Elements for Request for Proposal (Statistics Project Sample)

Elements for Request for Proposal
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The purpose of a Request for Proposal (RFP) is eliciting proposals from candidates who are suitable. A good a Request for Proposal (RFP) has the following elements
• Cover sheet
RFP should have a cover sheet providing the RFP title, project title, the name and the date.
• Introduction
It should be more than a paragraph. This part contains the introduction of your organization, the statement of purpose and it also contains the definition of the project. Additional information about the introduction is the background information on the project, the tasks and the expected outcome that will be accomplished. The company used should be described, the problem should be articulated as best as you can more than the solution of the problem.
• The scope
This is where one needs to describe more details about the project. One requires describing all services of the project. This is important since some firms look at this scope and the tasks and can estimate the completion time and ant the overall cost of the project.
• The sitemap and the requirements
This is the area to be covered by the project, and it requires numerical data of what will be used what, where and when certain items will be supplied. This will help one to determine the new content one needs and what one needs to write. It requires data from internal users. This part is a difficult part, and it requires a lot or most time of preparation.
• Process
In this one is supposed to explain each work activity that is going to take place during the period project. It explains what the plan to accomplish is, and the outcome expected.
• Timelines
This is the period that the project will take.
• The pricing of the project (Budget)
This is the main RFP review process. It requires one to form a structured format of the entire price. It is supposed to present pricing and the cost data. It should be structured in such a way that the prices offered can be compared. The comparison should be side by side and is done from respondents (Driver, 2010). It is a difficult part and requires one to give
Other RFP elements are
• Contractual terms, conditions, assurances, contracting forms and many others
• Person to contact with a question.
• Specific duties.
• Submission address.
• Submission date or deadline.
According to my view, the budget part is the most difficult element of the RFP process to complete correctly. There are disadvantages of giving or sharing the budget. First is that the agencies may rank the proposals based on the budgets that are prepared. Secondly if the budget you have provided exceeds the proposed budget, or other firms have bid with a less budget, then the agency will most likely consider those firms with the less budget. To solve this since the agencies submitting a proposal are desperate you have to give an RFP indicating a range and not an exact figure. This will enable the agencies estimate their expenditure by reviewing the scope. Do not under quote since this can course the agencies underestimate the project.
One needs to focus on each requirement at each stage this will enable one to give a more accurate range of figure and reduce the risk of under quoting.
An applicant must submit list of all documents and information
RFP managers are faced with challenges from the RFP process that is not always found in the internal systems development. Being hired in a federal government one needs to treat the RFP process as a project because risks, issues, and timeline need to be the government.
The following can be used to improve or redesign RFP format in a federal government. This will help improve and simplify this process. Applying the following elements will ...