Let’s take the headings from the RFI blog and expand on what each section should contain.
1.Confidentiality – As you are going to send the RFI out to many companies or even publish it in the OJ (the EU Official Journal) there is an argument that nothing confidential should be in the RFI document. If it needs to contain confidential information then get the vendors to sign your organisation’s standard confidentiality agreement before you send them the RFI. When working for USA based companies, I have used some standard confidentiality text in the RFI. I suspect that it does not work in European law.
2.1 Background – explain that the document is an RFI and give the basic steps that you intend to take regarding the issue of the RFP.
2.2 Objectives – give the vendors a clue about your organisation and why it wants to carry out the procurement e.g. lower cost, business benefit.
2.3 IT Services Overview – a high level description of the services required. Also cover the technologies involved. Remember that this is only the RFI and not the RFP; the level of detail required is modest.
3.1 Point of Contact – how the vendors can contact your organisation. Also, can they ask questions, if so how?
3.2 Submission of Response – when (time and date), how (email and Word document) and to whom responses are to be sent (if different from 3.1). I would allow two weeks from issue of RFI to close date for responses provided the RFI is going to a known contact point in each vendor. Beware: in a large organisation identifying the right person who is responsible for a given sector, in a given country and for a given service can be more difficult than you might believe. The words ‘but I am trying buy something’ has often gone through my head.
4. Response Format – all the text of this section should be linked to the AHP marking spreadsheet criteria to ensure the vendors provide relevant answers. Ask for the information outlined below with the specified page limits:
4.1 Primary Contact – a single point of contact, address, email, fax, mobile phone and landline phone numbers. (1/4 page)
4.2 General Business Background information – a description of the business, its size, top level financial information and USP. (1/2 page)
4.3 Description of client base for similar services – up to five clients to whom they have provided the requested services. (1/2 page)
4.4 Experience with the technologies – a description where they have used the technologies of the service. (1 page)
4.5 Experience with the Business Sector – up to five clients in the business sector. (1 page)
4.6 Geographic Coverage – offices in the country and in the region (no agents). (1/2 page)
4.7 Client References – list three clients who could potentially be approached who are in the business sector and in the country. (1/2 page)
4.8 Potential for Value Added Services – what additional services could the vendor offer that have synergy with the requested services. (1/2 page)
4.9 Other relevant experience – what other relevant experience does the vendor have. (1/2 page)
4.10 Potential and preferred contract structures – appropriate contract models that the vendor feels is appropriate for the service delivery. (1/2 page)
5. Conclusion – Advise that information provided outside of the above format will be discarded and feedback will be provided to the vendors who submit a response.
You should be able to keep the RFI document down to four pages. You only need to provide enough information so that the vendors can see ‘that’s for us’ and create their 4/5 page response.
Ian Richmond
Email: ‘About’ and ‘Email Me’
Comments