See the following URL:
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/columns/writerfp.html
Read that article with some care, as the author Bruce Morris knows what he's talking about.
The RFP process that he suggests has two stages - an informal solicitation, and a formal RFP. Our example for this course will fall between these two extremes.
What Must an RFP Accomplish?
Three things:
- Tell the contractors who you are
- Tell them what you want done (scope), and the kind of folks who you
want to do it
- Tell them the constraints within which they must work: cost and schedule
The proposal that the contractor-candidates send back to you, must accomplish a complementary set of goals:
- Tell the client who you (the contractor-candidate) are (establishing
your bona fides)
- Tell them what you propose to produce for them
- Tell them enough about how you will do it, to provide a management
framework (and credibility check)
- Tell them what it will cost.
In order to make up an RFP for this assignment, your group needs a business. Your group will be given an initial assignment so that you're not working in a vacuum. You may replace this business with one of your choosing. It is helpful if you have some actual relationship to the business (your parents may own this kind of business, or work for it; or you may have been employed in such a business, or dream of starting one.)
However, please DO NOT select "web developer" or "e-commerce". The reason: we want a clear distinction between your group's two role-playing tasks, as client and contractor. Take off the pretend-client-hat and put on the pretend-web-developer hat, etc.
Here are ten businesses to start with:
group 1 - A family owned hardware store (Parker Brothers, in Winter
Park, is a good example)
group 2 - A Mailboxes-R-Us franchise that specializes in services for
the disabled
group 3 - a pet store specializing in reptiles
group 4 - an ethnic restaurant (Ethiopian, trying to get started in
a tough market - Orlando, FL)
group 5 - a hazardous materials cleanup firm (specializing in cleaning
up murder scenes)
group 6 - a demolition company that salvages antique mantels, doors
etc.
group 7 - a retail shop that sells used clothing and costumes
group 8 - a store for parents of precocious children
group 9 - a custom design women's clothing boutique, for very wealthy
people
group 10 - a hot-air balloon ride company
The Task. Your first role is to pretend to be such a business. You want a web site designed that will serve as a general introduction of your business to the world of the web. You don't want to do e-commerce, you just want people to be able to find your business and to decide to come over to your store and purchase your services.
You are to write an RFP that will be given to contractors who want to build your site for you. In this exercise we will only give it to one group, because we want to focus on making one GOOD proposal rather than spreading out our efforts.
The Bruce Morris web site provides a checklist of elements to include in the RFP. Here's a reduced list, that combines some of those bullets together. You should use this outline for your RFP.
As you can see, it's only a page or two in length. Real RFPs vary greatly in length, but the one I want you to produce in the next week should be about like this one.
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The SBIR Conference for 2002
A Request for Proposals
Small Business Administration (SBA), U. S. Department of Commerce
1 November 2001
Executive summary
The SBA hosts an annual conference in Washington DC, in June 2002. Approximately six hundred representatives of small businesses, representing three hundred businesses, will attend a two day conference. Representatives of 40 Federal agencies will attend. Eight time slots will be made available for small businesses to meet with agency representatives. We need conference registration services that in addition to the standard services of fee collection, name badge production and financial reporting, can efficiently schedule the businesses into appointments with the agencies of their choice for the (8 x 40 = 320) available meeting time slots.
Corporate information
The Small Business Administration is an agency of the U. S. Department of Commerce. As such, bids and project performance must conform to standard federal acquisition regulations (FAR) with regard to environmental impact, affirmative action and standard accounting practices.
Qualifications of vendor and development team
We expect the successful bidding organization to have a track record of at least three years, during which they should have handled ten or more conferences of this size. We require that the vendor demonstrate specific expertise with regard to scheduling such as described in the Executive Summary. Bidders need to provide a list of three references and contact persons.
Description of development process
We will want to know how your proposed solution takes advantage of the Internet; what your arrangements for secure financial transactions will be; what new software must be developed and tested; what legacy software you have available that is used for each of your conferences. We want to know if any of the software you develop will become the property of SBA, or if you propose purely to provide a service for us.
Draft delivery methods
Bidders should explain in some detail how their proposed solution, and successive prototypes and demonstrations will be presented to SBA officials. If travel to our location is required, its costs must be shown as a separate line item in the proposal budget.
Quality control and testing
The proposal should explain in detail your testing procedures. Are we (SBA) to be involved in testing? If so, when, and how much effort (in person-days) do you expect that we will be required to provide? What skills are presumed of the personnel which we are to provide for testing?
Project Schedule
The proposal should show the overall project schedule in terms of four to six milestones. We do not require detailed production schedule information in the proposal.
Cost and terms
We prefer bids to be in the form of a fixed fee plus net expenses. A fee per registrant is acceptable. We expect your proposal to specify a payment schedule that allows for a final reserve of at least 20% of the project cost, to be paid upon delivery of your final registration report and final invoice.
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How we will "invent" your small businesses.
On Thursday, your group will have a little time to discuss the fake business you're in. This should help to consolidate your sense of what you want to ask for in your RFP. Then you will go home and over the weekend, you will write up your individual version of the RFP.
How We Will 'Workshop' The RFPs.
When your individual drafts are posted on your individual websites (Monday 1/14, 5 PM) I will look them over and select one group that I want to use as a (good!) example in class on Thursday 1/17. I will notify you by e-mail that you are to be the lucky guinea pigs.
Make sure that you have each read the others' RFP drafts, and taken notes about the draft's strong items. What did you see that surprised you? What did you see that you think should NOT be in the collective RFP?
I will arrange for printed copies of all the guinea-pig RFPs, so that the entire class will have copies to look at.
We will go through all the RFP's, section by section, and boil them down into a masterpiece of design. This may take two hours, and will result in a messy collection of notes for you to work with.
How you will produce the final RFP for your contractor.
Your group will meet and work through the notes, to edit a final draft.
You may delegate an editor to do this job, but it is important that the
group have a chance to see and bless the resulting product before it is
submitted to your contractor on Friday 1/25.