[consulting] "How to write a RFP"

[Gerhard Killesreiter]

Boris Mann wrote:
> On 1/17/07, Gerhard Killesreiter <gerhard at killesreiter.de> wrote:
> 
>> I was wondering if anybody has, or knows of, a good document that lists
>> what points a RFP should contain in order to be useful. Does not need to
>> be Drupal specific.
> 
> Antinomia has a nice contact form  / RFP that asks a lot of questions:
> http://www.antinomia.com/rfp

A start, yes.

>> It would be nice if we could have such a document on drupal.org.
> 
> Don't think it's appropriate. If there is one somewhere that is

We can discuss that once a document exists. :p

> CC-licensed, putting it on your own website is probably a good idea.

You know I don't have one. :p

>> Reason: I often get RFPs that aren't remotely useful.
> 
> Here's a secret: most RFPs aren't useful.

Yeah, that's the problem-

> Often times, a client will
> actually hire a consultant to help write an RFP.

Unfortunately, I've found it difficult to explain to people that they 
should pay for this. They tend to think that I should be willing to 
discuss their needs with them before getting a contract.

> But generally, this
> consultant isn't an implementor, so can't actually ask all the right
> questions.
> 
> So, when answering an RFP, you do what you can, but I usually point
> out flaws in the RFP or ask further questions that haven't been
> considered. This usually leads to the first part of an engagement
> being a requirements gathering excercise, where the *real* goals/needs
> get fleshed out.

Yeah, but how do you explain to people that they should pay your time 
for doing this?

People who want a website often are not familiar with how consulting works.

Cheers,
	Gerhard