D4

Introduction to the Request for Proposal (RFP) Tool

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a formal invitation issued by a business requesting interested vendors to submit written proposals meeting a set of requirements. If interested in bidding for the project, vendors respond with a description of the techniques they would employ to meet the requirements, a plan of work, and a detailed budget for the project, along with supporting information. An RFP may form part of the final contract once negotiations between the enterprise and the vendor are completed. This tool will help you produce your Request for Proposal (RFP).

The following tool serves as a sample and guide to producing your RFP deliverable along with instructions and descriptions to guide you in understanding how to complete it.

Tool style conventions are as follows:

As you use this sample / tool, please remember to delete all instructional text (including this section) and update the following items, as applicable:

· title page

· table of contents

· headers

· footers

Example:

The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to request prospective vendors to submit a proposal to supply a PPM Solution to the University of Prosperity. The Request for Proposal provides vendors with the relevant operational, performance, application, and architectural requirements of the system.

[Describe the Original RFP Document requirement and the grounds for disqualification. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. You are expected to conduct your own research and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

The University of Prosperity shall retain the Request for Proposal document, and all related terms and conditions, exhibits, and any other attachments, in original form in an archival copy. Any modification to the RFP or related documents by any vendor as part of their response would be grounds for immediate disqualification.

[Describe the organization in a few sentences. Feel free to make any assumptions you feel necessary as very little information was provided to you about the University of Prosperity, as an organization. Make assumptions for the groups within the University of Prosperity that will be using the PPM offering and the number of users. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. You are expected to conduct your own research / make the necessary assumption, and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

· University of Prosperity

· Industry: Higher Education

· Products/Services Offered: Feel free to make assumptions and fill this section.

· Sector (public, private, NFP): Feel free to make assumptions and fill this section.

· Major drivers for the PPM solution system: Feel free to make assumptions and fill in this section.

· Relevant compliance regulations (e.g. FERPA): Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA: Canada). Feel free to do your own research and fill out this section, also make the necessary assumption as you feel appropriate.

[Describe the existent technology environment currently available at the University of Prosperity to realize the desired state for project and portfolio management. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. The sample provides a list of considerations. You are expected to conduct your own research / make the necessary assumption, and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

· Server operating system

· Desktop operating system

· Professional services software

· ERP Software

· HRMS/HRIS Software

· Collaboration Software

· Document Management Systems (DMS)

· Content Management Systems (CMS)

· Business Intelligence (BI) Software

· Mobile Platforms (iOS, Android, etc.)

· Other project management software used in the organization: JIRA and MS Project Professional

· Development platforms

[Describe the schedule to follow for this RFP. This schedule might be subject to change in accordance with the needs by the University of Prosperity. You are expected to list all milestones and related dates. Key milestones would include issuance of the RFP/ date, questions (technical and functional) due date, RFP response due date (exact date/time), and Selection / Award notification due date. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. You are expected to conduct your own research / make the necessary assumption, and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

· Issuance of RFP / Date: Date

· Questions (technical & functional) Due Date Date

· RFP Response Due Date/ Time Date / Time

· Select / Award Notification Date

[Describe how vendors are expected to submit their proposals. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. You are expected to conduct your own research / make the necessary assumption, and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

· Proposals must be delivered sealed to:

· Name of the Procurement Manager

· University of Prosperity

· Procurements Department

· Insert Address Here: Make any assumption as necessary.

· Insert City, State/Province, and ZIP/Postal Code.

· Here on or prior to DATE/ TIME, The University of Prosperity, will not accept proposals

· The University of Prosperity will not accept proposals received by fax or email.

· Vendors are to submit 2 original copies of the proposal marked “Original” and 5 marked “Copy.” Each original and copy must be individually bound. Please provide one electronic copy on a CD.

[Describe how to communicate and ask questions about the RFP. Reference below a sample. Feel free to use and /or modify the sample as you feel appropriate. You are expected to conduct your own research / make the necessary assumption, and tailor this section as you feel appropriate].

Example:

· Questions about the RFP: Questions must be submitted in writing and be received prior to DATE / TIME.

· Technical questions and/or interpretations must be submitted in writing and be received prior to DATE / TIME.

