We use it at the University of Alaska. The "Proposal Module" as it's
called is really just a basic database. Here is most of what we capture
with it:

Originating parent unit/department of proposal
Long/Short Title
Funding Agency
PI
Amount Requested
Status (In Progress, Submitted, Withdrawn, Awarded, etc.)
Start/End Dates
Type of Proposal (Competitive, Non-Comp., etc.)
CFDA Number
Project Personnel
Budget Specifics (the budget isn't normally entered, but the F&A rate,
code where F&A is distributed, etc.)
Theme Codes
Flags for requirements like matching, subawards, tuition, etc.
Other Alaska-specific metric fields...
There is more, but you get the idea.

Here are my personal pros and cons:

Pros:
Web-based (Banner 7) - can use it anywhere or through VPN without a hard
client required

Cons:
Only compatible with specific web browsers (not Firefox 2.0+)
Not user friendly - typically only department-level and central
administrators use it, it's not useful for PIs.
Requires knowing where to look for information and how to query it,
which requires either a lot of time fooling around or a lot of training.
Have to build browsers to run customized reports, which is not easy to learn
Not overly customizable to fit our business processes/needs and
reporting requirements
Doesn't track compliance issues (at least our instance of it doesn't)

I know that SunGard had several focus groups meet and are trying to
tailor Banner 8 to be more in line with something like InfoEd or Click
Commerce. From what I've personally seen, they have a long, long way to
go and it still would not address compliance issues. We're currently
pursuing an eRA option that can tie into Banner, feed it the data it
needs, get data back from it, and reconcile the two together.

I'm willing to talk more about this offline with anyone interested.

Cheers,
Andrew

Pamela Miller wrote:
>
> Has anyone had experience with Sungard (Banner) relative to preaward
> support?
>
> They seem to have something to “set up and maintain” and track a
> proposal. Is anyone using this software?
>
> If so, can you give me an evaluation of strengths and weaknesses (on
> or off line)?
>
> Thanks,
>
> pam
>
> Pamela F. Miller, Ph.D.
> Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
> The University of San Francisco
> 2130 Fulton Street
> San Francisco, CA 94117-1080
> TEL 415-422-5368
> FAX 415-422-6222
> EMAIL xxxxxx@usfca.edu <mailto:xxxxxx@usfca.edu>
>
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