RFP TEMPLATE
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
SAMPLE TEMPLATE
SECTION A
1
INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to invite suppliers to submit a detailed and fully
costed proposal on: (insert your description as per Guidance)
About us
Insert details
RFP document structure
This RFP is split into 2 sections:
Section A includes:
1. The business drivers
2. The RFP process and objectives
3. The current ‘as-is’ situation
4. The future ‘to-be’ situation
5. Any relevant implementation and transition factors
Section B includes:
The specific questions the suppliers need to answer so that their proposals can be
evaluated.
Scope of Requirements Summary
This Request for Proposal is for (insert your description)
Objectives of the RFP
The objective of the RFP is to: (insert your description)
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RFP STATUS
Information provided
We give no warranty as to the accuracy and completeness of any information
provided and accept no responsibility to you having relied on it. Your response is
based on your own determinations and due diligence and you shall be required to
fully inform yourself of all relevant conditions relating to the scope of requirements.
All direct and indirect costs relating to this RFP shall be borne by you.
Interpretation
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You must include any interpretations and assumptions you have made on the RFP
document or ideally seek clarification from us prior to submission.
Status of the RFP
Nothing in this RFP or any other communication before or after the release of this
RFP shall be taken as constituting a contract or agreement or representation that a
binding contract will be entered into. We are not bound to accept or consider any
proposal submitted nor enter into any contract as a result of this RFP.
Code of Conduct and business practices
You must observe the highest standards of integrity and honesty in relation to this
RFP and follow any guidelines specified herein.
The supplier represents and warrants and undertakes that it will perform its
obligations in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
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SUBMISSION AND REJECTION OF PROPOSALS
The supplier must respond to each section and question in the RFP. The proposal:

Must be in English and follow the structure, headings and numbering used
in the RFP

Assumes all currencies shall be in £ sterling net of applicable taxes

Must clearly state how each requirement can or cannot (in which case
why) be met
A supplier who has submitted a proposal prior to the submission date may
withdraw it by giving written notice and submit a new proposal, which cancels and
replaces it.
The supplier shall submit its proposal by email and the document must be
accessible using Microsoft Office 2000 and structured to allow printing on A4
paper. x 5 hard copies must be sent to.... and clearly marked ‘Confidential RFP
response for........’ to the following recipients:
We reserve the unconditional right, without being obligated to provide reasons, to:
(a)
Exclude or reject any proposal, whether compliant or not, or suspend, modify
or cancel the RFP at any time and for any reason.
(b)
Accept all or any part of a particular Proposal
(c)
Contract separately for one or more elements of the RFP
(d)
Not accept exclusivity of any pursuant contract from the supplier.
You may be requested to discuss and present the details of your responses during
our evaluation of the responses at your own cost.
You may be asked for relevant additional information (including references) at your
own cost.
We reserve the right to run parallel negotiations with several suppliers after the
proposals have been submitted or deal exclusively with one supplier.
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RFP TEMPLATE
A proposal is only accepted if it forms part of an executed written contract.
Two or more parties may lodge a joint proposal and if accepted both parties shall
be jointly and severally bound by any contractual arrangements.
4
COMMUNICATION

You must, within 72 hours, confirm in writing and by email receipt of the RFP
and whether you intend to respond in accordance with the instructions
provided confirming your company’s official representative and contact details
for the RFP process.

If you are not submitting a response you must confirm whether you will return
or destroy any information provided to you.

Supplier’s RFP representative and contact details:

Our RFP representative and contact details:

Neither party shall make any public announcements or disclosures as to the
RFP, potential contract or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the
other party.

Any verbal communications between the parties shall be confirmed in writing.

You may be requested to discuss and present the details of your responses
during our evaluation of the responses at your own cost.

