The assignment of authors to proposal sections may change. Even the requirement itself can change, with a cascading effect on every part of the proposal that is related. A reliable Configuration Management approach means the difference between success and disaster in maintaining control of this complex process.

Configuration changes happen throughout the proposal development process, but the greatest risk is in the later stages of development, as you approach final production. One overlooked file version conflict during final production can ruin a potentially winning proposal. Recently, I observed a group that did not have a good configuration control process preparing a large proposal for a multi-billion-dollar contract. The result was tens of thousands of dollars in wasted author time, because the writers were constantly working on the wrong versions. Also, the submitted proposal failed to contain many of the final draft sections that properly belonged in the document. Partly because of these configuration problems, this company lost the competition.

There are software solutions for file/document management, but lack of software is no excuse for failing to track versions and maintain configuration control. Any company can emulate automated approaches to document and configuration management using completely manual methods.

Likewise, having software does not free you from the burden of diligence. No software approach alone will ensure good configuration management. For example, having a configuration management approach work well requires the voluntary effort of the participants. The proposal personnel have to accept the process and follow it constantly.

One of the easiest and most useful manual techniques for configuration control is to create a file management tree using MS Word directories with the components of the proposal in a vertical line. Let’s assume there are 200 major components in the proposal. Then there is a vertical file structure containing the 200 components for each proposal draft. Assume you use a four-draft process with the drafts being blue, pink, red, and gold. Then your grand file structure contains 4 vertical lines of files with blue being on the far left and gold being on the far right. As each section gets completed, the coordinator moves it from the blue file section to the pink file section and so on.

Whether manual or automated, a configuration management system can be strict and burdensome, or convenient but tolerant of risk. You must decide what balance to strike for your particular proposal. You may also choose to implement different levels of configuration management at different stages of the proposal.

Some elements that your configuration management system should include are the following:

  • Document every change. This is typically handled by keeping hardcopy markups or using software change tracking features. Your must be able to know at any time who made a change and, if necessary, roll it back.
  • Similarly, you should also check to ensure every change was made as requested. Having the requested changes documented helps.
  • Tracking forms documenting what came in when from who and when it was completed.
  • Procedures are necessary to ensure that more than one person cannot make changes to the same document at the same time. This is often the source of version conflicts. Untangling them can be a nightmare. You are far better off preventing them. Check-in/Check-out procedures are often used for this.

These goals are typically achieved with tracking and signoff sheets. These techniques may be low tech and labor intensive, but they can save you from a catastrophe.

One issue that you will have to contend with is this: Widespread use of software enables authors to make their own changes without going through hardcopy markups. While this approach provides a huge improvement in speed and efficiency, it comes at the cost of configuration management. You can end up without an audit trail. You will have to determine where to strike the balance between risk, effort, and convenience.