Who We Are
Established in 1983, Mainstay Software Corporation has a proven
track record of changing the way in which procurement specialists conduct business. Mainstay’s mission is to serve the
market performing acquisition analysis with best-of-breed software products. These products are designed to fully integrate
all aspects of the acquisition analysis process from project inception through the proposal and program management phases,
including program closeout, and to offer unparalleled client support in all essential areas.
Mainstay has dubbed its software suite as CLAAS (Closed Loop
Acquisition Analysis System) the foundation of which is PPAS (Proposal Pricing and Analysis System). CLAAS is the first true,
complete proposal pricing and analysis system to integrate cost and price analysis, parametric estimating, and risk analysis
and mitigation. With PPAS, contractors can develop and evaluate electronic proposals and submit them electronically using
the same tool with which they are prepared. Thus, contractors can eliminate reconciliation between your proposal development
software and your electronic delivery of the cost volume. Using the same PPAS product, Government cost/price analysts can
perform normalized analysis across all contractors, totally dynamically, with data from each bidder at their disposal, accessible
at whatever levels of detail or aggregation they require at any moment in time. Use of PPAS enables each bidder to prepare
the pricing proposal using its own, unique methodology while allowing Government analysts to see a fully normalized view of
each proposal enhancing the ease of comparison of competitive bids and comprehensiveness of analysis.
Mainstay’s CLAAS suite of products
include:
- PPAS (Proposal Pricing & Analysis System) – The company’s
flagship product used by many government contractors and aerospace/defense industry agencies for preparation, analysis, presentation
and evaluation of proposals. Many major defense contractors and systems integrators have favorably compared PPAS to their
own internal proposal pricing software and now view PPAS as a cost-effective tool that is far more responsive to their exacting
requirements.
- STAR (System Trade and Risk Analysis) – Designed to provide
the user the ability to better understand and accurately assess, manage and mitigate performance, cost and schedule risks.
- ParaModel (A Parametric Estimating Tool) –
A platform that provides cost and schedule estimating support for projects that require development, production, modification,
integration or testing of hardware, software, or both.
The company is also currently developing a new platform that
will provide the opportunity for complete elimination of proposal pricing and source selection stovepipes by replacing traditional
transmission of data files between stovepiped activities with a whole new transformational paradigm. The new product will
allow Mainstay to yet again refine and improve its software offerings to the acquisition community.
Corporate History
Mainstay Software Corporation was founded in June 1983 in Colorado
as a C Corporation. The company was established to continue developing and marketing Mainstay's one-of-a-kind OLAP (On-Line
Analytical Processing) product, MAINSTAY, which was developed and introduced in the early 1980s at Corporate Management Systems,
Inc., a decision support consulting company.
From 1984 to 1986, Mainstay was successful in developing and
marketing several versions of the MAINSTAY software product. In 1986, Mainstay Software began to focus its attention on the
aerospace/defense industry. PPAS (Proposal Pricing & Analysis System), the company's flagship product, was developed using
MAINSTAY and was introduced in 1989. As the first PC-based proposal pricing tool, PPAS received much attention. From the beginning,
PPAS was designed to respond to the unique processes of cost and price analysis performed by the Government for competitive
source selections.
Today, PPAS is used by many government contractors for preparation,
analysis, and presentation of pricing proposals, as well as for the analysis of cost proposals by government agencies themselves,
with special emphasis on competitive source selections. In 1990, building on a massive market lead, Mainstay ceased all other
consulting and software development activities to focus on the support and sale of PPAS and its complementary products.
Since the introduction of PPAS, Mainstay has focused on relationship
building with a select group of government contractors and agency analysts who know exactly what they want from a cost and
price analysis software product. These two-way relationships with Government and industry have provided Mainstay with valuable
insight from key players within the aerospace/defense industry, which has provided the basis for continual improvement of
the PPAS product to its current level of excellence and its unique position as the only tool of this type which is required
by Government RFPs for electronic delivery of cost proposals on competitive procurements.
Contractors currently using PPAS have been quick to dub Mainstay
Software Corporation a significant supplier of flexible analysis and evaluation software for their proposal pricing and related
needs. Moreover, the recognition given PPAS by major government organizations, and the specification of PPAS by many major
agencies as the electronic vehicle for submission of many of its major competitive procurements, further enhances the value
of the tool for the aerospace/defense community. In short, PPAS dramatically improves the process of preparing, submitting,
analyzing and awarding competitive proposals.
Mainstay Software also offers a parametric estimating program,
ParaModel, and a risk assessment and management software product, STAR, which are both designed with flexibility in mind to
accommodate the requirements of government contractors and agencies both while preparing proposals and post award. Mainstay's
objective is to continue to provide its customers with a constantly evolving product line that adapts to the dynamic needs
of the industry and extends the concept of integration toward virtual elimination of stovepipes in the acquisition process.
As a result, the software’s benefit extends beyond the contract award as it enables the collection of actual project
data, as well as preparing and analyzing change orders.
In addition to its software, Mainstay prides itself on the quality
of its client support. Mainstay’s primary focus is the customer and meeting the customer’s needs whenever they
seek support. Unlike many others, Mainstay offers support outside of the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. Mainstay’s Support
Hotline is available 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365 days a year and on-site whenever necessary.