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You may be asked for relevant additional information (including references) at
your own cost.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
You may direct any questions relating to the RFP to us up to 48 hours prior to the
response closing date and we will endeavour, if appropriate, to respond to you as
soon as practicable.
All suppliers will be advised of our response to a particular question if the answer is
of general interest. We will not identify the name of any supplier asking a particular
question.
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CONFIDENTIALITY
Without limiting the requirements of the non-disclosure agreement you must
understand that we operate in a competitive and sensitive business environment
so you must treat all materials and data provided by ourselves in connection with
this RFP as confidential.
You may not use any information provided to you for any purpose other than the
preparation of the RFP and such information shall not be disclosed to any other
party.
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You must ensure that any subsidiary, subcontractor or partner you engage during
this RFP process or supply our information to will be bound by confidentiality terms
no less onerous than those in the non-disclosure agreement related to this RFP.
We may disclose to our advisors all or any part of your proposal as necessary for
the purpose of evaluation and advice.
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RFP TIMETABLE
The response period begins .......(enter date you send the RFP to the suppliers)
Supplier to confirm receipt and intention to respond (enter date)
Supplier to confirm additional questions and/or meeting (enter date)
The responses must be submitted on or before (enter the closing date and time).
Supplier presentations (date range)
Supplier site visits (date range)
Evaluation, reference and due diligence period (date range)
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The terms and conditions, which shall form the basis of any pursuant contract,
shall be as attached in xxx
If a supplier determines that any term or condition is unacceptable it must, for each
one, detail why it’s unacceptable and provide its best position alternative.
Current Providers
List any contracts you or any part of your group (including parent companies,
subsidiaries, joint-ventures etc) has with our company.
9.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Evaluation criteria may include:
1. Proposed solution and understanding of requirements (questions 13 and 14)
2. Innovation (alternative solutions and past examples) (question 15)
3. Business and cultural alignment (question 16)
4. Proven capability and experience (question 17)
5. Implementation (question 18)
6. Performance and relationship management approach (question 19)
7. Commercial proposition (pricing, contractual and RFP compliance) (question 20)
10.
CURRENT “AS IS” SITUATION
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11.
FUTURE “TO BE” REQUIREMENT
12.
IMPLEMENTATION AND TRANSITION
SECTION B
RFP SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
Insert the format or document through which you would like the Providers to submit
questions they have.
13.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The supplier should provide a summary of not more than 500 words which
includes you demonstrating:
1. That based on your solution you clearly understand our current situation and
future requirements
2. That you can implement and operate the service
3. That you have differentiated your capabilities from your competitors
14.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
The supplier should detail in full how it would deliver its solution over the full life
cycle of any pursuant contract. You should clearly state any caveats or
assumptions.
Demonstrate that what underpins your proposal is credible and realistic including
areas such as service delivery, automation, infrastructure and technology
Confirm whether you would provide services yourself. If not then confirm how you
would do this (e.g. under license, using sub-contractors etc) including details of
past experience with them and who the contracting parties would therefore be. In
particular you should demonstrate that this would not be a weaker proposition.
15.
INNOVATION AND ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
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Describe solutions, including previous quantitative examples to reinforce this
where practicable, which demonstrate how you could add incremental value to our
company over and above meeting the scope of requirements.
You should detail exactly what investment you would make (including any cost or
time impacts) in providing such innovative solutions and how the benefits realised
would be shared.
We are also keen to understand if you can recommend a better solution to the
scope defined in the future ‘to-be’ requirement. This may include alternative
approaches, practices, structures, technology, automation and transformations etc.
Describe any other services you can offer us, which might be useful to us in
relation to the Future ‘as-is’ requirement.
Provide and outline of new products, services and innovations we may be
interested in given this requirement and our business and strategy as a whole.
16.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT AND ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
What is your business strategy and goal both holistically and as it relates to the
services in question including your future growth plans and direction.
Demonstrate the importance of our requirements by outlining what you would put
at stake to ensure its success such as reputation, flexibility, investment etc.
Outline how your organisation is structured to support the delivery of services
including any relevant organisational charts.
Outline any standards you adopt including proven compliance controls with
regulations pertinent to our industry.
17.
CAPABILITY AND EXPERIENCE
Provide the range of services you currently offer other clients including industry
type; company name; length or relationship, approximate annualised value of
contract and services provided.
Provide details of how you will ensure the appropriate resources are applied to the
Future ‘as-is’ requirements to ensure a smooth transition and adaptability to
changing demands. This may include:

Recruitment plans, timing and scalability to required number of roles

How knowledge transfer will be achieved

Relevant skill sets, qualifications and experience of existing resources

Attrition rates over the past 3 years for the relevant skills

Retention strategy including development plans to ensure continuity of
service
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18.
IMPLEMENTATION AND TRANSITION

Describe your approach to transitioning and implementation including
relevant examples where you’ve done this for similar services for other
clients.

Provide a transition plan including dependencies, deliverables due and key
go-live dates.

How will you handle any people transferred and the impact on those
people?

What project management, communications, change management and
other controls (including additional resources) will you use to mitigate risks
during contract phases.
19.
PERFORMANCE AND RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Risk
Provide a list of risks (including likelihood and severity) you foresee for both the
implementation and ongoing operations with the solution you have proposed.
For each risk define how you would mitigate it including how you would ensure the
reliability and repeatability of process and procedural compliance.
Governance
Provide an overview of your proposed account management and governance
structures for your solution including key roles and responsibilities and summarised
relevant experience for the management team.
Outline how you have succeeded in building and maintaining healthy relationships
with other relevant clients.
Describe your approach to relationship and contract management including how
both parties might interact and handle escalations including any relevant reporting,
change control and billing tools.
Measurement
Recommend several key measures (KPIs and SLAs) you would introduce to
ensure contract compliance and achievement of our goals. (Note – this is in
addition to any which have been included in our Future ’to-be’ scope)
Provide example scorecards and/or reporting and how you have successfully done
this for other clients.
Continuity
Provide details, including service levels, of how you would ensure continuity of
service in the event of a problem including business continuity and recovery plans.
Detail how the plans are tested and revised and give examples of where they have
been invoked including what you learnt from such experiences.
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Data and Security
Provide details of exactly how you would handle data privacy and maintain the
confidentiality and security of our data and intellectual property given the scope of
services.
20.
COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION
Price summary
The supplier agrees to enter into a contract with us for the services as set out in
the RFP, inclusive of all taxes and duties but exclusive of VAT for the sum of x
Complete the pricing spread sheet attached
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RFP TEMPLATE
Annexure 1 – Terms and Conditions
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DATED this
day of
200[X].
SIGNED for and on behalf of
(Name of Provider)
(Full name of authorised officer)
(Signature)
(Title of authorised officer)
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