FORM 2
THE PA TENTS A CT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
Title of invention:
A METHOD AND SYSTEM ENABLING SECURED COLLABORATIVE PRICING FRAMEWORK FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Applicant:
TATA Cosultancy Services Limited
A company Incorporated in India under The Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Nirmal Building, 9th Floor,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021,
Maharashtra, India
The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a field of information technology outsourcing. More specifically, it relates to a method and system for generating a collaborative pricing framework for outsourcing of information technology (IT) or information technology enabled services (ITeS).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Information technology (IT) or IT-enabled service industry has seen a tremendous growth in recent times. For example, in developing countries like India, there has been growth in information technology domain delivering high-end products and services to sectors such as banking, communication, pharmaceutical and real estate etc. These services are outsourced from client companies to their IT and ITeS vendors located in varied geographies worldwide. According to NASCOMM, India holds around 58% share of global IT and ITeS outsourcing and is expected to continue its competitiveness and the effectiveness of delivering transformational benefits by means of outsourcing.
The IT or ITeS outsourcing lifecycle consists of plurality of phases including project initiation, project planning, project execution and deployment. These phases include several processes that enable successful execution of any project. The entire lifecycle management of such outsourcing projects between the service provider and the client is termed as "strategic outsourcing deal". In the project initiation phase, the outsourcing deal needs to be signed-off strategically between the service provider and the client. In general, such deals are won in auctions wherein several service providers bid for the deal. One of the important factors that may help in winning the deal is the pricing model proposed in the deal. Though, there has been growth in standardization of various processes in the IT or ITeS outsourcing, determination of pricing model in the strategic outsourcing deals is not structured and lacks efficient planning which may ultimately result in losing the deal.

In general, any organization acting as a service provider may involve several stakeholders while determining the pricing model for the deal. Each of the stakeholders has different privileges and rights in estimating the pricing data for the deal. For example, the deal team may start with preliminary data that may be varied based on the inputs from the higher management. Therefore, the pricing model itself has to go through several variances and versions before being delivered to the client. Thus, determination of pricing model and associated pricing is dynamic and is subjected to several changes or modification while transitioning through several stakeholders including client. Also the pricing model undergoes considerable change from the initial business case estimates to more detailed assumption and solution led estimation driven pricing models. Therefore, a collaborative pricing framework is desired.
Further, the services involved in the deal may be of varied scope and therefore are distinct in nature. For example, the requirements and the underlying tasks related to each service may be different. Therefore, the pricing details for each service need to be analyzed distinctly and captured in the finalized pricing model. More specifically, there exists of several pricing versions across varied service areas which need to drill down to a single, unified pricing model. Thus, integration of pricing data from various service domains is also desired.
In the current practices, there is no standard process implemented for determining the effective pricing model for the outsourcing deals. The present pricing methodologies strives to utilize excel based pricing models which has several limitations. The present methods lack efficient information security protocols and audit trails. Therefore the data related to pricing may be accessible to unauthorized parties. The calculation is done by using excel formulae and hence require manual intervention which may prone to errors or modifications. This may also lead to problems in tracking/versioning of different scenarios.
Further, there is a possibility of receiving multiple pricing model versions from different stakeholders related to same deal. In such scenario, it is difficult to collate the data from each version to determine the best possible pricing model. Thus, there is lack of parallel

