There are various forms of procurement in government and other entities and each of those procurement processes stipulates pre-determined objectives and demands. One form of procurement is a request for proposal popularly abbreviated as RFP. It is a document or software that elicit proposals from different vendors in a request to a public procurement announcement by an organization. Here, various companies can place their bids for the particular request, project, good or service delivery and all the bidding guidelines, process and contract terms are clearly stipulated in the RFP.
RFP software or document typically includes information on the contracting company or government and states its line of business. When bidding on government contracts, the RFP clearly list out specifications on the expected solutions and how government proposals are evaluated. It can also feature a statement of work to be done with specific timelines or deadlines.
What is the Essence of Issuing a Request For Proposal
Most government projects attract different nature of execution, cost, and deadlines. This is the reason most federal contracting end up requesting for bidders proposal. When seeking for an integrated solution towards any project, it is necessary to have multiple bidders bringing in their proposals. Procurement office of the government is, therefore, able to review contracts from different bidders and have a broad scope of perspective. In the spirit of open and fair competition, it’s important for government agencies and other institutions to issue a request for proposals so as to get a suitable bidder who meets the pre-determined contract objectives.
How do you create a Request For Proposal
Government rfps are skillfully drafted to ensure the success of expected project(s). The specified objectives must be too clear to avoid any misunderstanding by the bidders. This will also offer bidders with enough room for creativity and innovation. Normally, it’s the procurement office that is tasked with creating an RFP software and documents and bidders do a review in the solicited proposal after which amendments are made to it. A final RFP is sent and bidders submit their proposals. The committee mandated to review the proposal will now review the bids and come up with a shortlist of the successful bidders who will enter the next phase of negotiation. The procurement committee will then request a better offer from the shortlisted candidates in quest of securing a good deal before awarding a contract. All this negotiation and procurement process is facilitated by an rfp software which is able to do a host of bidding comparison, from prices to contract terms.