Invitation to quote: Specialist consultancy on Online Forum development

The Invest East project is inviting proposals from consultants able to advise and provide direct support on
the integration of a pre-existing forum into the client’s own community forum.

The client is seeking consultants with the following knowledge and capabilities:
 Cloud based software installation and administration technologies.
 Knowledge and experience of Online Forum software and available solutions
 Experience of Online forum creation and configuration
 Cloud Data Security

The Invest East team will require the successful consultant to maintain support time records, provide
evidence of delivered support and to produce an end of project summary that details how the support has
enabled the business to take their next steps in product development. Invest East is part funded by the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Budget: up to £3,500 + VAT
Delivery timescale: Immediate start from contract award.

Background:
The Omnis Developer Forum is essential for the development of Omnis Software as a business and has
been highlighted in recent industry surveys as a key factor for developers when investigating new tools. By
investing and developing the Omnis community forum the company will increase sales by increasing the
activity on the forum and means developers looking at Omnis for the first time see a more active and larger
community of Omnis developers.
Omnis Software currently has a community forum and has recently been given permission to integrate
another forum (called the List Server) developed by a community member. The List Server has been in use
for many years and does not have a modern appearance which is not attractive to developers investigating
Omnis for the first time.
Omnis does not have the ability to be an administrator of the List Server so some of the information posted
is inaccurate and/or out of date. Integrating the List Server into the Omnis Developer Forum will increase
traffic and activity and will be a significant improvement to the value and usefulness of the forum for the
community.

The benefits of an improved Omnis Developer Forum for Omnis Software:
● To improve Omnis’s communication with the Omnis developer community.
● Get feedback on product development and future requirements.
● Distribute news, announcements, and technical tips.
● To advertise internal job vacancies.
● Give customers and potential customers more reason to come back to the Omnis website.

For small businesses it is important to build a ‘community’ around their product offering and their
organisation services. Many developers select products for their own use after personal referrals from their
peers. Additionally, the complexity of computer support is a challenge and community-based forums offer
technical assistance to one another. The creation of a well presented and technologically advanced
customer forum, with the assistance of this consulting cycle will extend our product marketing reach, whilst also extending our product support opportunities. This then provides assistance in our goals of business
growth.

The benefits of an improved Omnis Developer Forum for our customers:
● To enable communication between Omnis developers from anywhere around the world.
● To get access to free technical support from the community.
● To share best practice and increase collaboration between developers.
● To advertise new job vacancies and recruit experienced Omnis developers.
● Advertise tools and add-ons developed by community members.
Building the Omnis community will help Omnis to continue to be successful and will help Omnis’s
customers by attracting new developers to the community resulting in a richer community with more job
opportunities.

www.omnis.net

Deliverables:
 Complete examination of the client requirements and match these to a suitable online forum
solution.
 Configure and provision the solution with the assistance of the client’s own Web team.
Response format for this Invitation to Quote:
 Written description of your proposed support offer for the client, including:
o Delivery plan and schedule of your support
o Your experience and credentials which enable you to advise and deliver on the key
requirements described in the Background section above
 Cost breakdown showing hourly rate, breakdown of support hours and identifying any opportunities
for added value.

Timeline for responses:
Invitation to quote circulated: 06/07/2021
Deadline for questions: 13/07/2021
Deadline for submission: 16/07/2021
Assessment of submissions and award of work: 20/07/2021
In the event that a decision cannot be made on submissions only, an invitation for a brief online Q&A
session may be issued for week commencing 26/07/2021

Submission:
Email inwardinvestment@newanglia.co.uk  with your submission and to raise any questions. Our team are
happy to arrange a call to discuss if preferred.