processing of pricing models for the same deal. Each outsourcing deal has different requirements and hence the pricing model for each deal is to be generated from the scratch. Also, there are several inputs that may be accepted from the stakeholders in the form of documents which may result in variance of pricing deal from the planned solution. These documents may not be traceable during the delivery of the pricing data to the client.
Thus, the current approaches in the art for creating the pricing models in the outsourcing deals lack an effective integrated collaborative framework. Thus, there is a need of such collaborative pricing framework that implements efficient security protocols to prevent data from unauthorized access, facilitates parallel processing of pricing versions related to the same deal. Further, there is a need of collaborative pricing framework that enables data reusability wherein historical pricing information can be utilized for creating new pricing model for the new deal. More particularly, there is a need for a system and method in the art that enables structured and logical process workflow for pricing mechanism with enhanced data security measures and possessing strong analytical capabilities that generates a pricing model satisfying client requirements and helps in winning the outsourcing deal.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of a present invention is to provide a system and method to enable a secured collaborative pricing framework for information technology (IT) and information technology enabled service (ITeS) outsourcing deals.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method that enables enhanced data security protocols in the collaborative framework to prevent unauthorized access of the pricing data.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that enables concurrent role-based stakeholders inputs related to estimation of pricing of the deal in the framework.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method that enables parameter-based pricing scenario analysis by referring a plurality of libraries storing historical pricing information and thereby facilitating data reusability.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for generating plurality of pricing solution versions by comparing the parameter-based scenario analysis.
Yet another object of the invention is to enable a system and method for generating a realtime pricing report illustrating pricing details for the pricing solution versions.
Still another object of the invention is to enable a system and method for selecting one of the solution versions generated that is best applicable to the opportunity being pursued by analysis of the generated pricing report. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Before the present systems and methods, enablement are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described herein, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application.
In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a system and method for generating a secured collaborative pricing framework for IT or ITeS outsourcing. In accordance with this embodiment, the system comprises a customer-relation management (CRM) layer that enables identification of business opportunities in IT or ITeS service area outsourcing. The collaborative pricing framework is enabled to receive role-based primary and auxiliary inputs associated with the opportunity.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to generate an initial pricing report based on the received inputs. That is, the system is adapted to process the raw information received from the stakeholders to generate analytical reports accordingly. In this embodiment, these analytical reports and historical pricing data of previously executed deals stored in a master database are utilized to perform parameterized scenario analysis.
In one embodiment, the system can be used for pricing in any type of Pricing Models, viz Time and Material, Fixed Price, Outcome Based and the like. In this embodiment, the system can be used for Input/output type of pricing models, viz Time& Material Based Pricing and Fixed Price based Pricing.
In one embodiment, the system and method of the present invention is enabled to generate different scenarios by considering the factors affecting the collaborative pricing framework of the proposed deal. In this embodiment, the stakeholders can propose modifications or amendments to the previous primary and auxiliary inputs by analysis of said analytical reports, historical data and different scenarios generated by the system. Therefore, based on the modifications proposed by the stakeholders, new pricing solution versions of the IT or ITeS outsourcing deal is automatically generated. Further, in accordance to this embodiment, the system is adapted to select the best possible solution version applicable to the context of the current outsourcing deal. The selected solution version is then incorporated into a client template and transmitted to the client for review and approval. In this embodiment, the system is adapted to send notifications to different stakeholders associated with the outsourcing deal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the present document example constructions of

the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawings:
Figure 1 is a system block diagram illustrating a communication network comprising different components in the collaborative pricing framework according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a system architecture diagram of a central pricing server and associated modules implementing the process of creating a pricing model for IT or ITeS outsourcing according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 3 is a flow diagram illustrating different steps involved in the process of collaborative pricing for IT or ITeS outsourcing according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 4(a) and 4(b) collectively refer to a flow diagram illustrating different opportunity sales stages involved in the opportunity lifecycle in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating various stages and the roles/functionalities of the deal team performed for finalizing the pricing solution in an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The description has been presented with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Persons skilled in the art and technology to which this invention pertains will appreciate that alterations and changes in the described method and system of operation can be practiced without meaningfully departing from the principle spirit and scope of this invention.

In accordance to one embodiment of the present invention, a system and method to generate a secure collaborative pricing framework for pricing of information technology (IT) or information technology enabled services(ITeS) outsourcing is disclosed. In this embodiment, the system interacts and integrates multiple pricing solutions across varied service areas such as Application Outsourcing, Infrastructure Services Outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing and System/Service Integration.
In accordance to this embodiment, the collaborative pricing framework comprises a customer relationship management (CRM) layer configured to identify business opportunities for IT or ITeS outsourcing. More particularly, the CRM layer is configured such that it enables to extract opportunities for varies service areas including business process outsourcing (BPO), Infrastructure outsourcing, Application outsourcing (AO) and the like. The identified business opportunities data is then transmitted to a central pricing server for estimation of pricing model for the deal.
In one embodiment, the central pricing server further comprises a deal creation module, an authentication module, a pricing engine, a scenario generation module, a review platform and a report generation module. In this embodiment, deal creation module is configured for creating a deal by analyzing the data received from the CRM layer. The authentication module is adapted for providing a role based authenticated access to various stakeholders that collaborates over the pricing framework for determining the pricing model for the deal.
In one embodiment, the pricing engine is configured for accepting and processing role-based primary and auxiliary inputs from stakeholders. The scenario generation module is configured to generate different scenarios and perform parameterized scenario analysis for the business deal. The review platform is configured for analyzing the scenarios to generate plurality of pricing versions for the deal. The report generation module is configured for generating various analytical and pricing reports that can be collaboratively accessed by the stakeholders for deciding the selection of appropriate pricing version for the strategic

