A well-designed RFP will address your needs effectively. It should require that responding vendors propose concrete solutions and be accountable for those solutions.

Your RFP process should determine

• How willing is a vendor to accept contractual commitments?
• Does the vendor have the skills and experience to do the job right, on time and within budget?
• What responsibilities will the vendor have?
• What deliverables can you expect to see? When?
• What happens if the vendor does not deliver as expected?
• What is the best deal?

If the solutions to these issues are left ambiguous, the results are often disastrous. Project delays, cost overruns, wired deals and overall project failure are common outcomes from using an informal approach. Unfortunately, many projects fit into this undesirable category.

With the help of a well-crafted RFP, issues that are left for future negotiation with a vendor are minimal.