Re: Open-source opportunuity?
On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:48:19 +0100,
Clive Menzies <clive@clivemenzies.co.uk> wrote in message
<[🔎] 20030911194819.GL15381@apollo>:
> On (11/09/03 17:58), Arnt Karlsen wrote:
> > On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:18:51 +0100,
> > Clive Menzies <clive@clivemenzies.co.uk> wrote in message
> > <[🔎] 20030911081851.GS10433@apollo>:
> >
> > > On (11/09/03 08:09), Oliver Elphick wrote:
> > > > On Thu, 2003-09-11 at 00:36, Clive Menzies wrote:
> > > > [ re Network Rail tender request ]
> > > > > I'm London (UK) based and have a business background. I lack
> > > > > the technical skills and knowledge to approach this but I'd be
> > > > > happy to contribute.
> > > >
> > > > I'm an accountant by training, but technical by long-settled
> > > > choice.
> > > >
> > > > Making a tender is very much a business and marketing exercise.
> > > > We would need to convince the customer not only of the technical
> > > > merits of our proposal but also that we have an organisation
> > > > capable both of doing the job and of providing long-term
> > > > support. We would first have to build such an organisation.
> > > >
> > > > If that can be done, I would like to be involved.
> > > >
> > > Well there seems to be some interest in pursuing this and I would
> > > suggest that before going much further, we need to put together a
> > > team, assigning roles and responsibilities to research the bid.
> > >
> > > I have some experience of successful pitches for consultancy
> > > contracts but a task of this size and complexity is beyond what
> > > I've done in the past.
> > >
> > > Please could we have suggestions as to what the roles are/or
> > > should be. Then I would suggest a process as follows:
> > >
> > > Research the tender - what does Network Rail want? (scope and
> > > scale) Assess the competition
> > > Assess our ability to build a credible team
> > > Assign roles and responsibilities
> > > Collaborate on the Response to Tender
> > >
> > > Although the debian-user community has all the requisite skills to
> > > do this, it will also require people on the ground, in the UK, to
> > > pull this off. I've no idea of the number of people necessary to
> > > convince Network Rail that there is a team with a comprehensive
> > > skill set with cover and fall-back. If we are up against the
> > > likes of EDS, IBM, HP, Sun or one of the big consultancies, you
> > > can reckon that they will put a lot of man-power to this.
> >
> > .BR will wanna have several such vendors around to pre-qualify
> > for the job, and we wanna reseach the tender first. ;-)
> >
> > > I've had a couple of responses off-list, one individual and one on
> > > behalf of a company. I believe that this needs to be a community
> > > effort to succeed. It is the unique nature of the Debian
> > > community which may just be the USP (differentiator) that could
> > > win this. I wouldn't exclude a consortium with a corporate but we
> > > do need the willing involvement of some of the prime movers in the
> > > Debian community if we are to put together a credible bid.
> >
> > .note that our bid does not have to exclude the other vendors.
> I agree and to demonstrate credibility, it may be essential
>
> >
> > > It is therefore most constructive if people express their interest
> > > on the debian-user list.
> >
> > .agreed, but I do not wanna use this list to discuss the
> > details of the tender docs. ;-)
> >
> Agreed again but as yet there seem to only six people interested on
> list and two off. Is this enough? Or more importantly do we have
> sufficient skills accumulated? Perhaps a brief summary of each
> person's experience and particular interest posted on a web page with
> a brief synopsis of what we are trying to achieve may encourage others
> to come forward?
..maybe, maybe, maybe, yes, and we need to discuss this.
> Do you want to develop this further off-list?
..I just asked Shri Shrikumar to set up a mailing list for this
purpose, pointing to your message here, so moving this discussion
to his new list is the appropriate thing to do.
--
..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt... ;-)
...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry...
Scenarios always come in sets of three:
best case, worst case, and just in case.
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