outsourcing deal. It can also record and maintain a track of Approvals/Rejections from various Stakeholders. Project Resource Management System tracking and forecasting is also enabled by the system.
In one embodiment, few of the several stakeholders constitute a deal team, wherein each team member is expertise in a respective domain and capable of providing pricing inputs to the framework for the business opportunities identified through the CRM layer. The deal team constitutes of stakeholders from corporate finance team, pre-sales team, delivery team, human resource team, finance & solution architect team, sales team, scenario management team, business finance team and combinations thereof. In this embodiment, a role based primary and auxiliary pricing input is accepted from the stakeholders by analyzing the identified business opportunities.
In one embodiment, the collaborative framework generates a real-time analytical report based on the analysis of the primary and auxiliary inputs received from the stakeholders. The real-time analytical report contains pricing and statistical information generated based on the inputs received from the stakeholders. In this embodiment, the primary inputs received from stakeholders includes from a group consisting of pricing details, entity details, employee basic details, applicability, resource loading, billing rate and other charges and combinations thereof. Similarly, the auxiliary inputs received from stakeholders includes from a group consisting of transaction amortization, volume discount, termination details, cash flow, saving to client, other assumptions and combinations thereof.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the system comprises a master database comprising a plurality of libraries storing the information of previously executed outsourcing deals. Further, the real-time analytical reports generated illustrating initial pricing and statistical data are also stored in the master database. In this embodiment, the system performs a parameter-based scenario analysis on the proposed business outsourcing deal to derive plurality of pricing scenarios by referring the historical pricing data stored in

the database and various other parameters such as inflation rate, salary hike, profit analysis, infrastructure cost, best case &worst case analysis and combinations thereof.
In this embodiment of the present invention, the collaborative framework further comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) layer that enables various stakeholders to view the real-time generated analytical reports, historical data of previously executed deals and different scenarios generated based on these parameters. Based on the analysis of the reports, historical data and the scenarios generated, the stakeholders can propose modifications or amendments in the initial primary and auxiliary pricing inputs. As a result of such modifications or amendments, different pricing solution versions are created in the collaborative pricing framework.
In one embodiment, a real-time pricing report depicting statistical comparison of pricing details of plurality of pricing solution versions is generated. These pricing reports contain pricing analysis for various solution versions. The solution version best applicable to the deal is selected from the plurality of solution versions. In order to achieve this, different solution versions are compared by referring the real-time pricing report to validate the effectiveness of various pricing scenarios. The selected version is then incorporated in a client template and transmitted to the client. The system is adapted to send notifications to various regarding the successful execution of pricing model. Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with the help of figures as appended below.
Referring to figure 1 a block diagram illustrating collaborative pricing framework (100) for IT or ITeS outsourcing is disclosed. The collaborative pricing framework (100) further comprises communication network (101) connecting different system components. In this embodiment, said communication network (101) interconnects to customer relationship management (CRM) layer (105), a master database (109), a central pricing server (107) and a plurality of stakeholder machines (103).

In an exemplary embodiment, the CRM layer is (105) is configured to identify business opportunities for IT or ITeS services outsourcing. In this embodiment, the CRM layer (105) is adapted to consider various parameters and requirements of the client during identification of business opportunities. The identified business opportunities data is then made accessible to various stakeholder machines (103) in the network through the central pricing server (107). In this embodiment, the stakeholder machines (103) further comprises of a graphical user interface layer adapted to receive input data and display output data related to processing of pricing models.
In an exemplary embodiment, the graphical user interface layer is configured for accepting role-based primary and auxiliary inputs from the plurality of stakeholders collaboratively connected to the Collaborative Pricing framework (100) by means of the stakeholder machines (103). The accepted primary and auxiliary inputs are then transmitted to the central pricing server (107) for further processing. In this embodiment, the central pricing server (107) further analyzes the received inputs to generate real-time analytical reports. These reports are accessible to the stakeholders by means of the GUI layer in the stakeholder machines (103) using an authenticated access through the central pricing server (107).
In an exemplary embodiment, the master database (109) is adapted to store the historical pricing data of previously executed outsourcing deals. Further, the analytical reports generated related to pricing inputs are also stored in the master database (109). The stakeholders can review and analyze the stored historical pricing data, various pricing scenarios and the pricing analytical reports to propose modifications in the initial pricing solution to create multiple versions of the pricing solution for the deal. Further the central pricing server (107) generates a pricing report depicting pricing details across various solution versions that is analyzed to select the most appropriate solution version for the outsourcing deal.

