Rfp Selection

Best Practices for Preparing a Request for Proposal

by Betsy Walli Copyright 2010, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved. Docid: 00018560 Publication Date: 1012 Report Type: TUTORIAL

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A well-crafted, thoroughly defined RFP is the principal instrument for successful procurement of enterprise systems and software. The RFP should focus on the business needs to be addressed by the acquisition, and be designed to elicit vendor responses that are specific, complete, and of a consistent format to allow cross-vendor comparisons. The winning vendor's RFP response can be automatically incorporated into an organized, detailed contract. RFP preparation tools that allow electronic distribution and results processing greatly reduce data entry and analysis time, as well as printing and distribution costs. Report Contents:

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Executive Summary

[return to top of this report] A well-crafted, thoroughly defined request for proposal (RFP) is the principal instrument for successful procurement of enterprise systems and software. An RFP should focus on the business needs to be addressed by the acquisition, and be designed to elicit vendor responses that are specific, complete, and of a consistent format, to allow cross-vendor comparisons. The winning vendor's RFP response can be automatically incorporated into an organized, detailed contract. RFP preparation tools that allow electronic distribution and results processing greatly reduce data entry and analysis time, as well as printing and distribution costs.

Effective contract management comprises a series of steps. The first step is to determine the business needs that the technology procurement will address. Next a company must prepare and distribute a request for proposal (RFP) that articulates those needs. After evaluating the proposals it receives in response to the RFP and choosing a supplier, the company is ready to...