We would like to better understand the scope of the solution you are looking for, to help us provide you with a clear response to your enquiry. To that end, we have a series of questions about your business processes, the volume of programmes and applications you will receive.
To start with, please tell us a little about your grantmaking organisation and what stage you are at in considering a new grant management system.
Functional and technical considerations
Your functional and technical requirements may already include much of the following, but please feel free to indicate any items you will require.
| Functionality | |
| Embedded analytics, dashboards | |
| Realtime chat function | |
| Custom business rules | |
| Search uploaded documents | |
| Electronic Signature | Please list any systems you currently use |
| Multiple languages | |
| Multiple currencies | |
| KYC/AML integrations | |
| Financial system integration | Please list any systems you currently use |
| Data load / migration | From existing GMS or other sources |
| Other | Please list any other items such as other integrations |
| Technical setup | |
| Data encryption at rest | |
| Automated integrations | CRM, Digital signature |
| Single sign-on | Real-time chat function |
| Data load/migration | Production and UAT are standard. |
| High volume storage | Consider size limits for supporting documentation |
| High volume of concurrent users | |
| Regional hosting (UK or EU) | |
| O365 mail integration | |
| Services | |
| Hypercare post-implementation | |
| Enhanced support packages | Standard support is for Product bugs only |
| Disaster recovery services | Nightly backup is standard |
| Environment copies/refresh | |
| Additional training | End user training |
| Report writing/dashboards | |
| Data migration assistance | |
| Grant management consultancy | |
| Process reviews |
Your grant management processes
We will work with you to provide the optimum and most effective configuration of AIMS for the implementation of a highly efficient solution. Typical project implementation tasks can include:
| Implementation tasks | Configuration tasks |
| Infrastructure setup of AIMS | Workflow – application to decision |
| Requirements gathering, workshops | Schemes or programmes |
| Business requirements specification | Funds setup |
| Configuration tasks | User roles and permissions |
| Development: automation, integrations | General configuration (statuses, contacts, docs) |
| User Acceptance Testing – prep & support | Application forms |
| Training and documentation | Business rules |
| Data load assistance | Project costs |
| Finance export/integration | Workflow – reviewer process |
| Reporting dashboards and custom reports | Assessment/Review forms |
| Ready for Go Live | Meeting papers |
| Project Management | Email notification templates |
| Offer letters/contracts/forms | |
| Monitoring forms | |
| General configuration (payments, claims) | |
| Workflow – monitoring process | |
| Workflow – variation/closure process | |
| Branding |
Please complete the questionnaire below so that we can get a sense of your Grant Management process requirements. In many cases, your best estimate will be enough at this stage.
| General | Currently | Required |
| How many Schemes or Programmes are there in total? | Are there any sub-schemes / programmes? If so, how many? | |
| Do all schemes/programmes follow the same process (workflow)? | ||
| Are the schemes/programmes only open for a specific time, i.e. are there Calls? | ||
| If the schemes/programmes do NOT follow the same process (workflow), then how many different processes (workflows) are there? | ||
| Roughly how many different roles/user types are involved in a process? | ||
| Roughly how many different roles/user types are involved in a process? | ||
| If there are Calls, then how many per year? | ||
| Do organisations/users need to be approved by someone internally before being fully registered? | ||
| External Users and Languages | Currently | Required |
| Do you wish to allow your external users to register online? | ||
| Is organisation registration required? | ||
| Is task assignment required to be per department/user group? | ||
| Is the system required to be available in one language only? If multiple, what languages are required? | ||
| Internal Users | Currently | Required |
| Are there different user groups in your organisation? How many? | ||
| Are there different restrictions per user group, i.e. regional teams who can only view applications /data for their own region? | ||
| Can the application be sent back to external users to provide more information? | ||
| Application | Currently | Required |
| If the application is a collaboration, how many users/roles are involved? | ||
| Is the application a collaboration? i.e. filled in by multiple users? | ||
| How many different sections and questions are currently included in an application form? | ||
| If the application is a collaboration, who is the Lead applicant? | ||
| For research projects, do the Head of Department of the University have to approve the application before it’s submitted? | ||
| Would all schemes share the same application form? If not, would they be similar or completely different forms? | ||
| Are any custom calculations part of the application form? i.e. calculate the applied amount based on business rules. | ||
| Are external reviewers assigned based on certain criteria, for example their expertise or the application scheme etc.? | ||
| Does the applicant have to submit details on their planned Budget / Project Costs? | ||
| Eligibility and Assessment | Currently | Required |
| Is there an eligibility check? | ||
| If there is an eligibility check, is it automatic or carried out by an Internal user? | ||
| Assessment / Reviews | Currently | Required |
| Are there external Assessors / Reviewers? | ||
