Expert Experience in Service Estimation Process

CWS Consulting successfully designed and implemented a Service Estimator Solution for the professional services team, leveraging Certinia (FinancialForce) PSA project templates, Conga Composer, and a complex Power Query solution. This initiative provided a structured and automated approach to project estimation, ensuring accuracy in service scoping, pricing, and proposal generation.

The project required integrating multiple systems and automating key estimation processes to enhance efficiency and consistency. By utilizing PSA project templates, we standardized service offerings, ensuring that project planning and resource forecasting were aligned with business objectives. Additionally, we implemented Conga Composer to generate professional, customer-ready proposals directly from Salesforce, streamlining the quote-to-contract workflow.

In the first phase, we configured Certinia PSA project templates to serve as the foundation for service estimation, allowing for structured project scoping. These templates included predefined task structures, resource requirements, and pricing models, reducing the manual effort required for service estimation.

Key Deliverables:

• Standardized Project Templates: Created reusable PSA project structures to enhance consistency in estimating and planning.
• Automated Resource & Cost Calculation: Integrated dynamic resource allocation models to calculate project costs based on historical data and utilization rates.
• Integration with PSA & Sales Cloud: Enabled seamless transitions from estimation to project execution by linking estimates directly to PSA project records.

To further enhance the estimation process, we implemented Conga Composer for automated proposal generation, ensuring consistency in customer-facing documents. Additionally, a complex Power Query solution was developed to extract and analyze historical project performance data, enabling real-time adjustments to estimates based on actual delivery trends.

Key Deliverables:

• Automated Proposal Generation: Configured Conga Composer to dynamically generate professional service proposals based on PSA estimates.
• Power Query Data Modeling: Developed an advanced Power Query solution to analyze historical service delivery trends and optimize pricing models.
• Approval Workflow Automation: Integrated a structured approval process within Salesforce, ensuring pricing and scope validation before proposal submission.

By implementing this end-to-end Service Estimator Solution, CWS Consulting enhanced the efficiency, accuracy, and scalability of service estimation processes. The integration of PSA project templates, Conga Composer, and Power Query provided a robust framework for automated project scoping, cost analysis, and proposal generation, enabling the professional services team to accelerate deal cycles, improve profitability, and enhance customer experience.