5.3Procurement planning & execution (RFI/RFP)

Once the system plan fixes the target scope, the products, services, and development to realize it are procured from outside. Procurement follows the order of gathering information, presenting requirements, evaluating proposals, selecting, and contracting, ensuring fairness, rather than ordering from a vendor on a whim. When requirements are not yet fixed, an RFI (request for information) gathers market, technical, and product information to raise requirement precision; once requirements are fixed, an RFP (request for proposal) presents them and invites proposals. This section covers the strategist's viewpoint of choosing between an RFI and an RFP, stating evaluation criteria in advance to keep vendor selection fair, and weaving in procurement conditions such as contract form, SLA, and green procurement.

5.3.1The RFI-to-RFP-to-evaluation-to-selection order

• An RFI (request for information) asks vendors to provide information such as market trends, technology, products, and rough costs. It is used first, when requirements are not yet fixed, to grasp the means and product options and raise requirement precision. An RFI is not an order or a proposal request; its purpose is information gathering.
• An RFP (request for proposal) presents the fixed requirements and asks vendors for concrete proposals (solution approach, structure, cost, schedule, etc.). The submitted proposals are evaluated against criteria set in advance, leading through vendor selection to a contract. The basic order is RFI -> RFP -> proposal evaluation -> selection -> contract.

5.3.2RFP contents, fairness, and procurement conditions

• The main RFP contents: the procurement background and purpose, the systematization target scope and requirements, budget/deadline premises, contract conditions, the proposal format and evaluation criteria, and the schedule. Stating evaluation criteria in advance and providing the same information to all vendors ensures fairness. Giving extra information to only one vendor impairs fairness.
• As procurement conditions, weave in an SLA (service level agreement) that quantitatively promises service quality (uptime, response time, incident-response time), the contract form suited to the work's nature (a deliverable-responsibility contract, or a quasi-mandate for service provision), and green procurement that adds environmental consideration to the evaluation. Also assess procurement risks (quality, deadline, cost, vendor dependence).

A company's IT strategist is about to procure a system for a new business from outside. What the business wants to achieve (digitizing customer touchpoints and individually optimized offers) is drawn, but which technology and products best realize it, what solutions exist in the market, and roughly what they cost are not yet grasped, so requirements are not fully fixed. Rushing to issue an RFP (request for proposal) right away would leave requirements vague, so vendors would submit proposals on scattered premises, making comparison hard, and requirement-setting itself would be left to vendors, precluding fair evaluation. The strategist judges to first issue an RFI (request for information) to broadly gather from vendors information such as market trends, available technologies and products, rough costs, and realization-approach options, and use it to raise requirement precision. Once requirements are fixed, the strategist issues an RFP to invite concrete proposals. To ensure fairness, in addition to the procurement purpose, target scope, requirements, budget/deadline premises, contract conditions, and proposal format, the strategist states the evaluation criteria (requirement fulfillment, service level, cost, track record, structure, etc.) in the RFP in advance and provides the same information to all vendors. Giving detailed extra information to only one vendor, or conveniently deciding the criteria after receiving proposals, impairs selection fairness and is avoided. The strategist further agrees on post-launch service quality quantitatively as an SLA (uptime, response time, incident-response time), chooses the contract form to suit the work's nature (a deliverable-responsibility contract or a service-provision quasi-mandate), and adds green procurement (environmental consideration) to the criteria where needed. Choosing between an RFI and an RFP according to requirement maturity, stating criteria in advance to ensure fairness, and designing procurement down to the SLA, contract form, and procurement risks is the core of the strategist's judgment.

5.3.3Section summary

• When requirements are unfixed, gather information with an RFI first; once fixed, invite proposals with an RFP. The order is RFI -> RFP -> evaluation -> vendor selection -> contract
• Fairness is ensured by stating criteria in advance and giving all vendors the same information (no favoring one vendor, no after-the-fact criteria)
• Agree on service quality quantitatively via an SLA, and weave contract form (contract/quasi-mandate), green procurement, and procurement risks into the conditions