Request for Proposal (RFP) Essay

Introduction

The process of managing a project within a corporate setting is important and necessary. During the vendor selection process, a number of considerations must be observed. One of the main requirements that will precede vendor selection is the submission of the request for proposal form, a document designed by the project owners and acquired by the prospective vendors based on the project requirements (Gratton, 2007). Baderman Island Resort is employing the services of Smith Systems Consulting to carry out their vendor selection process for the acquisition of the word processing software. Some of the main areas that Smith Systems Consulting has proposed and which should be included in the request for proposal form to be collected, filled and completed by the prospective vendors include:

• The vendor’s background summary
• The vendor’s customer satisfaction record
• The vendor’s financial performance, strength and viability for this particular project.
• The product description and demonstrations and finally
• Training and implementation of the proposed application

Request for proposal assessment process

The request for proposal (RFP) assessment is based on the project steering committee’s requirements and stipulated qualifications. Generally, all the vendors in this Word application upgrade project for Baderman Island Resort should prepare their proposals in compliance with all the instructions in the RPF. Therefore, a proper assessment for all the RFP submissions required will be carried out based on a number of aspects. Some of these aspects include:

1. An assessment of the general proposal format that should include a cover letter, company background, product strategy and diversity, financial performance, strength and viability, customer satisfaction, training and implementation strategy, questions and answers, and response to terms and conditions.
2. The vendor should indicate within the RFP form their business operational period and compliance.
3. An assessment of all the relevant financial information for each vendor, including any information on mergers and acquisitions and or bankruptcy.
4. A credible list of the vendors’ customers, including their current contact details for reference purpose.

Generally, each of the RFP will be assessed based on:

• Software and technical capability of the vendor
• Vendor support and follow up procedure.
• Usability of the product provided in a product overview as well as demonstrated trial runs.
• A pricing of the software product
• Vendor’s clients reference list
• Results of any demonstrated functionality of the application
• The implementation process and user support like staff training.

Conclusion

Baderman Island Resort must carry out the RFP assessment based on the requirements of the project within the vendor selection policy. The RFP most suited will be one from a vendor who is technically qualified to undertake the proposed project and fulfill the requirements at the most competitive price.

Besides the submissions, the vendors must also be vetted on their ability to meet set deadlines. This will enable Baderman Island Resort to pick the next best vendor should the best one fail to meet some of the requirements within the stipulated deadline.

Recommendation

A thorough assessment of the capabilities of each vendor, during the vendor selection process, remains an important part for the success of any project (Gratton, 2007). However, this can only be achieved if a proper response for proposal assessment exercise is duly carried out. This whole process must be in line with a laid down policy governing the RFP requirements. Where the vendor has not fully met these requirements, it is safe and logical, based on these grounds, to exclude them from the prospective vendor bracket. Therefore, RFP assessment remains one of the crucial undertakings for any project to succeed.

Reference

Gratton, R.D. (2007). Making Good RFP Response Decisions. Web.