RFP’s, who invented these? Purchasing agents I guess. In their defense, there certainly can be good RFPs and bad RFPs. The problem is, most of these RFPs fall into the bad category. For instance, this is a line from an RFP Merge recently received:

“We desire updated navigation menus, using such tools as Java, and Active-X controls.”

The only people who use Java and Active-X controls for their web site are people who don’t know what they’re doing. Most RFPs we receive dictate to us what technology to use, how to do it, etc. Why don’t RFPers tell us what the problem is, and Request a Proposal as to how the problem will be solved (instead of telling us how to solve it)?

Well, anyway, there is much room for improvement with RFPs. The whole idea of “we’re going to make you do a ton of work that you’ll likely not get and if you do get it you won’t make a profit” to get a vendor seems quite strange to me. A contest for the Worst Tech RFP in Atlanta just concluded. View the results, they’re humorous.