Figure 2 is system architecture (200) of a central pricing server (207) that comprises of a plurality of modules collectively implementing pricing model for IT or ITeS outsourcing. According to exemplary embodiment, the central pricing server (207) comprises of a deal creation module (211) that is coupled with the CRM layer (205). The CRM layer (205) is configured to identify business opportunities for IT or ITeS outsourcing. The identified business opportunities data is then received by a deal creation module (211) that enables the business opportunities to be converted in to a business deal. The business deal is created based on analysis of various parameters or factors Opportunity Stakeholders, Timelines, Sizes, Current Engagement Models and the like which are associated with the pricing of IT or ITeS outsourcing. The created business deal for the IT or ITeS outsourcing is then processed using a pricing engine (213) for determination of an effective pricing model.
In an exemplary embodiment, a deal team is selected comprising of different stakeholders expertise in different domains for inputting pricing details associated with IT or ITeS outsourcing. The different stakeholders constituting a deal team comprises individual stakeholders from each of the group consisting of corporate finance, sales team, Pre-sales team, delivery team, HR team, scenario management, Business Finance and solution architect. More specifically, deal team comprise of stakeholders such as bid owner, Pre-sales business solution lead, Pre-sales solution architect, Pursuit lead, FIR solution architect and pricing lead which are identified from different teams. Alternately more than one stakeholder can be selected from each team to perform the same task, depending on the size of the deal and the scale to which the deal is to be extended. The central pricing server (207) further comprises an authentication module (215) that provides role-based access for various stakeholders in the deal team. In addition to this, the authentication module (215) enables enhanced data security measures such as maintenance of audit trails, concealment of the master database, deal and role specific control measures for the stakeholders.
In an exemplary embodiment, role-based primary and auxiliary inputs are received from the stakeholder machines. The inputs received from the stakeholder machines are further processed using a pricing engine (213). The processing of the primary and auxiliary inputs

enables in generation of real-time analytical reports (221) that illustrates analysis of pricing data associated with the primary and auxiliary inputs. A report generation module (233) is configured for generating said analytical reports that can be collaboratively accessed by the stakeholders. These real-time analytical reports (221) are then stored in a master database (209). In this embodiment, a scenario generation module (229) is adapted to generate various scenarios based on the primary and auxiliary inputs received from the stakeholders. The stakeholders can then view these analytical reports (221) by authenticating the stakeholder client machine with the central pricing server by means of the GUI layer implemented in the stakeholder machine.
In an exemplary embodiment, historical data (223) associated with previously executed deals is also stored in the master database (209). The historical data (223) and real-time analytical reports (221) are accessed by the stakeholders using a review platform (227) in the central pricing server. The review platform (227) enables generation of plurality of scenarios based on stored historical data (223) and the real-time analytical reports (221). A parameterized scenario analysis is performed by referring a plurality of libraries storing said historical data (223) in the master database. As a result of such analysis, the review platform (227) is enabled to receive any modifications or amendments in the pricing data generated based on primary and auxiliary inputs received from the stakeholder machines.
In this exemplary embodiment, the stakeholders reviewing the review platform (227) considers several parameters for performing parameterized scenario analysis such as inflation rate, salary increment, bottom line, top line, solution and combinations thereof while modifying the pricing data. As a result of such modifications, new solution versions (225) of the deal are created and stored in the master database (209).In this exemplary embodiment, the system enables creation of plurality of such pricing solution versions (225) by accepting data from multiple stakeholder machines concurrently using remote login facility and authenticated access. Thus, parallel processing of pricing workflows for the same deal is enabled to create several pricing solution versions (225). Real-time pricing reports (231 illustrating pricing data for different solution versions (225) are generated by

