The RFP package falls broadly into two parts — the formal and procedural requirements, which should be standardized as much as possible, and the less-formal SOO, SOW, specifications, or product descriptions that is unique to each purchase.
When drafting RFP documentation, it is important to keep cost and technical requirements separate, because these may be evaluated separately by different evaluation teams. The formal and procedural part of the RFP may also require suppliers to provide necessary cost or pricing data to support a determination of price reasonableness or cost realism.
The RFP outlines qualitative and quantitative project expectations, as well as project assumptions. These will dictate the amount of oversight and administrative management required of the purchase/SCM team over the life of the contract. It is therefore critical that developers of the RFP discuss its content with stakeholders during preparation to ensure that foreseeable factors affecting contract performance are addressed.
