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I am a pre-sales consultant at IBM working for the business services projects. I will answer in relation to that1) As the name goes, pre-sales specialist is involved much ahead in the sales cycle, that is before a contract is written with a customer. Post sales specialists are some one who is engaged after the contract signature, and setting up the way the project works. Needless to say, there should be a co-ordination between all phases.Let us see this in a simple exampleCustomer 'A' has floated an RFP (request for proposal), and has requested bids by interested vendors to submit proposals for a new business expansion strategy, which needs infrastructure, IT services like code development, maintenance etc. Customer 'A' have mentioned what their line of business is, their target system, by when they would like to achieve, how tightly they would want to control etc in the RFPBelow are the steps that would happen after that1) Bid specialist teams of vendor organizations (like IT service providers) etc, get notified, and they start evaluating the RFP2) Once they have qualified and have decided to bid, they would engage the pre-sales teams3) Pre-sales teams go thru the RFP, understand the requirements, size the requirement into person months (FTEs), no of servers, processing units, devices etc, depending on the line of business. If it is business services then its mostly, man power servicesThe below mainly delves on man power services..4) Once they have sized, they create a staffing plan, categorize into different locations like onsite/offsite, regular/contractors etc. They will also take into consideration, the strategies of the vendor company they are working for, while preparing a staffing mix, and match the client requested job roles & descriptions. They also create what skills are needed and how these skills are categorized at the vendor, (i.e Jr. developer, Developer, Sr. developer, project manager, Project assistant etc)5) Once a staffing is created they create costing views, labor/non-labor etc. Non labors might include network connectivity costs, Travel & Living etc.6) Once all the cost elements are worked out they create a pricing and how that should be billed. There are various pricing models available, but for ease of understanding I'm not mentioning them here. They would also help or create a proposal response, or a statement of work, where the terms & conditions would be laid out, along with a description of how these services will be delivered7) All vendors would have some sort of higher management reviews of these proposals, and some amount of optimization would happen to the proposal, costing, pricing, before the proposal is given to the client. It is the responsibility of the pre-sales & bid/sales team to ensure all these approvals are sought before a proposal is released to the client, in this case customer 'A'8) Once a bid is submitted, the sales/bid teams take over and work further stages. There may be phases like down selection, due diligence, orals etc. The sales teams are capable of handling these stages, but at some times, might need pre-sales help either in person at the customer location, or via phone9) Once the sales cycle is complete, the bid is either won or lost. This would effectively end the pre-sales participation, except for some retrospective activities, or cadence reviews on what went well, and what did not go well, and any lessons learnt10) If a bid is won, contract signature happens, and execution starts11) Here is when a post sales specialist would be involved. The post sales specialists would go thru the SoW or contract documents, align vendor startegies to client environment, and work for the set up of the project and continued of delivery of what is committed in the SoW. Project management would might also be considered as a post sales specialtyHope this helps..

I agree that some balance might be helpful. I currently work for a state DOT, but have also worked in the private sector.A lot of it depends on funding. People don't realize how much paperwork is involved in construction to get the federal funding. This is the main job of the DOT during construction. We need to make sure we have met all of the specifications, testing, sampling, quality assurance, certifications, and pay documentation to get federal funding. If we miss something, the State has to pay it with what is called non-participating funds. I think the State agency needs to keep this portion.Normally, construction contracts with the State go to the low bidder. There are obvious drawbacks to this, but there are specifications that have to be met. Even if they bid low, they have to meet standards of construction. This competition can be very fierce. I don't know that you would get better pricing with commercial bidding. We do, however, get bidders that lack knowledge in construction of a federal project. It is very different from a non-federally funded project.There is a new trend in construction called design-build. The DOT puts together the concept for what is needed to be designed and built. Usually a design consultant teams up with a construction contractor for the design-build project. Rather than being low bid projects, these begin with a request for qualifications.The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is the first step of the two-step selection process. The RFQ asks interested proposers to submit information on their capabilities, experience and past performance including, proposer’s team organization, key personnel, QC/QA approach, individual and team history and current safety record. It is recommended that the RFQ also contain a category for project understanding and approach. The RFQ is structured to guide potential proposers in responding to the needs of the project and describing their successes on projects of similar scope, size and complexity; then the Department will be able to evaluate the proposals to select the most qualified, capable firms from the responsive Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) submitted. The short-listed proposers will be eligible to submit in the second step of the selection process by preparing a final proposal in response to the Request for Proposals (RFP).The Request for Proposals (RFP) is the second step of the two-step selection process. Formulation of the RFP package is a significant effort that should not be overlooked or underestimated in project scheduling. Project team members need to ensure that the required information is incorporated to avoid assumptions and manage expectations. Preparation of the RFP requires significant coordination among the project team and project stakeholders. The RFP development needs to be a collaborative process among those responsible for procurement, management, technical development, and project support activities (such as ROW acquisition, environmental analysis and decision-making, public information/community relations, and stakeholder involvement and coordination). The RFP requires short-listed proposers to submit a technical and/or price proposal in response to the information provided by the Department as part of the RFP and also the proposer’s own design and project execution plans. The RFP is structured to guide short-listed proposers in responding to the needs of the project and describing their approach to completing the project. The successful proposal becomes the contract for the project.This process is very efficient, because the designer is working directly with the contractor. This process also provides reasonable competition between bidders with the advantage of ensuring that the team chosen is capable of doing the work.

India is already on the verge of getting many Smart Cities by the end of year 2017.However, one noteworthy point here is that the ICT [Information and Communication Technology] infrastructure and the blueprint of the Smart City gets decided by the Government. The Government in tie up with the Consultants envisages and prepares the blueprint of a Smart City in the form of various RFPs [Request for Proposal].The RFP of maximum cities asks for the setup, installation and commissioning of below mentioned services/offerings in a particular city:Public Wi-Fi.CCTV Surveillance.Smart Street Lights and Control Systems.Sensors,Displays and Control System at various locations of the city.AVLS,Card Validator,PIS and Automatic Fare Collection Tool.PA System.EMS.Setup of Command and Control Center.Please do not live under the false notion that Smart Cities mean the ones depicted in “Bond Series” movies or any other Sci-Fi movie. The Government aims to bring our cities with at par with the developed cities of the world and these projects are small steps at achieving those.Gandhinagar City has already been completed on field and is now been termed as India’s First model Smart City.Jaipur can be termed second .They are trying to convert it into a Smart City in various phases.So yes we have a Smart City ready before 2018.So as asked by some of the reader for the credits please check the below mentioned links:Sterlite Tech showcases India's first smart city services success at MWC 2017Sterlite Tech Showcases India's First Smart City Services Success at MWC, BarcelonaSterlite showcases India’s first smart city deployment at MWC 2017 | TelecomLeadSterlite Tech Showcases India's First Smart City Services Success at MWC, Barcelona