WELCOME TO

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WELCOME TO
ISECON 2003 Information Systems Education
Conference Join the I.S. Fleet November 6-9,
2003 San Diego, California
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TEACHING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE REQUESTS
FOR PROPOSALS (RFPs) IN THE AREA OF COMPUTER
HARDWARE/SOFTWARE/SERVICES SELECTION
By John Maniotes Charles Winer Computer
Information Systems and Information Technology
Department ISECON 2003 http//www.calumet.purdue.e
du Purdue University Calumet Hammond, IN
46323 USA
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TOPICS

• Surveys of the computer and IS market
• Current and future trends in IS
• Organizational and administrative considerations
• Requirements Analysis
• Composition of the RFP
• Vendors responses to the RFP
• Validation of the proposed system
• Performance measurement approaches

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TOPICS CONT.

• Selection techniques
• Vendor negotiations
• Procurement issues
• Vendor contracts
• Conversion and compatibility issues
• Case studies
• Student Team RFP Project
• Checklists of useful information

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SOME SOURCES OF ARTICLES

• Communications of the ACM
• Computer World
• Datamation
• Datapro Reports
• Interactive Week
• PC Magazine
• Software Magazine
• Upside Magazine
• Wall Street Journal
• Sample RFPs, RFIs, RFBs, and RFQs

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SURVEYS OF COMPUTER IS MARKET

• Various market definitions (past and present)
• Market definitions by
• Datamation Magazine
• Software Magazine
• Upside Magazine
• Red Herring Magazine
• Wall Street Journal

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CASE STUDY OF SAMPLE VENDORS

• Accenture
• Computer Task Group, Inc. (CTG)
• Comdisco, Inc.
• Evans Sutherland Computer Corp.
• Lawson Software, Inc.
• Manatron, Inc.
• Meta Creations, Inc.
• Micro Focus
• Storage Technology
• SPSS, Inc
• Systems Computer Technology
• Sybase, Inc.

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MAIN SECTIONS OF THE IDEAL RFP

• Section Title
• I Administrative Procedural
• Information to the Vendor
• II Background Information on the
• Company
• III System Functional Requirements
• Defined by the Company
• IV Proposal Instructions Technical
• Questionnaires for the Vendor

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MAIN SECTIONS OF THE IDEAL RFP CONTINUED

• Appendices Title
• A Programming Standards of the Company
• B System, Program, Operation
• Documentation Standards
  of the Company
• C Map of the Companys Campus
• D Current Forms/Reports used by the Company
• of System to be Replaced
• E Glossary of Technical Terms
• F Suggested Contractual Agreements by the
  Company

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Section I ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURAL
INFORMATION TO THE VENDOR

• Purpose of the RFP
• Office or Department responsible for the RFP
• How inquires are to be handled
• Major pertinent dates and deadlines
• General format and content for the submitted
  proposal by the vendors
• How vendor presentations and demonstrations are
  to be handled
• Evaluation criteria process used to select the
  winning vendor(s)
• Any special contractual terms or conditions
  required by the company

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Section II BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

• Description of the company, such as products
  produced, location, geographic area, company
  organization chart, number of employees, etc.
• Companys present computer systems, PCs,
  operating systems, networks, database systems,
  applications software, etc.

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Section II BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE
COMPANY CONTINUED

• Telecommunications vendors that company uses for
  telephone services, wireless communications,
  frame relay services, T1 communications, etc.
• Internet service providers to the company

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Section III SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
DEFINED BYTHE COMPANY

• Detail description profile of the current
  system to be replaced
• Transaction volumes, activity, other statistics
  associated with the system to be replaced
• General functional system requirements company
  location of proposed system
• Hardware requirements for the computer systems,
  printers, scanners, communication access devices,
  networking hardware, etc.
• System software requirements for the operating
  system, DBMS system/programming language, report
  generators, etc.

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Section III SYSTEM FUNCTIONALREQUIREMENTS
DEFINED BYTHE COMPANY

• Application software functional requirements for
  each module and security considerations.
• Education and training requirements for
  executives, managers, supervisors, programmers,
  operators, and clerical users.
• Documentation requirements such as hard copies,
  CDs, DVDs, on-line manuals
• Installation, maintenance, support requirements
  for the proposed equipment software
• Performance evaluation acceptance criteria

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PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS TECHNICAL
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THE VENDOR

• Description of the written proposal format that
  ALL vendors must follow
• Cover letter format
• Requirements that vendor can cannot satisfy
• Proposed hardware configuration, systems
  software, applications software, etc.
• Proposed installation, maintenance, conversion,
  education training schedules
• Project organization schedule for de-installation
  of existing systems installation of new system

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PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS TECHNICAL QUESTIONNAIRES
FOR THE VENDOR CONTINUED

• Proposed vendor support services backup
  facilities
• Cost figures for all items proposed such as
  purchase costs, rental, lease with purchase
  options
• Vendors standard contracts for items proposed
• Description of technical questionnaires that
  vendors must complete.
• Short question, short answer type/style
• Yes No type/style
• Questions dealing on the requirements identified
• in Section III

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SAMPLE RFPs WRITTEN BY STUDENT TEAMS

• Payroll system for a small business
• Human resource system for a manufacturing company
• Financial system (A/P, A/R, Budgeting)
• Municipal water billing system
• School district grading, scheduling and
  attendance system
• County law enforcement system
• LAN system for a small law firm
• Outsourcing services for a school system

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SOURCES FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN RFPs

• General Services Administration (GSA)
• Department of Defense
• Small Business Administration
• Center for Disease Control Prevention
• State Governments
• County Governments
• City/Municipalities
• School Districts
• Fortune 100 Companies

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STUDENTS PROJECT NOTEBOOK

• Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Abstract of the RFP Project
• Gantt Chart of the Project
• List of Assumptions
• Introduction, Purpose, Scope, etc.
• The RFP
• Description of Innovative/Unique Solutions
• Recommendations and Conclusions
• Bibliography of References

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PRESENTATIONS

• Checkpoint 1
• Week 9
• 15 Minutes
• Checkpoint 2
• Week 10
• 15 Minutes
• Checkpoint 3
• Week 12
• 15 Minutes
• Final Presentation
• Week 15
• 45 Minutes

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POSSIBLE GUEST SPEAKERS

• MIS/IT Director
• Vendor
• CFO
• Lawyer

FEEDBACK FROM

• Advisory Committee
• Older/More Mature Students
• CIS Alumni

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END OF PRESENTATION

• QUESTIONS
• COMMENTS
• OBSERVATIONS