An RFP (Request for Proposals), also known as a bid, is a very effective tool for contracting and outsourcing services in the public as well as private sectors around the globe. This document, generated by the Computer Aided Strategic Planner after an interview, is intended to help government officials develop an RFP for ICT services (i.e., eservices). It consists of the following sections:
Section 1: Background Information about RFPs with some general guidelines for developing and managing RFPs
Section 2: Sample RFP Templates with links to sample RFPs and also a link to the Strategic Planner Sample RFP for downloading
Section 3: Problem Specific RFP that shows the main results generated by Strategic Planner. These results are very problem and project specific and form the Technical Content (or Terms of Reference) in the RFP. This is the most important part and differentiates one RFP from another. :
The following diagram illustrates the overall process used by Strategic Planner to produce the RFP Guide and also the Customized RFP:
Guidelines for Developing an RFPDeveloping a solid RFP is tedious and time consuming process with many options that need to be explored and investigated. Common issues that arise during an RFP preparation are:
It is best to use a systematic BRODE(Buy, Rent, Outsource, Develop, Extend) methodology consisting of the following steps instead of chasing every possible option: S1: Develop a logical diagram of the solution architecture under consideration. The following diagram shows a general logical architecture that could be used for the purpose of illustration: The integration service just shows how the participating services are connected. In many cases, we need to see and understand how the information flows from the user service bus through the agencies to the B2B integration bus. The composite solutions in the Planner show below the dotted line solution and the individual services show above the dotted line.
S2: Divide the diagram in terms of logical blocks (L1, L2, L3,,, etc). The following logical blocks can be developed from the above diagram. Each of these logical blocks (modules) can be outsourced or developed in house
A: ESB Preparation A1: ESB acquisition, and installation A2: ESB configuration and customization A3: Development of adapters A4: Population of Directory and Data Dictionary A5: Specification of rules and policies A6: Enabling the workflow A7: Establishing the security A8: Testing the ESB environment
B: Development of Software for Each Organization Unit B1: Developing the ESB clients B2: Connecting the local apps with the clients B3: Testing the software and ESB clients at each site
C: Project Management C1: Preparing a project plan C2: Monitoring and controlling the plan C3: Preparing a Business Continuity Plan C4: Risk analysis
S3: For each block, lets say B1, decide on BRODE, based on factors such as TCO (total cost of ownership, time to implement, flexibility, internal skillset, business strategy, etc. For example, an ERP package means that you are buying a bunch of blocks. . S4: Repeat S3 for all building blocks that are left over. For example, if a commercial package covers 5 out of the 8 blocks, then now you decide what is your BRODE strategy for the remaining 3 blocks. S5: After you are done, you will have a few components that are bought, a few that are rented, some are extended/reused from extended systems, etc. Now you can estimate the critical factors (e.g., TCO) for the solution. If you are happy with this solution, you are done. If not, then go back and to S3 and reiterate S3, S4 and S5 till you are done. In practice, you should not go through the iteration more than a few times (probably three to five). Once you found a solution that makes sense and you want to procure it, then you can proceed with developing the RFP based on the solution. Once you have found a solution that makes sense and you want to go with it, then you can proceed with developing the RFP based on the solution. Here are some additional suggestions about developing an RFP:
|
An RFP is a commonly used document for soliciting submittal of proposals in response to a scope of work. RFPs are used as a basic tool for contracting goods or services.
An RFP must be a clear, concise and consistent document that provides enough information to the prospective vendors but avoid unnecessary details. It must provide the following pieces of information:
Many guidelines for developing RFPs are available on the Internet. Here are a couple of examples:
Strategic Planner RFP Template
Many companies sell RFP templates for different types of packages for a fee. See, for example, http://rfp.technologyevaluation.com/store.asp
View Strategic Planner RFP Service Specifications
Download Strategic Planner RFP Service Specifications
.NOTE: The following specification shows the main results generated by Strategic Planner. These results are very problem and project specific and form the Technical Content (or Terms of Reference) in the RFP. Carefully read the following report to develop an understanding of all the information that can be used to develop and manage an RFP.
This information is not in a format to be sent out for bidding. It covers many aspects of the service being provided.
Depending on the type of outsourcing (everything versus only one part), some of the information will be important to the RFP providers and the other to the RFP responders.
You need to build a customized RFP from the following information for your situation by extracting the needed portions and customizing the technical content from the information.
For help in creating a customized RFP, please invoke the Strategic Planner RFP Generator it will create a draft customized RFP to get you started. . .