· Inquiries for clarifications that will not require addenda may be submitted verbally to the Procurement Manager, named above, at any time during this process.

[This section documents a description of the essential functions of the PPM Offering, that vendors would need to address as part of their RFP response. You are expected to identify special or distinctive requirements that differentiate the organization’s needs. Avoid making the specifications unnecessarily specific. You are expected to use the high-level requirements presented to you in the Project Charter_PPM Selection- Section 3: Scope & High-Level Requirements. You can also use as a reference the Magic Quadrant for Strategic Portfolio Management” by Gartner Corporation provided to you as part of this project. Finally, you are expected to conduct your own research and document the Functional Requirements. Feel free to make any assumptions as needed.

[This section documents any technical requirements that the offering need to address. You can use as a reference the Magic Quadrant for Strategic Portfolio Management” by Gartner Corporation provided to you as part of this project. Finally, you are expected to conduct your own research and document the Technical Specifications. Feel free to use the example provided below as a reference.]

Example:

· Single sign-on

· Integration ability with the following applications: Microsoft Exchange Server, MS Office, MS Dynamics, and JIRA

· HTML5

· SaaS

· The application software must operate on Windows Server 2019

· The application must be compatible with Windows SQL Server 2019

[This section requests qualification and reference information in order to have each vendor’s proposal taken into consideration. Feel free to use the example provided below and to conduct your own research to inform this section.]

Example:

· A brief outline of the vendor company and services offered, including:

· Full legal name of the company

· Year business was established

· Number of people currently employed

· Income statement and balance sheet for each of the two most recently completed fiscal years certified by a public accountant.

· An outline of the product line-up and/or services they currently support.

· A description of their geographic reach and market penetration.

· An outline of their partnerships and relationships to date.

· An outline of their current and future strategies in the marketplace.

· Information on its current clients, including:

· Total number of current clients.

· A list of clients with similar needs using similar products and/or services.

· Evidence of successful completion of a project of a similar size and complexity.

· References: Contact information for five references (if possible) from projects similar in size, application, and scope and a brief description of their implementation

[This section is required to be completed by each vendor. Vendors need to provide a cost breakdown for the implementation of their PPM offering for the University of the Prosperity, as described in this RFP. The vendor must agree to keep these costs valid for 120 days after this response to the RFP. Feel to use the example provided below, and to conduct your own research to inform this section.]

Example:

Provide a 5-year cost summary as presented below.

Cost Categories:

Hardware: Record the cost of all pieces of hardware that are required to optimally run the software.

Software Licensing: Record the licensing, implementation, maintenance, support, and training fees associated with your proposed software.

Third-Party Software (Middleware): Record the cost of each piece of software (including operating systems) that is required to optimally run the software.

Installation: Labor, equipment, supplies, or other costs associated with installing your proposed software.

Integration: Labor, equipment, supplies, or other costs associated with integrating the offering into the University of Prosperity’s current architecture and back-end systems.

Legacy Data Loading: Labor, equipment, or other costs associated with importing legacy data from current systems into the new system.

Maintenance: Cost out any other ongoing costs associated with the operation and maintenance of your proposed PPM offering.

Documentation & Training: If there are fees associated with your user or technical documentation, list them here.

Project Management: If there are project management fees associated with your proposed software, list and describe them here. Project Management services for the implementation project.

Organizational Change Management: If there are organizational management fees associated with your proposed software, list and describe them here.

Miscellaneous: Additional costs associated with your proposed software solution.

Consulting: Please describe any project portfolio management (PPM) consulting that you offer as part of the implementation or ongoing support of your PPM solution and please indicate how consulting fees are charged.

Configuration: Labor, equipment, supplies, or other costs associated with configuring your proposed software

Support: Cost of basic support for this product and also describe the cost of any additional (or premium) support offerings that you provide.

[This section explicitly states the intent of the University of Prosperity to reserve the right to enter into a non-disclosure agreement. Feel free to use the example statement presented below, and to conduct your own research as you feel appropriate.]

Example:

The University of Prosperity reserves the right to make it mandatory for any respondent to enter into a non-disclosure agreement.