Systems and Methods for Professional Services Procurement

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for selling, provisioning, transacting, fulfilling, delivering and supporting simple and complex business and technical professional services in an on demand fashion for various service industries specifically around the development life cycle relative to the industry. On demand professional services are accomplished through a system which allows services to be administered from a plurality of specialized consultants to end clients via a ‘retail type’ framework built upon a converged Internet, call center, telecommunications and ancillary software platform. The on demand architecture enables clients to purchase professional services on a just in time basis by simply calling a call center or visiting the professional services entity on the web. Clients can: 1) receive advice; 2) invite consultant(s) to participate in meetings; 3) outsource paper deliverables; 4) receive research; and/or 5) outsource full projects. Consultants are likewise able to fulfill and deliver services in real time.

1 . A computer readable medium comprising software for selling on-demand professional services via a fully automated retail framework, the software comprising instructions for:
 receiving a request for the on demand full life cycle professional services remotely in a communication session;   fulfilling the request; and   delivering the professional services in real time.   
     
     
         2 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the request is fulfilled on the Internet or through the use of a call center undergirded by an automated technical service delivery platform. 
     
     
         3 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for at least one of:
 outsourcing the professional services by the client and paying for the outsourced services in real time;   electronically creating or updating by a user of at least a project record source, conducting automated project needs analysis, receiving uploaded project materials and obtaining payment for delivery of services in real time;   electronically, by a practitioner, scoping, pricing, quoting, creating a contract, signing off on contracts, assigning delivery resources, notifying delivery resources, provisioning a project for fulfillment, and initiating projects in real time;   electronically, by practitioners, fulfilling projects remotely in line with industry standard methodologies and regulatory guidelines in real time; and   electronically, by practitioners, collaborating, presenting real time project fulfillment, automatically accepting payment for projects with an incremental electronic automated payment and acceptance process, viewing real time analytical statistics and historical reports, closing out projects and sending downloadable final deliverables in real time.   
     
     
         4 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for sorting of professional services into a first tier presented through a user interface, the first tier comprising at least one of:
 on demand consultation;   on demand meeting contribution;   on demand deliverable outsourcing;   on demand project outsourcing; and   on demand staff augmentation.   
     
     
         5 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for sorting of professional services into a second tier presented through a user interface, the professional services sorted at least by industry sector and an organizational operating model. 
     
     
         6 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for communicating through at least one of a network, a call center, commerce or electronic commerce functions, billing functions, project management functions, CRM functions, ERP functions, collaboration functions, remote control functions and telecommunication functions. 
     
     
         7 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the request comprises at least one of:
 an on-demand professional service element;   a record source;   a relationship;   a security role;   a responsibility;   a project scope;   a project price;   an industry sector categorization;   a delivery methodology;   a project payment;   a payment method;   a project acceptance; and   an industry sector regulation.   
     
     
         8 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein at least one specialized NAICS 541 industry sector project management delivery methodology attribute and/or at least one specialized NAICS 541 industry sector regulatory attribute enables standardized and compliant on demand delivery of outsourced projects electronically. 
     
     
         9 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to be implemented through a user interface to procure, transact, provision, fulfill, deliver and govern on demand outsourced projects over the Internet, the user interface further comprising a communication button that enables real time communication with at least one user. 
     
     
         10 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for accepting or terminating the communication session through a user interface. 
     
     
         11 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions to trigger a communication based on at least one of a user or system data element, workflow, business rule algorithm and technical service. 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, fulfilling at least a part of the professional services request in collaboration with at least one user, in real time, through a user interface prior to terminating the communication session. 
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, fulfilling or delivering remotely, in real time, at least a part of the professional services request by remote control of a user's system prior to terminating the communication session. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, accepting payment for the professional service in real time using retail payment methods prior to terminating the communication session. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, modifying, uploading, or downloading at least one element of a project document related to the professional service prior to terminating the communication session. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, displaying at least one element of a work product related to the professional service to at least one user as the work product is being created or developed, the displaying occurring prior to terminating a communication session. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, displaying at least one electronic report and/or real time analytic statistic in real time prior to terminating a communication session. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for, in response to sending or receiving a communication, determining a route by which to send the communication, record source or data element, the route determined at least in part based on work load of at least one user or system program and at least one work load of at least one other user or system program associated with the route. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising instructions for automatically determining the work load based on current projects in work in progress bin, hours of work, resources availability, skill set, competency, spoken language, delivery commitment, location, and client contact date and time. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for determining the scope of a project in real time while providing at least one system program, logic and/or Internet web page for the user to determine the scope; wherein determining the scope includes at least automatically presenting a set of at least two questions to a user, wherein for at least one question, whether or not the at least one question is presented to the user, depends upon information previously provided by the user. 
     
     
         21 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for
 presenting:
 a dynamic logic tree of scope data in the form of questions; and 
 a data repository for answers to the dynamic logic tree of scope data; 
   automatically and dynamically deciphering a next set of logical questions based upon user answers;   processing and retrieving relevant scope data including at least man hours, level of effort, size of engagement, delivery duration, human and technical resources, deliverables required, ancillary fees, assumptions, potential risks, change control and cost of engagement; and   generating pre-populated forms and documents containing finalized results.   
     
     
         22 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for determining the price of a project in real time comprising presenting a set of at least two questions to a user, wherein for at least one question, whether or not the at least one question is presented to the user depends upon information previously provided by the user. 
     
     
         23 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for
 presenting:
 a dynamic logic tree of scope data in the form of questions; and 
 a data repository for answers to the dynamic logic tree of scope data; 
   automatically and dynamically deciphering a next set of logical questions based upon user answers;   processing and retrieving relevant price data wherein at least first tier commodity, second tier productized service, ancillary fees, and scope are presented to the user; and   generating pre-populated forms and documents containing finalized results.   
     
     
         24 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for determining contract stipulations of the professional service in real time while providing at least one system program, logic and/or Internet web page for the user to determine the contract stipulations; wherein determining contract stipulations includes at least automatically presenting a set of at least two questions to a user, wherein for at least one question, whether or not the at least one question is presented to the user depends upon information previously provided by the user. 
     
     
         25 . The computer readable medium of  claim 23 , further comprising instructions for
 presenting:
 a dynamic logic tree of contract stipulation data in the form of questions; and 
 a data repository for answers to the dynamic logic tree of scope data; 
   automatically and dynamically deciphering a next set of logical questions based upon user answers;   processing and retrieving relevant contract data wherein at least company data, customer data, scope, price, project data, contract stipulation data and ancillary fee data are presented to the user; and   generating pre-populated contract forms and documents containing finalized results.   
     
     
         26 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for automatically obtaining electronic signatures; processing and retrieving relevant electronic signatures wherein at least a signature is presented to the user; and generating pre-populated forms and documents containing finalized results.