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Thanks for the thoughtful reply, this is helpful. The RFP is from a municipal event center and is for ticketing services. We're a team of four and up against so

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, this is helpful. The RFP is from a municipal event center and is for ticketing services. We're a team of four and up against some big players. Our website is https://sellout.io https://sellout.io if you're interested in checking us out. The RFP process is definitely sucking the life out of us, but we're so close and likely have a good shot getting at least an interview.

davismwfl 7y ago
Pretty cool. And I totally can respect/understand how demanding the RFP process can be. Good part is once you get all the elements together once, the boiler plate stuff is easy and so you can focus on key areas more clearly and it goes faster. Since it is a municipal event center, no matter what happens make sure you use this process to get on their approved/cleared vendors list. Even if you lose this bid the fact you are on the list will help you for the next one (with them or others). Plus you can say when you bid for other projects that you are on the approved vendors list for XYZ municipality. It adds validation to you and helps again check some boxes. As for some more specifics for you, I'd have to spend some time digging around a little. But having won bids at many levels of the US government/agencies they do a lot more box checking than general businesses do, e.g. the businesses do more diligence usually the govt does more lip service to diligence (general rule not always true). So here, your DR plan will need to cover the key elements but probably not be super exhaustive, for example, contact/escalation lists are super important to government types. You are in luck in one way, most of the time, Govt types are a little more forgiving that things fail, as long as they have the list of who to blame, I mean call. :) . Seriously they will put more weight on process than on actual recovery most of the time, not that you should ignore recovery, but make sure you have answered the roles and responsibilities clearly as that will be focused on with government RFPs more. In enterprises they'll more likely challenge your backup, security etc before they attack your process or escalation sheet. These are just patterns I have seen of course, it could vary depending on the level of technicality and who is on the RFP review board. That brings up a point, always make sure you understand your audience, find out what the makeup of the review board is so you can cater to them a little. Good RFP review boards are a cross section of departments, including IT. But many times you'll find (especially in government projects) they'll be heavily focused from one area, so if you write an RFP that is super technical but the reviewers are all suits, you'll lose before you even submit. I know that is pretty obvious, but I have seen people screw this up a lot. I wish you the best, everyone needs some luck paired with skill during an RFP.

davismwfl 7y ago

Pretty cool. And I totally can respect/understand how demanding the RFP process can be. Good part is once you get all the elements together once, the boiler plate stuff is easy and so you can focus on key areas more clearly and it goes faster. Since it is a municipal event center, no matter what happens make sure you use this process to get on their approved/cleared vendors list. Even if you lose this bid the fact you are on the list will help you for the next one (with them or others). Plus you can say when you bid for other projects that you are on the approved vendors list for XYZ municipality. It adds validation to you and helps again check some boxes. As for some more specifics for you, I'd have to spend some time digging around a little. But having won bids at many levels of the US government/agencies they do a lot more box checking than general businesses do, e.g. the businesses do more diligence usually the govt does more lip service to diligence (general rule not always true). So here, your DR plan will need to cover the key elements but probably not be super exhaustive, for example, contact/escalation lists are super important to government types. You are in luck in one way, most of the time, Govt types are a little more forgiving that things fail, as long as they have the list of who to blame, I mean call. :) . Seriously they will put more weight on process than on actual recovery most of the time, not that you should ignore recovery, but make sure you have answered the roles and responsibilities clearly as that will be focused on with government RFPs more. In enterprises they'll more likely challenge your backup, security etc before they attack your process or escalation sheet. These are just patterns I have seen of course, it could vary depending on the level of technicality and who is on the RFP review board. That brings up a point, always make sure you understand your audience, find out what the makeup of the review board is so you can cater to them a little. Good RFP review boards are a cross section of departments, including IT. But many times you'll find (especially in government projects) they'll be heavily focused from one area, so if you write an RFP that is super technical but the reviewers are all suits, you'll lose before you even submit. I know that is pretty obvious, but I have seen people screw this up a lot. I wish you the best, everyone needs some luck paired with skill during an RFP.