| Is there a specific process for the Assessment / Review stage, or just one step for them to do the task? | ||
| Do external reviewers need to accept the application first before being assigned a task? | ||
| If there are external Assessors / Reviewers, then how many will be assessing each application? | ||
| Are meeting papers required, i.e. a summary of all meeting projects? Are meeting papers different per meeting? | ||
| How many different sections and questions are currently included in an assessment form? | ||
| Decision | Currently | Required |
| Is there a Panel / Committee meeting where decisions are made? How many different meetings? | ||
| Will the Panel / Committee members have access to that meeting to view the linked applications and the meeting papers? | ||
| Are meeting papers required i.e. a summary of all meeting projects? Are meeting papers different per meeting? | ||
| Are contracts required to be generated automatically? How much of the project-specific information is to be pulled into contracts automatically? | ||
| Emails | Currently | Required |
| Are automated emails required? If yes, what type of emails are they? For example: task assignment emails, deadline emails, notification emails etc. | ||
| Are the funds/budgets yearly? | ||
| Are all emails required in one language only? If multiple, what different languages are required? | ||
| Appeals | Currently | Required |
| Is there an Appeal Process if an application is rejected? | ||
| Funds | Currently | Required |
| How many funds or budgets (pots of money) are there? | ||
| If there are multiple funds/budgets, what is the maximum and minimum number of schemes or programmes that are linked to a fund/budget? | ||
| Are any funds/budgets set per individual applicants? | ||
| Are any funds / budgets set per individual applicants? | ||
| Is the overall fund allowance per applicant categorised? If so, how many different categories? | ||
| Is any custom validation required for the approval of funds? | ||
| Monitoring | Currently | Required |
| Is there a monitoring stage? | ||
| If there is a monitoring stage, how long will the application / project be monitored? | ||
| Are there KPIs? | ||
| Does the applicant have to submit KPI reports? | ||
| If there are KPI reports, how often are they submitted | ||
| Are there interim project reports to be submitted? | ||
| Any mission reports / site visit reports? | ||
| Are there financial reports to be submitted by applicants at the end of the financial year? | ||
| Are there any application conditions for example project report? | ||
| Claims and Payments | Currently | Required |
| Does the applicant submit claims? | ||
| If the applicant submits claims, how often does this happen e.g. When they want, monthly, and quarterly? | ||
| If claims are required, is there a specific process for claims? | ||
| Should claims be approved in Batch or Singularly? | ||
| Do payments need to be scheduled automatically, by scheme or type or project, with business rules? | ||
| Are the conditions linked to each Payment? | ||
| Is there a specific process for each payment condition? For example, a condition report is submitted by an applicant and reviewed / approved by an internal user before a payment can be released. | ||
| Is there a specific payment process other than submission, approval and release? | ||
| Variations | Currently | Required |
| Are variations to the project allowed? | ||
| Is there a process required for this approval? | ||
| Are Variations approved by Panel / Committee? | ||
| Should the applicant be allowed to start a Variation process? | ||
| Data Migration | Currently | Required |
| Is there legacy data to be imported into the system? | ||
| If an import is required, how many applications? | ||
| How many contacts? | ||
| What database is the legacy data currently stored in? | ||
| Interfaces | Currently | Required |
| Is there an existing finance system? | ||
| If so, what is the finance system? | ||
| How often should payments be transferred to finance system? | ||
| Are commitments transferred to the finance system? | ||
| Are there any other interfaces to other systems? | ||
| Reporting | Currently | Required |
| What mandatory reports are required? | ||
| Are multiple filtering parameters required? | ||
| Are there different reports required for different user groups? | ||
| Are there any user restrictions required for different reports? |
Your AIMS setup
| Access to System | Currently | Required |
| Will users access the system via a Public Domain? | ||
| Is Single sign on required or another form of login? | ||
| Infrastructure Set-up | Currently | Required |
| Hosting preference: AIMS public cloud or ‘on prem’ client hosting? | ||
| Licence model preference: One-time perpetual product licence or, Annual subscription (includes licence, support and hosting) | ||
| Will you require a test environment after implementation? (Advised if you will want to make changes to your configured solution) | ||
| Volumes | Currently | Required |
| Total number of projected applications across all schemes/programmes (schemes) per year | ||
| Total number of projected applications across all schemes/programmes (schemes) for the next 5 years | ||
| Please estimate the number of attachments per application | ||
| Please estimate the average size of an attachment | ||
| Concurrent users | Currently | Required |
| Maximum number of concurrent internal users that will be using AIMS | ||
| Maximum number of concurrent external users that will be using AIMS | ||
| How many deadlines per year? | ||
| How many projected applications per deadline? | ||
| How many projected applications are completed in the last week before a deadline? | ||
| How many projected applications are completed in the last 24 hours before a deadline? | ||
| Other | ||
| Are there any other constraints on your grantmaking that need to be considered? | ||
