Proposals are technical writing products, while quotes (or estimates) are consulting products.
To obtain a quote or proposal from us, please send us a short description of the project, or telephone us for a meeting.
A quote may be provided on the spot, while a proposal may take a week (minimum), to ensure proper consideration.
Quote Tasks
To complete a quote, we will discuss the requirements with the client, and take some time to make a consideration. Following this period, we produce a non-binding estimate that reflects our most up-to-date understanding of how much effort it would take to create a custom product that would meet our understanding of the requirements, and how much this effort would cost given current labour costs. We may produce several estimates if the cost would depend on decisions that are best left up to the client.
Quote Deliverables
The main deliverable that completes the quotation process is an email which describes informally what we understand is required, and how much we think that should probably cost, and how long it would probably take to get such a product.
Proposal Tasks
To complete a full proposal, we usually perform the following tasks:
- Expand business requirements into technology requirements, a detailed task list, and time estimates for completing your project as currently defined.
- Learn more about your project, and go through a design process that will detect many design decisions early, while the project sponsors are available to participate in the decision making process.
Proposal Deliverables
Proposal deliverables include:
- A sample project plan
- A clearer understanding of costs and timelines
- A list of clearly defined tasks that can be given to software developers such as our own team of programmers and software developers
- Estimates of the amount of effort that should be required to complete each task, as well as an idea of which tasks are risky and which ones are low-risk.
- Descriptions of all of the parts that will be needed to produce the final product
- Diagrams showing the relationships between the various parts
- Flow charts that could be used to document the project
