Samrat Biswas
and I met several years ago when we were both Information Technology bid
managers supporting government business in the United States. We quickly became engaged in a major
(multiple hundreds of millions of US dollars) pursuit of business, in which we
were ultimately successful. Through that experience, I had the pleasure
of meeting Samrat in person and spending long hours together learning from each
other. Our shared experience taught us
about each other cultures and viewpoints as well as the craft of bid management. We became friends and today I value that
friendship as much as does he. When
Samrat asked me to write this forward for his book, I said Yes, without
hesitation.
Bid Management, capture management, business
development, sales support, or any of several other descriptors is a truly rewarding
job in which I have been engaged for 15 years of my 35-year IT career. In this book, Samrat details the structure,
processes, and content of the practice of bid management. It is a discipline that requires both left-brain analytic and right-brain imaginative thinking. It involves dogged attention to process and
detail as well as creativity to solve for unknowns. It involves both the ability to motivate
disparate teams to a common goal as well as allow for diversity of opinion—all
in the name of creating compelling reasons for clients to choose to do business
with your company.
The successful
bid manager must also exhibit resilience in adapting to ever-changing
conditions—whether imposed by a client, one’s own company, or global
circumstance. He or she must be
resilient in dealing with ever-changing conditions and helping teams do so as
well. Bid managers are leaders in that
regard, enabling teams to succeed. In
today’s global economy, they must also be open to disparate points of view and
adept at capitalizing on the
disparity. Samrat understands all of
this and demonstrates in this book how to succeed.
Bid management is a lot of
things—frustrating, perplexing, rewarding, and satisfying at same time. Those who do well display analytical acumen, creative
problem-solving ability, detail orientation, restraint, and humor. You as the reader can gain a lot of
perspective from reading Samrat’s book.
Samrat and I wish you the best in your
pursuit of a successful career in bid management and sincerely hope you will
find this book helpful to that success.
Dave Gilbert
Boston
