Patent ID: 8249999

Claim:
A computer-implemented system for costing proposals for service by a service provider, each proposal comprising a set of proposal elements (OEs) selected from a predetermined group of proposal elements, the system comprising: at least one data processing system; and a costing proposal system executable by the at least one data processing system, the costing proposal system comprising: a proposal formulator for selecting a set of proposal elements (OEs) for a new service proposal from the predetermined group of proposal elements stored in a first database, in response to user input; and a cost controller for performing the following steps: maintaining, in a second database, for each proposal element (OE), service data indicative of service tasks associated with that proposal element, and automatically updating the service data for each OE during operation in dependence on maintenance data stored in a third database, the maintenance data detailing actual service tasks performed by the service provider in operation of real services, wherein the automatic updating occurs at a periodic preset interval, wherein the service data include an expected number of instances for service tasks based on a number of actual instances of those service tasks in operation of real services as indicated by the maintenance data; and an expected labor time for service tasks based on actual labor times indicated by the maintenance data; and wherein the costing proposal system determines a total cost for the new service proposal in dependence on the service data for the selected proposal elements (OEs) and cost data indicating a cost of service tasks indicated by the service data; wherein, for each of at least some of the service tasks, the service data indicates a change in complexity for that service task, an expected number of instances for that service task, based on the change in complexity, and for each of at least some of the proposal elements, the service data indicates an expected labor time for at least one service task associated with that proposal element.