TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Writing Proposals From:"Michael West" <mike -dot- west -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:34:17 +1000
"Meena S" <meena -at- thinkbn -dot- com> wrote in message news:118921 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
>
>
> Hey everyone,
>
> One of my colleagues just asked me how to write a Technical Proposal. To
be
> frank, I am stumped- even though I am a Technical Writer, I have not come
> across any good technical proposals. A search on the Net did not yield
> anything really good.
>
> Can I get any suggestions or thumbrules on what a good Tehcnical Proposal
> should contain? POinters to other resources will also be very helpful
>
> Thanks- MEENAKSHI
>
> ---------------------
> Technical Writer
> Think Business Networks
>
"Technical proposal" addressed to whom? Proposing what?
It would be easier to help you if you'd specify the purpose and
audience. There are important differences between unsolicited
proposals and those submitted in response to RFPs.
Technical proposals are not significantly different in general
structure from other business proposals, and there are plenty
of books on proposal writing.
A good proposal presents a carefully structured plan for
bringing about a proposed solution. Regardless of how
technical the details are, the arguments must be persuasive.
logically organized, and they must demonstrate that the
proposer has a detailed and comprehensive understanding of
the problem as well as the skill to solve it.
Here is a typical structure. However, if you have been
given an RFP, follow it carefully.
Introduction
Establish the need for your solution, and summarize the
benefits and gains to be derived from the proposed solution.
Technical section
What will be done, and how, and when.
Demonstrate in detail all benefits to be derived. Consider
including a non-technical summary for managers who
don't need the technical details, but do need to be
convinced that you've covered all the important points.
Management section
Convince your audience that you are the right
person/company for the job. (Resumes and case
histories in support should be in appendixes,
but briefly mentioned here.)
Budget
Show all costs.
Summary
Briefly restate the problem to be solved and the
benefits to result from the solution.
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
