What you’ve been waiting for… Some of you have been ahead of us in your move to SharePoint 2013. Now, Lohfeld WinCenter version 3.1 is available on SharePoint 2013. Initial implementations are underway.
WinCenter provides a rich, integrated capture and proposal management system that runs on Microsoft SharePoint. This release is a new version (3.1 vs. 3.0) that is specifically built for SharePoint 2013. We at R3 are very excited by this release. In addition to the core enhanced feature set, it has a more open design. So, it makes it easier to enhance, it opens up WinCenter to add-ons, it supports integration with existing SharePoint resources and applications, and, integration with external systems. In sum, it is a great,core solution for Government Contractor (GovCon) work environments on SharePoint.
What SharePoint edition/platform?
It runs on any edition of SharePoint 2013, meaning Foundation, SharePoint Server or SharePoint Enterprise. You can run it on premise, in a hosted third party that supports third-party vendors, or via a public cloud infrastructure service such as Amazon Web Services or Azure (our Tier 1 supported services). You cannot run it on Microsoft Office 365.
About WinCenter v3.1 for SharePoint Features and Capabilities
You can visit our web site for a description of the key WinCenter capabilities and features. It focuses on your Opportunity Life Cycle Management, Capture Management and Proposal Management and highlights other capabilities. You’ll also find a nice clean, 2 minute video that includes some shots of the software.
A major new capability is Teaming Partner Engagement. While working on opportunities and proposals, you can now engage with Partners in a structured and secured manner. The partners have a separate Partner Portal to use for their work. Unlike most native SharePoint implementations the Partners are not given access to your proposal sites. Instead, they go to their portal and they see the opportunities that they are teamed on and they can interact. They can upload documents, see and act on documents and data calls, see and act on tasks etc. You get a very interactive way of working with partners but in a structured and secure manner.
Enhanced integrated Knowledge Asset Management. A key value of WinCenter is its unique ability to put centrally managed knowledge assets at the fingertips of users when they are working in opportunity/proposal workspaces. Assets like Forms and Templates, Boilerplate, Past Proposals, Past Performance, Graphics etc. With WinCenter, these assets “appear” in the workspaces. Users can search them and then “fetch” items into their active proposal/opportunity. It is very, very convenient and this drives much higher usage of assets which means that people are working with the best knowledge and the most current version.
There has also been an upgrade to the capture and proposal knowledge assets that come with WinCenter. WinCenter ships with two core sets of knowledge assets. These assets are based upon the Lohfeld Consulting Group’s deep experience in the industry. One set contains 80 standard Forms and Templates used in capture/proposal processes. These provide you with a great start for Knowledge assets. The second is a set of 75 pre-populated Capture Activities. These consist of the industry standard activities that you want to do at the right time in the capture process. Each activity has a narrative that describes what to do. Thus, it is prescriptive. As part of the WinCenter process framework, these activities are put at the fingertips of users when they work on opportunities and each can be tracked like a task. It is your way of guiding and driving people to do the right thing at the right time.
Easy to use Design Canvas empowers you to have it your way. This release comes with a Design Canvas that makes it unusually easy to configure most aspects of WinCenter. Navigation and Features can be arranged by drag and drop and turned off and on with a click. Specific features can be custom configured using simple business user friendly wizards. You can also now create Graphical Drilldown reports that enable users to access information graphically and drill down into details.
Even more Open. Say goodbye to proprietary systems. WinCenter is becoming a lot more than just a point solution for capture and proposal management. With this release it is designed to be more open, to serve as a core solution as part of your GovCon workplace on SharePoint. You can drop in web parts from other SharePoint applications and resources. You can connect WinCenter to existing external SharePoint resources such as separate proposals or program sites. It also supports connections to external systems such as your CRM or Financial system. You can even add in reports that mash-up information from SharePoint and other systems and that allow the user to act on the data.
R3 Add-Ons for WinCenter
With this release, R3 will begin the process of rolling out add-ons for WinCenter on SharePoint 2013. They will enhance WinCenter and the business development environment. And, they will start to address the Deliver side of the business and supporting Management activities. Our goal is to offer you choices and a-la-carte options to enhance your GovCon work environment on SharePoint. And, of course, all solutions will natively integrate with each other.