[thechat] quickie: bizz speak question (bonus track included)

Martin Burns martin at evolt.org.uk
Fri Jul 26 15:17:03 CDT 2002


On Sat, 27 Jul 2002, Madhu Menon wrote:

> At 12:44 AM 27-07-02, javier velasco wrote:
> >what do you call it when a company wants to build a website (or any kind
> >of project), and calls a given numbers of company to throw proposals and
> >choose one?
>
> An RFP - a Request for Proposal ?
>
> Another term is RFQ - Request for Quotation, when the company already has a
> list of requirements and wants a quote.

Different stages (also RFI - Request for Information).

If you're at an early stage, and you're thinking "Hm. We need someone to
do some X stuff for us, but we don't want to reveal *too* much about the
project at this stage," you put out an RFI. The response will basically be
a "This is how we generally approach this kind of project, and our
experience in the field." This can also be called an ITT (and not just by
local govt btw). This is a bullshitters' filter - agencies who *could* do
the work get past this stage.

 From that, you'd put together an RFP, where you'd explain quite a bit
about the need you're addressing. The agency would come back with "This is
how we'd approach it, how long it'd take and how much it'd cost, and this
is where we've done similar things before." This gets you onto the
shortlist, after which it's detailed discussion.

If you know exactly how you'd want the agency to approach and all you want
is a price, you'd put out an RFQ instead of an RFP.

> Bet I beat Martin to this. :p

Yeah, only cos I was eating at the time.

Cheers
Martin

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