Managing Information Technology

Chapter 10 • Methodologies for Purchased Software Packages 395

I. Introduction

A. Structure and Scope of the RFP

B. Objective of RFP

C. Company Background and Philosophy

D. Hardware/Software Environment

E. Current Business Environment

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III. Requirements

A. Vendor Information

B. Vendor Support/Training

C. Documentation

D. Package Hardware and System

Software Environment

E. Application and Database Architecture

F. Tuning and Measurement

G. Functional Requirements

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IV. Costs

A. Summary

B. Nonrecurring

C. Recurring

D. Price Guarantee

E. Maintenance Agreement

F. New Releases

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V. Signature Page 42

II. Guidelines for Vendor Response

A. Guidelines

B. Vendor Response

C. General Evaluation Process

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FIGURE 10.4 Sample RFP Table of Contents

category for each package. Although quantitative scores
might not be the sole means for selection, they help to
quantify differences among the candidate packages.

Develop and Distribute the RFP Arequest for proposal
(RFP)(sometimes called a request for quote, or RFQ) is a
formal document sent to potential vendors inviting them to
submit a proposal describing their software package and
how it would meet the company’s needs. In organizations
with prior experience purchasing software, a template for
the RFP could already have been developed. A sample
table of contents is shown in Figure 10.4. However, the
specific requirements sought in Section III in this example
will greatly depend on the type of package and the specific
business needs.
The project team uses the criteria for selection to
develop the RFP. The RFP gives the vendors information
about the system’s objectives and requirements, the environ-
ment in which the system will be used, the general criteria
that will be used to evaluate the proposals, and the conditions
for submitting proposals. Specific questions might need to
be developed to capture the system’s performance character-
istics, whether source code is provided, and whether the
purchasing organization is allowed to modify the package
without voiding the vendor warranty. In addition to pricing
information for the package itself, any additional costs for

training and consulting need to be ascertained. The RFP can

also be used to capture historical information about the

package, such as the date of the first release, the date of its

last revision, and a list of companies in which the package

has been implemented—including contact information to

obtain references from these companies.

This step ends when the RFP is sent to the short list

of qualified vendors.

Evaluate Vendor Responses to RFP and Choose Package In

this step, the vendor responses to the RFP are evaluated

and additional actions are taken to evaluate the candidate

packages and their vendors. The overall objective of the

evaluation process is to determine the extent of any dis-

crepancies between the company’s needs as specified by

the requirements and the weighting system and the capa-

bilities of the proposed application packages. Aggregate

evaluations (scores) need to be calculated for each set of

criteria and for the overall package. The team then uses

these figures to discuss the major strengths and weakness-

es of the candidate packages. This can be a large data col-

lection and analysis task and might involve independent

evaluations by all project team members. Both IS and busi-

ness team members might need to confer not only with

other project team members but also with other members

of their departments.