APMP in the Defence and Space Sectors

I'm working as a Business Development Manager and Bid Manager. Currently, I am responsible for the international sales of IT services to international organizations such as NATO, Frontex, European Union bodies, European Space Agency, as well to defence and space sector entities.

My journey to becoming a Bid Manager wasn't obvious. I graduated in international economic relations. During my studies, I was interested in defence-related affairs. At that time, I participated in many conferences and seminars on this issue. In fact, I wrote my thesis on the defence industry in the Russian Federation. During my studies I undertook internships in different types of defence bodies and had the pleasure of working in one of the NATO headquarters.

After graduation, I started my career in the defence industry as a Strategic Analyst, where I was responsible for the analysis of global defence market. During that period, I learned to recognize and estimate the value of international markets. At one point, I received an offer for a job in the IT sector, where a small group was being formed to handle business development for the defence market. It was a completely new market area for me, so I was happy to accept it.

During one of the conferences I heard a speech from a Silicon Valley representative: ‘if you want to do real business and have a high rate of return, do not carry out defence projects.’ This is a very true statement. To achieve success in the defence and aerospace sector it takes many years to develop a product or service; the defence sector certainly doesn't provide quick and high profits such as the civilian sector. But it is certainly a stable and solid sector, which provides growth for years.

The entry threshold to this sector is very high. Not every company is able to meet the formal requirements (e.g. security clearance) of Ministries of Defence, international institutions or space agencies. For IT services, this process is much shorter, ranging from 2 to 4 years.

During this period it is necessary to build the company's awareness, forming a team, and gaining the client's confidence in its credibility and quality. Let us not forget about R&D projects for the defence and aerospace sectors. In both cases, especially in the space sector, the programmes or projects are carried out for several years or sometimes even decades. Thus, the bidding process is appropriately extended from a few months up to 1-2 years.

All these processes are applied in the defence and aerospace sectors. RFI is most often used for contracting authorities who do not have fully specified requirements for the final solution. They look for already existing solutions on the market and tailor them to their own needs. After an RFI, the ordering party usually announces an RFP where you have a race between black horses that are able to offer the most suitable product or service.

I can't give just one answer, because it all depends on the scope of the project.

I had the pleasure to prepare offers on my own due to their structure and scope did not require the participation of many people. Naturally, the offer was checked by a member of my company before sending. At the same time, I participated in the preparation of offers where several companies were members of the consortium and required the involvement of a large number of people. Among the members involved in the preparation of the offer were not only lawyers or finance specialists, but also IT system architects, programmers, SMEs from cloud solutions, and space technologies.

In total, it was the work of over 40 people. They had to be properly coordinated to meet the client's formal conditions and provide the technical part that met the request for proposal. Most of the responsibility fell on the prime contractor - the company I worked for - to ensure that the quality of the offer was at the highest level.

For a quite long time I was looking for a certification to demonstrate my Business Development and Bid Management expertise; I started looking for a certificate that would meet my requirements. That's how I discovered the APMP training and exam. I read the leaflet and watched the available recordings of the preliminary lessons. Additionally, I followed the list of entities using APMP and discovered several companies from the defence and aerospace sectors, which confirmed my belief that it is worthwhile to undertake the training and obtain a certificate.

The APMP methodology itself should be scalable to the bid processes that each Bid Manager intends to undertake in the future. Because in the case of small companies, for example, it is difficult to establish so many roles responsible for preparing an offer. Personally, the key points concerned the bid management process itself, especially in terms of preparation techniques.

Each of us is struggling with the problem of involving people who deal with different work on a daily basis, but their contribution to the bid, especially the technical part, is vital. APMP presents several tools that facilitate cooperation with experts, enable both smooth preparation of proposals and preventing them from being distracted from their work.

Due to the current global situation I decided to take remote training. I do not regret my decision, because the way it was conducted was in line with my expectations. If you have one day available, this is sufficient time to obtain sufficient knowledge to pass the exam.

Additionally, I used the hours before my exam to refresh the knowledge I gained during the training. I would just like to stress that in my professional life I have already submitted more than 40 proposals, so it was much easier for me to prepare for the exam due to my practice and experience.

The most valuable aspect of the training is sharing the experience between other Bid Managers from their organisations, sectors or countries. During the training you hear interesting stories about the implementation of bidding projects and solving unusual situations.

If you have been bidding or expanding business for several years, no matter whether you won or lost most of your tenders, APMP will certainly strengthen your skills and teach you new techniques, increasing your chances for success.