The first section, the project overview and administrative information section contains an overview of the
company and a statement of the problem the RFP is designed to solve. The administrative information
part of this section lists all of the requirements for an acceptable proposal. These include where and when
to submit the proposal, if and when a bidders’ conference will be held, the relevant dates for
procurement, specific requirements for preparing proposals, how proposals will be evaluated, RFP staff
contact names and addresses, and other information required for a supplier to be judged responsive.
The second section, the technical requirements section includes an overview of the relevant technical
information so that potential vendors can determine if they can provide the solution that is being sought.
This section will include technical factors critical to the success of the project, functional specifications,
performance specifications, and so on.
The third section, the management requirements section contains information about the project‘s needs
for implementation, installation, training, maintenance, and related matters, such as staffing
requirements, installation schedule, and acceptance test requirements.
The fourth part of the RFP, the supplier qualifications and references section, is a request for information
about the potential vendor. Its purpose is to help the buyer determine if the vendor is really qualified to
supply the needed product or service. Information requested includes the vendor’s financial status, the
number of its currently installed systems or components, and the names of customers who can provide
references for the vendor.
The fifth section, the suppliers’ section, asks for any additional information the potential vendor thinks
may be relevant. For example, the vendor here may explain a unique solution to the problem that the
buyer had not previously thought about.
The sixth section, the pricing section, provides a detailed format for vendors to follow to prepare their
price proposals. Pricing can be broken down into separate items for such things as maintenance,
licensing, and documentation. If the RFP is for a complete system, then the price proposal should include
separate items for software, hardware, installation, systems integration, and so on. In any proposal, the
vendor should also distinguish between one–time and recurring costs.
The seventh section, the contract and license agreement section, provides guidance to potential vendors
on how to respond to contracts and agreements, and also provides contracts used by the buyer so
suppliers can study them.
The eighth section is the appendices. Appendices provide additional information that supplements the
rest of the RFP or that was too technical or detailed to be included in the main body of the document.
At the very least, an RFP must contain four of these eight sections: project overview and administrative
information, technical requirements, management requirements, and pricing.