Patent ID: 7769616
Filing Date: 2010-08-03
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer implemented method for quoting a business solution for a customer, performed on a computer, the method comprising the steps of: receiving customer requirements; determining a plurality of types of price units to be invoiced to customer, with each type of price unit being an elementary unit used to measure the billing to the customer; designing a business solution to map the customer requirements; decomposing the business solution into a plurality of types of cost elements, where each type of cost element represents the cost of a technical component; creating rules to link the price units to the cost elements so that values for the cost elements are determined as a function of values for the price units; and generating, by the computer, a quotation by applying the rules created to at least one business rollout scenario; wherein the generating step is performed iteratively to generate iterative price quotations, with at least one of the price units, the cost units and the rules being iteratively modified before each iteration of the generating step, and with the relationships between the price units and cost units being interlocked so that an iterative adjustment of any one of the price units, the cost units and the rules will cause corresponding adjustments, based on the interlocked relationships between the price units and cost units, to values of any affected price units and values of any affected cost units in order to generate the iterative price quotation; and wherein the receiving, determining, designing, decomposing, creating steps are performed on a computer.