The RFP abbreviation in "RFP for software development" stands for a "Request For Proposal." True to its name, an RFP is a document that any software developer needs to write. More precisely, software developers must complete the RFP to initiate contact with the vendors.
An RFP for software development purposes can be flexibly used for other seemingly-unrelated projects only when the software developers have thoroughly answered the RFP's requirements. More specifically, here are RFP examples for software development .
A Sample Structure Of A Software Project's RFP
Generally, any RFPs for developing software projects (and others) may have different wordings to describe the structures. However, we can refer to this structure. We will also explain how software developers should write each of the points:
- Project Overview: This part is the summarizing part of the RFP. Typically, the overview should answer: 1) Your business needs; 2) Where you are now; 3) The main issues your business is facing, and; 4) The current product's state.
- Company description and contact: Here, present all about your company in detail, including its values, vision, and missions. Don't forget to include all contacts, including phone numbers and social media accounts.
- Project's Goals: People usually use bullet points to describe the expectations for the project in this part. However, you are welcome to add more paragraphs to describe how you would like the project to turn out to be.
- The technical aspects of the project: This part includes the software and OS requirements to operate the project, the timelines for completing the project, and the budget ranges that each person will need when completing the project.
- Reviews: This part is where you set up some criteria to measure the project's success rates when it has been completed.
Criteria for neatly-written RFPs
Since we're going to show the RFP to the vendors, of course, the RFP for software development (and other) purposes needs to be written as clearly as possible. Yet, the question is, to what extent should the RFP be clear (or readable)? Here are the criteria:
- The vendors should distinguish RFPs from similar documents. The RFI (Request For Information) and the RFQ (Request For Quote) are two documents that people often mistake for RFPs. The RFIs are the documents with only the Overviews and the Goals, while the RFQs are the documents with more detailed budget estimates.
- Give pictures based on the three perspectives: Past, present, and future. The company's issues belong to the "past" and "present" categories. The "present" should also consist of the company's current position and what the company currently needs. The "future" part is all about the idea proposed in the RFP document: The form that the idea will take, the desired outputs of the idea, and so on.
- One idea for one RFP document. While it's okay to propose several ideas for one vendor, be sure to separate the documents with different book covers. Focus on one idea for one proposal and refrain from talking outside the main idea.