means of the report generation module (233) which are displayed to the stakeholders by means of the GUI layer implemented in each of the stakeholder machines.
In an exemplary embodiment, a solution version appropriate to the current outsourcing deal satisfying the client requirements is selected from the plurality of solution versions (225). This solution version (225) is then embedded into a client template that is transmitted to the client for review and approval. In an exemplary embodiment, the system comprises an alert notification module (not shown in figure) that is adapted to send the alerts or notifications to the intended stakeholder machines during the entire execution of pricing process to escalate the stakeholders about the latest modifications and reports generated during the process of pricing.
Figure 3 is a flow diagram depicting steps involved in the process of Collaborative pricing framework for IT or ITeS outsourcing. In an embodiment, the process starts with an initiation phase (301) as illustrated in figure 3. In this phase, an opportunity creation for IT or ITeS outsourcing takes place in CRM layer (309). The details of the identified opportunity are then transmitted to the central pricing server for pricing.
In this embodiment, the initiation phase (301) is followed by a Pricing Solution phase (303)wherein the details of the identified opportunity are received by the pricing engine (311) that determines the pricing for execution of a deal. The process of pricing starts with receiving role-based primary and auxiliary inputs from various stakeholders constituting the deal team. These inputs are further validated and stored in the master database. These inputs are further reviewed in order to generate real-time analytical reports associated with the pricing. These reports are also stored in the said master database.
Further referring to figure 3, the Pricing Solution phase (303) is then followed by a Commercial Review phase (305). The Commercial Review phase (305) comprises of a review platform (313) enabled for reviewing the real-time analysis reports generated. The review platform (313) provides an authenticated access to view analytical reports associated

with the pricing of the deal. In this embodiment, real-time scenarios are generated by referring historical data and the analytical reports that enables stakeholders to propose modifications in the pricing details associated with the deal. Based on the modifications proposed by the stakeholders, different solution versions are created and stored in the master database. A real-time pricing report for different solution versions is generated and the best solution version suitable to the client is selected.
Finally, in the client submission phase (307), the selected Commercial solution version is incorporated in the client template. Before incorporating the solution into the client template the stakeholders can view the online reports and suggest modifications if any. This client template is then updated in to the CRM layer such that the Sales team can share the same with the client, allowing viewing of the pricing suggested for the proposed deal in the IT or ITeS outsourcing at step (315).
In an embodiment, the Collaborative Pricing Framework (100) enables effective traceability of data related to pricing at various stages in the outsourcing deal. The Collaborative Pricing Framework (100) is capable of aligning the solutions, estimated efforts and derived commercials or pricing information for the outsourcing deals. Further, such alignment enables the stakeholders involved in the deal to efficiently track various activities involved in the estimation of pricing for the outsourcing deal. Accordingly, this helps in correlating the solution with the commercials which can be incorporated in the client template delivered to the client for future reference.
In an embodiment, the Collaborative Pricing Framework (100) enables to store various documents involved in entire lifecycle of price estimation, i.e. from estimation stage to client submission stage in the master database. This helps in future tracking of these documents for reference and determination of pricing for similar outsourcing deals. The document storage and retrieval enables traceability and transparency in the pricing estimation.

WORKING EXAMPLE
In an exemplary embodiment, the process of deal creation is initiated through a Customer relationship management (CRM) layer. The opportunity lifecycle in the CRM layer involves multiple stages. Figures 4(a) and 4(b) collectively refer to a flow diagram illustrating different opportunity sales stages involved in the opportunity lifecycle in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
During the initial stages of this lifecycle, the sales lead works with the customer directly to identify and understand whether the suspecting customer can be turned into prospective customer. For example, in this exemplary embodiment, referring to figure 4(a), the suspecting stage (401) in the opportunity lifecycle is the stage during which one is seeking out a customer sponsorship for a potential sales opportunity. The Prospecting Stage (402) is the stage at which the Sales Lead has a confirmed sales opportunity with the customer. In this exemplary embodiment, the suspecting and prospecting stages are followed by stages that are related to the confirmed sales opportunity. These stages involve actual tracking of the confirmed sales opportunity with vendor's actual possibility of losing or wining the deal. In the stage (403), actual Request for Interest (RFI) or an Expression of Interest (EOI) is received from the customer while in the Stage (404) the submission of a response against the RFI/EOI is received. In the stage (405), the request for proposal (RFP) is received. At stage (406), the received RFP is submitted to the customer. After the submission of RFP at stage (406), the customer may request the IT or ITeS vendors to present their proposals to the customer and then based upon certain criteria, the customer would shortlist the top few vendors for that opportunity.
In this exemplary embodiment, during the stages (407), (408) and (409), the customer would enable to select few vendors with additional information about the opportunity that would enable the vendors to perform a better estimation and come up with their Best and Final Offer (BAFO) or Last and Final Offer (LAFO) for the opportunity. The stage (410) refers to winning or losing of the deal on the basis of selection of the proposals through the stages

