Slide 1 A Practical Guide to Issuing a Request for Proposals Notes

Slide 2 Overview Why do you need an RFP? When should you issue an RFP? Who should receive your RFP? Who should review submitted proposals? How do you choose your ‘short-list’ vendors? How do you request ‘Best and Final’ offers? How do you decide on a vendor? TG’s Experiences Tips for success Q/A

Slide 3 Why do you need an RFP? Project involves major purchase or upgrade Significant investment required (time/money) Outcome intended to dramatically improve operations Reduce Costs Increase Productivity Increase Market Share

Slide 4 Why we needed an RFP … E-commerce business plan required successful implementation of new imaging system to provide on-line access via the Internet Reliability and performance very important to implement electronic delivery of images Major hardware purchase required No known local implementations of similar technology in place at the time Research indicated a variety of vendors and solutions were available with largely varying costs

Slide 5 When should you issue an RFP? After Project Plan and requirements analysis are complete After criteria defined Business needs Technical capabilities Cost Before committing to a particular technology or solution Well in advance of projected implementation date

Slide 6 When issue this RFP? After approximately 6 months of research and planning After exploring similar implementations on the mainland After developing system specifications

Slide 7 Who should receive your RFP? Trusted vendors used in the past Vendors known for success in your industry Vendors known for success with the technology Vendors recommended by industry professionals Vendors with solid financial histories Vendors with a growing client base Vendors with strong potential for success

Slide 8 Who received RFP? Local RAID hardware vendors Local imaging system vendors Mainland RAID hardware vendors Mainland imaging system vendors

Slide 9 Who should review submitted proposals? Executive responsible for project Project Manager/Technical lead of project Staff knowledgeable with the business needs of your company Staff knowledgeable with the technical abilities of your company Consultants hired to plan, design or implement project

Slide 10 Who reviewed proposals submitted to us? Executive responsible for Information Systems Information systems managers Systems engineers Technicians Consultant hired for the project Summaries provided to Imaging System focus group (15 people of various backgrounds)

Slide 11 How do you evaluate proposals? Evaluate all proposals and sort into categories: Meets/exceeds requirements Does not meet requirements More information required

Slide 12 How do you evaluate proposals? If time and resources permit, request additional information from vendors proposing solutions that may meet your needs but require further analysis Re-evaluate proposals with any additional information provided Rate proposals based on criteria Select top proposals that meet or exceed requirements (typically 3-5 proposals) as your ‘Short List’ of vendors

Slide 13 How to evaluate proposals? After selecting the proposals that met all requirements, the following criteria were applied: Storage capacity per dollar Performance & Reliability Vendor’s experience Ease of upgrading/adding storage capacity Integration with existing systems Maintenance and support Confidence in hardware vendor (determined by evaluating references and expertise of staff) Confidence in local support (determined by evaluating references and expertise of staff)

Slide 14 How do you request ‘ Best and Final ’ offers? Notify vendors of status Submit request for ‘Best and Final’ offers to all Short Listed vendors Include any specific requirements that differ from original RFP Provide a due date for receipt of Best and Final offers

Slide 15 How do you decide on a vendor? If there is a clear, unanimous vendor of choice, you are in a rare and wonderful situation! Typically, the project team evaluating the proposals will vote on the proposals Remember that a successful solution requires a good system and a good implementation team

Slide 16 How to decide on a vendor? Cost Financial stability of vendor Vendors’ ability to deliver in a timely manner Rapport with hardware vendor Rapport with local support Award Date: August 1999 Proposed Technology Vendor’s experience with proposed technology Performance/Reliability Ease of upgrading/adding storage capacity Integration with existing systems Vendor’s Technical References

Slide 17 Implementation Hardware delivered within 4 weeks of awarding the contract Vendor provided installation and training of staff Local support staff also trained by vendor Systems engineers completed software development and data loading of new hardware in approximately 3 months System Implementation Date: December 2005

Slide 18 Experiences Vendor list grew as new vendors (not originally selected to receive RFP) learned of the project and submitted proposals Accepted these proposals – we were very open to alternatives Schedule intentionally delayed as staff reviewed additional proposals

Slide 19 Experiences Some confusion resulted when vendors contacted different staff – a single contact would have been preferred Flexibility allowed us to select the best solution from a vendor not on original list Selected vendor’s ability to deliver quickly allowed us to get back on schedule

Slide 20 Tips for Success Develop a clear set of requirements so that your project team and your vendors understand the objectives Provide information about any constraints that may affect your ability to select particular solutions Offer enough flexibility to allow vendors to propose unique and beneficial alternatives Identify your company contact for vendors to eliminate confusion during the proposal process

Slide 21 Tips for Success Make sure your project team and your vendors know who makes the ultimate decision Resist any temptation to reveal another vendor’s proprietary information to any of your potential vendors Trust your ‘gut feeling’ in situations where vendors give you a very positive or very negative impression… You will have to work with whatever vendor you select and live with the solution after it is implemented!

Slide 22 Questions/Answers