Those shortcuts and workarounds tend to cause us not to use the program to its full potential and lead to counter-productivity in some cases.
N/A. As mentioned before, I was not included in the selection process so I cannot speak to this.
It works for us. We are in the process of re-training and learning to use the system appropriately. We will not be getting rid of Qvidian any time soon. However, we will always be open to hearing about new systems, and staying abreast of new technology -- as every company should be.
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?

Product Usage

2 - Myself - as the individual responsible for managing our RFI and DDQ response process, and for managing our books and records of documents produced and distributed externally. Our General Counsel and CCO also uses the system on a peripheral basis, to review the library, make sure responses are current, and reference the library in her review of new RFI / DDQ responses we draft to ensure we are remaining consistent and that our library contains only the most updated information available.
1 - I'm not sure if I am understanding this question appropriately, but from an in-house perspective, I am pretty much the sole "Master User" of the program. I maintain the Administrator function in the program, and maintain user access and functions throughout our company as those functions are needed.

I think an ideal candidate for Qvidian first and foremost would come from a company that would be using the program on a routine, preferably daily basis. The user would ideally have moderate to moderate/advanced systems experience, and be able to navigate through various steps, check-boxes, and program compatibility issues. The user would also need to be more familiar with PC platforms than Mac platforms. Qvidian doesn't have a new-age feel like other programs do.
  • Most important use: To store legally-approved responses to previous RFIs/DDQs, which can be drawn upon to complete future RFIs/DDQs
  • Second important use: To streamline our RFI process and make it easier to complete RFIs/DDQs without having to dig through hundreds of documents to see how we responded to similar questions in the past.
  • N/A - TBD?
  • If we can find the time to become fully trained in the program (assuming we find it a warranted use of our time), we would like to use the system to it's full potential - ie, uploading RFIs and exporting answers directly into the document instead of copy/pasting questions here and there.

Comments

More Reviews of Qvidian RFP & Proposal Automation

  1. Home
  2. Proposal Software
  3. Qvidian RFP & Proposal Automation Reviews
  4. User Review of Qvidian RFP & Proposal Automation