(407), (408) and (409). The opportunity won at the stage (410) requires billing and further project management and further require benchmarking the performance against what was actually planned and estimated. Thus, the delivery team would constantly require access to the solution documents prepared during the response as well as the pricing and solution estimations. Also in case a deal was lost or scrapped/shelved at stages (411), it is always required to maintain what was responded previously and understand what happened in the solution and pricing of the opportunity in the past for future learning.
In this exemplary embodiment, pricing for an opportunity is generally initiated during RFI/EOI stage (401) or Request for Proposal (RFP) received Stage (403). The pricing for the deal during these stages are determined using the collaborative pricing framework (100) implementing the plurality of phases as illustrated in figure 3. In an exemplary embodiment, consider an opportunity is identified through the CRM layer for Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) which is to be outsourced. In order to facilitate the pricing for this deal, step-wise acceptance of opportunity details is initiated in the collaborative pricing framework in order to retrieve information to create a pricing solution for the deal. The pricing solution created is then transmitted to the client for acceptance and thereby closing of the deal. The creation of the pricing solution for converting the identified opportunity to a successful outsourcing deal is implemented through various phases as explained below:
(A) Initiation phase:
In this phase, creation of an opportunity for Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) service outsourcing takes place in the CRM layer. In this phase, the details associated with the deal such as type of outsourcing industry, existing customer competitors, vendor's competitors for this opportunity, the duration of the opportunity, starting date of the deal, and other parameters are transmitted into the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) layer from the sales lead machine that helps in building a base price for the deal.

(B) Pricing solution Phase:
In this phase the pricing engine of the collaborative pricing framework accepts the details of the identified opportunity for Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) outsourcing trough the CRM layer and accordingly generates a pricing solution for the deal. The steps involved in this phase are as follows:
Step 1 (Initiating Pricing in the Pricing engine):
Once the opportunity details are received in the CRM layer, the Pricing Lead identified for the opportunity access the pricing engine in the central pricing server to initiate the pricing for the deal. In this step of initiating pricing within the system, the pricing lead enters few parameters associated with the opportunity such as service lines involved, the opportunity submission date and the like thereby initiating the process of pricing. This initiated price is then modified according to stakeholders' primary or auxiliary inputs in the subsequent stages of pricing. Referring to figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating various stages wherein stakeholders in the team perform different roles/functionalities for finalizing the pricing solution.
Step 2 (Identifying Deal Team):
This is a critical step involved in collaborative pricing for deals, where associates are tagged against the various roles as per the functions that they would perform in the deal. As illustrated in figure 5, this step is performed by bid owner at stage (501) and is referred to as first primary input received by the central pricing server for further analysis. More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the bid owner provides a primary input in the form of identification of a deal team comprising plurality of stakeholders/ associates associated with the deal. Further, the bid owner is enabled to perform context specific role definition wherein various activities associated with the pricing of deal are identified and mapped with the individual roles of the stakeholders identified in this step. This enables tagging of various pricing inputs to different user roles like Solutions Architect, Transition Lead, etc. as per the activity to be performed in the opportunity identified through CRM

layer. The deal team constitutes of stakeholders from corporate finance team, sales team, pre-sales support team, delivery team, human resource team, pricing-commercial expert, business finance & solution architects and scenario managements. Certain roles are mandatory roles while certain roles are optional roles. Mandatory roles have certain specific roles to play while performing pricing and pricing related inputs.
Step 3 (Accepting Other Primary and Auxiliary Inputs):
Once the deal team is identified by the primary input from the deal owner in the step2, an authenticated access is provided to each and every stakeholder machine using which the stakeholders provide the central pricing server with their primary and auxiliary pricing inputs associated with the deal. Each of the stakeholders is tagged with unique role mapped with unique functionality. Referring to figure 5, at stage (503), basic details such as tower details, Sub tower details, Location details, Role details, Employee type details, duration of the deal and the like are accepted from the pre-sales business solution lead as an auxiliary input. Further, at stage (505), applicability details such as Location Applicability details, Transition Role Applicability details and Steady Role Applicability details are received from the pre-sales business solution lead as an another auxiliary input. These auxiliary inputs from the pre-sales business solution lead are followed by receipt of auxiliary inputs from the pre-sales solution architect at stage (507). For example, as illustrated in figure 5, the pre-sales solution architect provides Resource loading details such as FTE Split, role mapping and details associated with the levers for the respective sub-towers. More particularly, at stage (507), details such as effort volume (FTE) for the Steady State from previous year's projected using levers like Productivity and Off-shoring for each sub-tower are also accepted from the pre-sales solution architect as an auxiliary input.
In this exemplary embodiment, once the basic details, applicability details and Resource loading details are received, the Billing Rates details are computed by the bid owner using parameters like Transition/Steady Billing rates, Rate Inflation and associated parameters for respective sub-towers and locations. These details associated with the billing rates and rate inflation is accepted as auxiliary input from the Bid owner at stage(509).The Primary inputs

