RFP Procedures and Management

A Request for Proposal procurement process begins:

1. As a result of a Company needs assessment in which insufficient information technology resources are available to satisfy departmental needs;
2. A Project Plan is completed and approved by the appropriate oversight group of the Company;
3. A detailed Business Analysis document is completed;
4. The Company has developed a budget for the project;
5. The Company has approved funding for the project;
6. A Company Project Manager has been assigned to manage the acquisition process under the direction of the Director of the Company’s IT Purchasing Department (CITPD). 

CITPD will schedule the procurement action based on the information provided by the Company and determining the magnitude of the procurement.

Small-scale procurements (Invitation to Bid – NOT Request for Proposal) can typically involve either hardware (PC's, disk drives, printers, modems etc.) or software (Word, Windows, etc.).

A medium scale procurement (again an Invitation to Bid) could involve a combination of hardware and software (Local Area Network with Installation of equipment, wiring, software).

Large-scale procurement actions (Request For Proposals) are perhaps best described as "turnkey" in scope.  This entails conceptual design, requirements analysis, conceiving, creating, revising and issuing the procurement document as well as evaluating vendor responses, handling protest actions, if any, contract negotiation and conducting debriefings for losing vendors.  It logically follows that fewer Company resources will be required for a small-scale procurement versus a large-scale procurement.

THIS IS A 47 Step Process

a) Sole source acquisition: A procurement in which only one (1) vendor possesses the necessary expertise to satisfy Company requirements for hardware, software, maintenance, consultant, etc.

b) Sole product(s) acquisition: A procurement in which the specific product(s) (hardware, software, maintenance, consultant, etc.) is (are) known to be available from more than one (1) vendor.

c) Open competitive acquisition: A procurement in which either generic specifications are stated without reference to a given vendor, or a procurement in which a given vendor's product or products is suggested but is further clarified in the procurement document as "or functional equivalent" and is open to the vendors with either type of products referenced herein.

Depending on the type of procurement, it should be determined whether dollars alone will determine the ultimate winning vendor, and if not, what the relationship will be between points that might be awarded for technical merit and the cost for the technology.

The RFP document is typically composed of the following sections:

a)         Cover Page

b)         Table of Contents

c)         Foreword

d)         Stipulated Administrative Requirements

e)         Typical Activities Conducted After RFP Issuance

f)         RFP Response Requirements

g)         Specifications

h)         Vendor Proposal Response

i)          Attachments