how to write a request for proposals (RFP)?

Woohoo!  You’ve pitched your business case to the management team and it seems your new system/software request has been approved and you’ve been given the green light to put a request out for proposals.

Hmmm, where to start the process of putting out for bids?

Well, before you start writing anything you really need to determine three things:

1. what are the key criteria for which successful proposals will be measured? both “must haves” and “nice to haves”
2. who is going to be on the committee to evaluate the proposals submitted?
3. who are the vendors you are going to request proposals from?

Right then.  You’ve had your meeting, you have your list of criteria and your approved business case, the committee has met and all agree on what the desired ‘best proposal’ should include and you have your list of vendors and contacts.  So, now it is time to write the request for proposals (”RFP”).  What should it include?

A request for proposal should include the following information:

Information about the company: this section should include a general overview of the company (company history, what industry, products offered, solutions, etc.).  Also, clearly outline the goals of the company as they pertain to the RFP (e.g. 200% revenue growth) and in particular what made you search for an external vendor to meet the goals (e.g. due to revenue growth, increased transaction volume warrants more sales staff and all the associated infrastructure) and the problem that the new system/software is supposed to solve (e.g. we currently manually track customer information and are therefore seeking a new CRM system).

IT standards: does the new system/software need to integrate into an existing system?  Well, you better provide full specs as to how and what is expected.  As well, if you have corporate IT standards (e.g. security requirements and restrictions) those should be provided in this section.

Why are you requesting proposals?  This section helps identify why you are going to an external vendor.  It’s the “build vs. buy” argument you made in your business case or could be something as simple as: reducing overall cost, lacking in-house expertise, etc.  Given our example of CRM it would be: “manually tracking customer information is painful and inaccurate and we are seeking a more cost effective, time efficient solution” - or some other drivel as such.  Hah!

Project description: I cannot over-emphasize the importance of being very clear and detailed in this section.  This section should include, at a minimum, the following:

• functionality and key features;
• if there is a user interface involved provide examples of the look and feel and any corporate branding guidelines;
• what is the existing system and software set up if you are replacing an outdated system/software - provide descriptions and links if applicable;
• what is the hardware and software configurations to be created? - platform, programming tools and languages, how do you feel about open-source?
• how/who will project manage during the implementation process?
• what is the budget?  try to provide guidance on not only the estimated cost of the implementation but also any follow on fees (e.g. maintenance and support);
• specify what in-house expertise you have that will be supporting the delivered system/software as this will help them establish training costs and support requirements;
• what will be considered acceptance? specify the conditions of deployment, integration, final testing, and support.

Time line: yup, it gets its own section.  What is the timeline for both creation and full deployment of the system/software?  Ask them to provide a specific deployment chart if you like.

Proposal instructions: in order to make ‘apples to apples’ comparisons you need to give them some guidance on the format to be submitted back while still allowing them enough creative license to distinguish themselves from the other vendors.  Large companies have established RFP response formats but for us let’s just request the basics: number of copies, provide answers for each section provided within the project description with same header, expiration date and time (e.g. all proposals must be in before April 7, 2009 by 5PM PST), main contact at your company and decision date.

Depending on the nature of what you are requesting you may also want each of the vendors to sign a non-disclosure agreement before sending the request for proposals to them.

Before you send the proposal request out make sure the committee that is going to evaluate the options has also read your RFP document and agrees with everything in it.

In technology we spend most of our lives responding to requests for proposals.  How lucky you are to be able to actually request a new system/software!