on other Charges such as Cost Item (Pass Through, Loaded on Revenue and Cost, Absorbed, Buffer Charge), One Time Charge, Level Incurred, Treatment and the like are accepted from the Pursuit Lead at stage(511).Further, at stage (513), details such as transferred associate cost and Sub-Contractor Costs are received by the central pricing server from the HR solution architect as an auxiliary input. In an exemplary embodiment, the pricing lead enters details of local cost, cost buffer, Sub-Contractor Costs, and details of the special taxes as additional auxiliary input at stage (515).After accepting all these details, commercial specific details such as transaction amortization, volume discount, cash flow and savings to client are received as a primary input from the Pursuit Lead at stage (517).
Step 3 (Validate and store in mater database): In this step, all the primary and auxiliary inputs received from the stakeholder machines are stored in the master database. These inputs are validated using Master Data/Cost Updates and Exchange rates in order to check the consistency of the deal and a Checklist issued for viewing and analyzing whether the deal inputs/outputs are in accordance with the specified corporate guidelines.
Step 4 (Initiate review and generate real-time analytical reports): In this step, a Pricing Lead initiates review after performing pricing based on different solution solutions available in the master database. After finalization, the initial pricing solution version is transmitted for review to senior management in the form of real-time analytical reports that are generated using report generation module.
(C) Commercial review phase:
In the Commercial Review phase, a review platform is enabled for reviewing the real-time analysis reports generated during pricing solution phase. The review platform provides an authenticated access for stakeholder machines comprising senior management to view analytical reports associated with the pricing of the deal. The steps involved in the commercial review phase are as follows:
Step 1: (Submission of deal to the Review platform):

In this step, the review platform is enabled to display the details of business opportunity identified through the CRM layer. Further, the review platform displays the real-time analytical reports generated in the pricing initiation stage. The reviewer machines are adapted to perform a real-time analysis on the opportunity details to understand the solution and estimation in detail and also to generate alternate solutions and their impact on the overall commercials. The reviewer machine is further adapted to receive reports, version details including supporting documents like executive summary, estimation documents, etc. Further, the reports can be downloaded for review on the reviewer machine from the review platform.
Step 2 (Scenario Analysis):
In this step, a scenario generation module is configured for performing scenario analysis on the price initiated and submitted for review in the earlier stages. The scenario analysis is performed by referring historical data associated with similar deals stored in the master database. In this exemplary embodiment, based on such scenario analysis he reviewer machine is adapted to change the solution parameters including levers of Productivity & Off shoring as well and compare the base versions with multiple scenarios created. Further the reviewer machine is enabled to upload the newly created version of pricing solution based on scenario analysis for sharing it with the other stakeholder machines to select the best version suitable for the customer specific requirement in relation with the current Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) opportunity.
(D) Client submission phase:
This is the final phase implemented in the process of pricing the deal for the identified Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) opportunity. In this phase, all the reports generated during the process of pricing are incorporated in the form of a client template and uploaded to the CRM layer. The customer machine connecting the central pricing server is configured to view these reports and approve or reject different solution versions accordingly. The steps involved in the client submission phase include:

Step 1 (Submission to Client):
In this step, as a result of performed scenario analysis excel reports are generated that are fed into the client template. These reports contain brief snapshot of the deal parameters, deal outputs and the list of reports which can be downloaded for review. In order to enable the security features in the system, only few machines such as Pricing Lead machine are authorized to download these reports which are then transmitted to the customer machine for further reference and analysis.
Step 2 (Online Reports for Review and Analysis):
In this exemplary embodiment, before submission of the final deal, each stakeholder machine is adapted to perform Pricing output analysis by reviewing the online reports. The online reports are accessible only to authorized machines thereby enabling high data security in the system.
In this exemplary embodiment, the pricing engine in the central pricing server is adapted to calculate the pricing of the deal on a Time & Material / Fixed Price basis. For example, in this exemplary embodiment, a calculation module (not shown in the figure) in the pricing engine calculates the pricing as follows:
Calculation of Revenue: The revenue calculation is calculated based on parameters such as annual billing efforts, billing rates, rate inflation, and exchange rates etc.
• FTE Revenue = Annual Billable Efforts*Billing Rates per hour
• Annual billable hours = Working hours per day * Working days per month * No of months in the year
• Annual Billable Efforts = Annual Billable Hours*FTE

