Congratulations!
Tech companies across Atlanta submitted copies of the worst technology Request for Proposal (RFP) they had recently received from would-be buyers. Entries were judged on the presence of ambiguity, excessively burdensome requirements, and general common sense in soliciting tech providers.
The first place winner received $200 in dining certificates and second place winners received $50. Thanks to all contributors and congratulations to the winners listed below!
1st Place: Mike Brown, Zenith Design Group
| Category: Web/Office Integration |
RFP Problem: NO CLUE |
The buyer sent a “specifications” email that was one screen long and consisted, in effect, of one statement: “Develop a scope of work to integrate our back office software with our website.” The buyer explained his very short response time frame: “I realize that this does not give you much time to supply your budget – however, we want to minimize the number of contractors that we use to develop our scope, in order save us both money.”
What? Apparently the only people he’s interested in hearing from are those who are not doing anything… waiting for his email to arrive. And how thoughtful to save the contractors money by not giving them time to respond – genius!
Then the buyer communicated his absolute commitment to the project by… leaving town! “If you have any questions, or need further information please contact my secretary … as I will be … on vacation.”
How do you spell apathy? A-L-O-H-A
2nd Place: Michael Smith, Dimension Data
| Category: Network Infrastructure |
RFP Problem: EXCESSIVE REQUIREMENTS |
The RFP was 104 pages plus a 29-sheet Excel workbook of pricing to be supplied.
The buyer demanded a huge amount of work and offered only a few weeks of lead time to suppliers. An example of the excessive nature of the relationship requirements:
“Customer requires positions on the account team to be filled at all times. Should a vacancy arise on the team regardless of reason, the vendor must have a procedure in place to fill the position temporarily. Customer should never experience delay due to a vacant account team position.”
Account rep in the hospital? They don’t care. Customer should never experience humility as it might be fatal.
Add this goodie from the pricing section:
“All future pricing after the twenty-four (24) month Price Guarantee referenced in Section 1.4 has elapsed for the hardware and software shall not exceed the Consumer Price Index or five percent per annum, whichever is less”
Telecom pricing tied to the price of milk? Why not solar drift?
2nd Place: Kevin Abel, Abel Solutions
| Category: Web/Office integration |
RFP Problem: REQUIREMENTS TOO BRIEF |
In 31 pages of the RFP, there was ONE page of requirements consisting of high-level bullets divided into Mandatory, Desired, and Extra. The mandatory requirements occupied half a page. Example:
“User needs to access a consolidated view of their tasks, documents, workflows as well as collaborate with other users throughout the organizations.”
This buyer spent 30 pages getting specific about everything but the software they wanted built. The buyer then had the audacity to demand a fixed price!
The only thing fixed here will be the suppliers’ lack of interest.
2nd Place: David Taylor-Klaus, Digital Positions
| Category: Web Site Redesign |
RFP Problem: REQUIREMENTS TOO BRIEF |
Brief is an understatement. The five-paragraph email fits on one screen. It’s really too short to be considered an RFP. Example:
“We will take advantage of some of the latest web 2.0 technologies like Flex and AJAX to accomplish this goal.”
Hey - let’s not bother getting specific about what a customer’s online shopping experience should be. Instead, let’s tell the professional web designers what technologies they should use!