Outcomes at a Glance

• $600K in cost savings by rejecting an unreasonable vendor proposal
• Independent feasibility analysis provided quantitative evidence for procurement decisions
• Identified vendor bid as one standard deviation worse than benchmarks for cost, effort, and schedule
• Enabled the agency to select a more realistic and cost‑effective plan

Context

A U.S. Federal Government agency with more than 8,000 employees needed to redevelop a mission‑critical automated loan examination tool. The internal vendor submitted a proposal the agency suspected was significantly overpriced and misaligned with historical performance expectations. The agency required an objective, data‑driven evaluation to validate the bid before moving forward.

Barriers

• No internal capability to assess whether the vendor’s proposal was feasible or excessive
• Mission‑critical system redevelopment with high financial risk
• Lack of reliable size, cost, and productivity benchmarks for comparison
• Desire to avoid overpaying for effort, schedule duration, or staffing levels

What QSM Delivered

QSM performed an independent bid assessment using Function Point Analysis and SLIM‑Estimate:

• Sized the proposed system using industry‑accepted scoping methods
• Compared vendor assumptions against similar projects from the QSM benchmark database
• Identified that the vendor’s cost, effort, and schedule were ~1 standard deviation worse than industry averages
• Developed an alternative scenario demonstrating a feasible plan at $600K lower cost

With concrete evidence, the agency confidently rejected the unrealistic bid and proceeded with a more cost‑effective strategy — saving $600K on a single mission‑critical project.