Government contract evaluation

The evaluation of proposals for compliance and merit in government contracts by its very nature must be structured in order to be fair. Because of this requirement to be absolutely fair, the process is usually laborious and, time-consuming. In December 1997, the United States Postal Service (USPS) approached Battelle to assist it in the evaluation of proposals submitted for the Midrange Computer Acquisition. The criteria were derailed yet subject to interpretation by the companies submitting proposed solutions to the mission requirements. Agreement and consensus of the evaluators were critical. Saving time was essential to reach the successful completion of the task before the Christmas holidays. The authors developed a methodology to produce the desired results for the meeting convener and evaluation committee. This paper presents the development and application of a methodology for evaluating government contracts using GroupSystems for Windows. The methodology has defined steps and is repeatable.