RFP Development and Selection Process

Once an RFP is issued, the maximum impact of your project is largely locked in. David Hobbs Consulting provides independent, vendor-neutral advice to help you set scope thoughtfully, refine the RFP, run a clear Q&A process, and evaluate vendor proposals with confidence.

Why

• Set the scope correctly. This would be very difficult to correct later (which overall means it would be difficult to deepen the possible impact later), and not doing this at the RFP stage may lead to less appropriate responses.

• Related to the above, setting the right scope also helps determine which types of firms should even receive the RFP

• More efficient selection process (avoiding too many or too few responses)

• Generally get vendor-independent advice from someone who has helped a variety of organizations with this process

David Hobbs wrote the Website Migration Handbook v2 and has helped a wide range of organizations navigate large digital transitions. See the related article The RFP is too late and the webinar A Year Before Redesign: How to Prepare for more on why early involvement matters.

Process

Engagements can be scoped across any combination of these steps:

1. RFP Development

   • Consider whether including other subdomains makes sense for the redesign, especially to support visitors

   • Consider audiences, and how to specify your needs with respect to these audiences

   • Define the overall objectives (beyond just technical ones)

   • Describe the texture of the existing content and how it might need to change

   • Broadly describe the content architecture and technical architecture needs

   • Develop architectural guidance, including diagrams where appropriate, to clarify system expectations

   • Identify areas of ambiguity, architectural risk, scope misalignment, or procurement exposure

   • Provide written feedback and recommended refinements

2. Vendor Q&A Response and Proposal Evaluation

   • Organize, group, and consolidate vendor questions by theme

   • Draft and refine clear, strategic, risk-aware Q&A responses

   • Identify gaps or weaknesses revealed in vendor questions

   • Refine organization-specific use cases to guide vendor responses

   • Develop an internal Risk Assessment and Mitigation Matrix

   • Recommend clarifications that reduce implementation ambiguity and downstream risk

   • Review vendor proposals for architectural integrity, feasibility, and alignment with RFP intent

   • Support development and refinement of scoring frameworks

   • Advise on evaluation criteria weighting and interpretation

   • Pressure-test cost estimates, scope assumptions, and staffing models

   • Identify hidden risks in vendor proposals

3. Presentations and Facilitate Vendor Selection

   • Prepare presentation evaluation tools so vendor demos address your priorities

   • Facilitate strategic questioning during vendor presentations

   • Provide structured evaluation guidance to the selection committee

   • Support final vendor selection deliberations

   • Provide advisory input during vendor onboarding to ensure alignment with RFP intent

Typical Deliverables

1. Annotated RFP Risk Review Memorandum

2. Consolidated Vendor Q&A Response Document

3. Architectural Guidance Documentation (including diagrams where applicable)

4. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Matrix

5. Vendor Evaluation Framework and Scoring Guidance

6. Presentation Evaluation Worksheet

7. Cost and Scope Pressure-Test Summary Memorandum

8. Final Advisory Memorandum Supporting Vendor Selection