I have recently published an article describing how to use the Request For Information (RFI) and Request For Proposal (RFP) process to select a solution or vendor. The article is totally free, and is available on the Pragnalysis website. I’d love to hear what you think, so please do get in touch with your thoughts and comments. Here is an excerpt and link, I hope you find the article useful:
Excerpt:
“When implementing a project, there is often a key decision as to whether to build or buy a solution. If a solution is available “off the shelf”, then there can be many compelling reasons to consider this. For example:
1. Implementation time/cost may be less, compared with building a solution in-house
2. It may be possible to benefit from “best in breed”, tried and tested functionality which has evolved over many releases
3. There is the possibility to adopt industry best practices
4. Many vendors offer a good level of support, with solutions that are well documented.
The challenge can be knowing which software package to buy. Often there will be many Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) packages within a particular area, each of which has slightly different functionality. You may also have the choice of adopting a paid-for solution (where there will be varying licensing options), or opting for an open source solution.
Each solution will have its pros and cons, and it’s important to know these in advance before spending time and money implementing the solution. This article outlines some key steps that are required in order to select a COTS package, using the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) process.”
Read the rest of the article by clicking on the link below:
Or download the article as a PDF from the downloads section of this website