Microsoft Government Contracts Management System (CMS)

Microsoft Government engaged Infostrat to automate its process for preparing and executing contracts for government customers. Infostrat implemented the application using the .NET Platform and development tools. The resulting solution, deployed in March 2002, features an intuitive and attractive user interface, high-performance and scalability, and seamless integration with Windows 2000 security and directory services, Microsoft Office XP, and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server.

Microsoft Government sells software through government contracts and is therefore subject to many unique requirements concerning how it engages in, and manages the revenue from these contracts.

Prior to CMS, all contracts were created manually using Excel and Word. The Contract Administrators would copy and paste sections between the various documents. There was no central repository where all contract information was stored. The process needed improvement in order to allow the contracts group to handle the increasing workload and do a better job at managing contract status.

The process of constructing proposals manually using spreadsheets and documents was cumbersome and prone to errors and inconsistencies. Furthermore, management had difficulty getting a high level view of which contracts were in the pipeline and at what stage they were at.

The Microsoft Government proposal preparation process did not take advantage of the company’s own workflow and collaboration products. Team members manually routed proposals through multiple revisions and approvals with no version tracking or rollback capabilities.

Contract execution also required multiple manual steps. Licensing specialists created contract agreements and other standard documentation by cutting and pasting language from approved proposal agreements into non-version controlled document templates. This error-prone process required 4 to 6 hours of work for each contract or contract amendment.

The Microsoft Government Contract Management System completely automates proposal development, contract execution, and sales tracking for the Microsoft Government Licensing Team.

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