Calculation for Cost: FTE Salary and allowance, annual efforts, cost inflation, exchange rates are used to arrive at Cost.
• Local Hire Costs = Annualized FTE * Local Hire Salary
• Salaries of Expats consist of 2 parts, the Base location Salary and the allowance as per the country of deputation
• Expat costs in any other country (Deputation) = Annualized FTE * (Base Salary + Allowance)
ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
The present invention enables deal and role specific authenticated access control to various stakeholders associated with the IT or ITeS outsourcing deal.
The present invention enables storing of historical pricing data of previously executed deals in the master database which are accessible only by the authenticated stakeholders.
The present invention enables generation of plurality of real-time scenarios by referring data sets containing historical pricing information stored in a master database.
The present invention enables concurrent generation of plurality of solution versions that are compared real-time to select an appropriate version applicable to the current IT or ITeS outsourcing deal.
The present invention enables real-time storage of various solution documents, analytical reports and pricing reports in context with the ongoing deals in the master database for future reference and tracing.

WE CLAIM:
1. A system for enabling a secured collaborative pricing framework (100) for IT or IT-
enabled services outsourcing, the system comprising a centralized pricing server
(107) electronically coupled to a master database (109) and connected to plurality of
stakeholders client machines (103) by means of a communication network (101), the
centralized pricing server further comprising:
a) a deal creation module (211) adapted to create a deal for identified business opportunities in a CRM layer related to at least one IT or ITeS service area to be outsourced;
b) an authentication module (215) configured to enable a role based authenticated access to each stakeholder client machine;
c) a pricing engine (213) adapted to receive primary and auxiliary pricing inputs and store the received inputs in said master database;
d) a review platform (227) adapted to perform a real-time scenario analysis and to select a solution version of pricing solution suitable to the created deal based on the performed scenario analysis; and
e) a report generation module (233) adapted to generate real-time analytical report and a real-time pricing report.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said primary and auxiliary pricing inputs are received from a graphical user interface layer implemented on each stakeholder client machine.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said master database comprises a plurality of libraries storing historical pricing data of multiple pricing solution versions generated previously.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the master database provides authenticated access to the stakeholders for viewing real-time analytical reports and to refer said historical pricing data for scenario analysis.

5. A method to enable a secured collaborative pricing framework for art JT or JT-
enabled services outsourcing characterized by integrating multiple pricing solutions
across various service areas, the method comprising processor implemented steps of:
a) creating a deal for business opportunities identified through a customer-relation management (CRM) layer interface in relation to at least one IT or ITeS service area to be outsourced;
b) receiving a role based primary and an auxiliary pricing inputs from a deal team constituting a plurality of stakeholders;
c) generating a real-time analytical report illustrating analytical representations of inputs received from the stakeholders;
d) performing a parameterized scenario analysis by referring a plurality of libraries storing historical pricing data in a master database;
e) generating a plurality of solution versions for pricing solutions based on performed parameterized scenario analysis;
f) generating a real-time pricing report illustrating pricing details of said plurality of generated solution versions; and
g) selecting at least one solution version that is best suitable for the created deal by analyzing the generated pricing report.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said service areas comprises from a group consisting of Application Outsourcing, Infrastructure Services Outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing, System/Services Integration and combinations thereof.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein said deal team comprises of finance team, pre-sale team, delivery team, Human resource team, solution architect team, sales team, scenario management team, and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said primary input comprises pricing and entity details that includes from a group consisting of employee Applicability, resource loading, billing rate and other charges and combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 5, wherein said auxiliary input comprises from a group consisting of transaction amortization, volume discount, termination details, cash flow, savings to client, other assumptions and combinations thereof.
10. The method of claim 5, wherein the real-time analytical report contains pricing and statistical data associated with the inputs received from the stakeholders.
11. The method of claim 5, wherein said parameterized scenarios analysis is performed
based on various parameters such as inflation rate, infrastructure cost, solution
parameters, best case, worst case and combinations thereof.
12. The method of claim 5, wherein different solution versions are compared by
referring the real-time pricing reports to validate the effectiveness of various pricing
scenarios and selecting said suitable version.