An RFP, or Request for Proposal, is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and solicits bids from qualified contractors to complete it. It is a document that an organization, often a government agency or large enterprise, posts to elicit a response -- a formal bid -- from potential vendors for a desired IT solution. An RFP is used where the request requires technical expertise, specialized capability, or where the product or service being requested does not yet exist, and the proposal may require research and development to create whatever is being requested.
An RFP typically includes background on the issuing organization and its lines of business, a set of specifications that describe the sought-after solution, and evaluation criteria that disclose how proposals will be graded. The RFP presents preliminary requirements for the commodity or service, and may dictate to varying degrees the exact structure and format of the suppliers response. The RFP defines the project, for the company that issues it as well as the companies that respond to it, and describes the project, its goals, and the organization that is sponsoring it and outlines the bidding process and contract terms.
The RFP process helps solicit focused proposals and reduces the number of poorly matched proposals you need to consider. Organizations usually follow slight variations of the steps to create an RFP, which include setting the criteria, creating the RFP, and evaluating the proposals.
