Request for Proposal (RFP)
Definition:
An RFP is a competitive tender process where an RFP document is published to a group of vendors to request proposals based around their ability to provide a solution to meet specified requirements.
Project Manager Usage Context
Project managers tend to use RFPs where several specific business requirements have been provided and various different vendor solutions are potentially capable of meeting those requirements.
E.g. “We have gathered a total of 75 different requirements across the various business groups in relation to the Business Process Automation system - lets put it together and issue an RFP to the panel of those 3 pre-qualified vendors”
Comments / Tips
Where there are large numbers of requirements in your RFP, recommend specifying which are mandatory / showstopper / non-negotiable requirements that the vendor must meet if they do not want to be excluded from consideration.
You should check with your organisation’s procurement team before drafting and publishing one of these.
Several standards as well as terms and conditions may need to be included as mandatory.
