How to make Request for Quotation (RFQ) for a website project

Sending a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for website development projects requires proper steps and information to be included so the competing consulting firms can understand your requirements easily and send you appropriate proposals.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Some background knowledge about the RFQ is recommended.

1. Once you want a website done, you have listed down a number of potential web consulting firms. Next step is to design a RFQ Request for Quotation document. This is important step since this will allow the consulting company to correctly perceive your requirements and help in sending you an appropriate quotation. There are some business owners who just send a website and ask for a clone. If the website is of basic nature, idea is right. Web consultant knows what type of thing you are looking for. However, its not the end of it. Still you have got to tell the specifics since the website represents you own business.

2. Summary
   
   The first part of the RFQ should include a brief summary about the project. This will include the following:
   
   Background of the company:
   Provide details about the business & what it does.
   
   Objectives of website:
   Why you want the business website? What are the aims & objectives of getting the website done. This could range from a corporate identity building to more complex e-business model. It is very important to discuss in detail the need for website.
   
   Audience:
   Who are the audience of the website?

3. Project Scope
   Project scope should be clearly stated out in terms of the outcome expected and the requirements.

4. Requirements
   
   Identify your requirements in detail. These requirements should include:
   
   Functional requirements
   This includes the features your website should offer, for example user registration, product listing etc. Different techniques like Use Case Design can be used for this purpose.
   
   Usage Requirements
   This will include:
   
   * Navigational requirements, eg. easy to naviagate, use of menus, buttons etc
   
   * Website speed: Ease of load
   
   Design/Interface Requirements
   
   * Preferred Color combinations
   * Preferred layouts
   * Theme to follow
   
   Technical Requirements
   
   * Browser Support
   * Platform to support
   * Approximate number of users Daily/weekly
   
   Budget Considerations
   State clearly the approximate budget you are willing to allocate for the project. This will help the consultant estimate the limit of project and will suggest you the most appropriate solution
   
   Time Requirements
   If there are any limits related to time, state them clearly that you want the project to be completed within a certain time line.
   
   Miscellaneous:
   
   * How much support is sought after the deployment of project
   * Details regarding the documentation & training
   * Issues related to software licensing (if apply)
   * Source code ownership and usage issues

5. What is Required from Consulting Firms for Prequalification?
   
   State clearly what is expected from the consultant firm in the quotation. This could include the following:
   
   * Consulting firm's corporate profile
   * Previous Portfolio/References to the completed projects
   * Quoted amount with cost breakdown
   * Project Methodology
   * Project Calendar
   * Tools/Technologies Deployed

Resources

• Web Design Consultant
• Web Design Company

[sneedc]

on 1/3/2009 Thanks for the step by step approach in getting our proposal drawn for our website--

[Rockney]

on 12/29/2008 Great article on RFQs! 5*!