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    Part II Preparation and vendor selection

    How to approach the market and write an RFP

    ~11 min readUpdated Lukáš Mikula

    Ask first, then request proposals. A short market survey (RFI) and, if needed, a paid discovery phase protect you from proposals that cannot be compared and from an underestimated price. If you prescribe the structure of the proposal in your RFP, you get proposals you can compare.

    Ask first, request proposals later

    A request for information (RFI) is a non-binding question to the market: how would you solve our problem, is there an off-the-shelf solution, and roughly how much would it cost? You find out whether the schedule is realistic, which off-the-shelf or open-source components can be used, and where the risks are, for example in data migration. Only the request for proposal (RFP) asks for a binding proposal.

    Indicative recommendations for companies:

    • Send the RFI to 6–10 companies; 1–2 pages and a 60–90 minute meeting are enough.
    • Send the RFP only to 3–5 companies that came out of the RFI as relevant. You will not be able to evaluate more proposals properly, and a small chance of success puts good companies off.
    • The deadline for proposals for a project worth millions of CZK is 3–4 weeks. A shorter deadline means a risk premium, or a refusal.
    • Accept questions until a set date, and send the answer to everyone at once.

    Treat vendors’ questions as an early warning, not a nuisance. A vendor who asks nothing has probably not read the brief properly. When several companies ask about the same thing, the brief is not clear enough at that point. Clarify it for everyone before proposals are submitted.

    Paid discovery pays off

    When the brief is unclear, first order discovery as a separate small engagement. It typically takes 2–8 weeks, and its output is a brief, an estimate, and a prototype. Secure the rights to the outputs in the contract, including the right to pass them on to other vendors. You can then request proposals for the implementation itself based on a more precise brief.

    Free analysis looks like a saving, but the vendor expects it to be followed by the implementation contract. It is like having a house designed for free by a company that then wants to build it: the plan fits mainly that company.

    Plan for the time, too. The whole vendor selection at a company takes roughly 2.5–6 months:

    Vendor selection by phase, in weeks
    1. RFI and meetings2–4 weeks
    2. Paid discovery2–8 weeksoptional
    3. RFP and waiting for proposals3–4 weeks
    4. Evaluation, presentations, and team interview2–3 weeks
    5. Trial sprint with finalists (chapter 9)1–2 weeks
    6. Contract negotiation2–4 weeks
    7. Totalroughly 2.5–6 months10–25 weeks

    Working back from the deadline: development starts September 1

    • Shortest option, 10 weeksstart by Jun 23, RFP goes out Jul 7
    • Longer option, 25 weeksstart by Mar 10, RFP goes out Jun 2

    If you need to start development in September, you must start vendor selection in June at the latest, and ideally in spring to leave a buffer.

    What belongs in an RFP

    Describe the problem, not the solution. Also state the budget, at least as a range or an order of magnitude. Vendors can then say early on whether they can deliver the project for that money and propose a scope that fits the budget. A good RFP contains:

    Deal with the license and code already in the RFP. After you select a vendor, your negotiating position is weaker (chapter 11).

    Generator

    Put together your RFP

    Fill in what you know. Below the form, the RFP text builds up as you type; copy it into an email or download it as a file. Empty required places stay in the text as “[fill in: …]”. Nothing is sent: the text exists only in your browser and disappears when you close the page.

    Who is issuing the RFP
    Who you are

    Public authority: approach the market as a preliminary market consultation (Section 33 of ZZVZ).

    What you are sending

    RFI = a non-binding question to the market. RFP = you want a binding proposal.

    What you are solving

    What does not work today and what it costs. Do not describe a solution.

    2–4 measurable goals, e.g. “Application processing from 12 to 5 days by December 2027”.

    E.g. “Case officers, 40, internal”. The numbers affect both price and architecture.

    One sentence = one scenario, at most 15.

    Data and integrations

    Sources, volumes, quality.

    System and method, e.g. “Accounting (API)”. Optional.

    Security, operations, and priorities
    What applies to you

    E.g. 99.5. What the numbers mean: chapter 21.

    E.g. “200 concurrent users”.

    E.g. “Must: …”, “Should: …”, “Out of scope: …”. Musts should be a minority. Optional.

    Deadline and budget (excluding VAT)

    Without a budget range, proposals are not comparable. An order of magnitude is enough.

    License and evaluation
    License and source code

    Prefilled from the scoring matrix in chapter 9. Quality at least 50–70%.

    Deadlines and attachments

    For an RFP, 3–4 weeks.

    Empty = the contact email.

    Attachments

    RFP textRFP template to fill in

    REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: CUSTOM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Issued by: [fill in: organization name], contact person [fill in: name], [fill in: email].
We are requesting a binding proposal.

1. PROBLEM
The problem we are solving: [fill in: what does not work today and what it costs].

2. GOALS AND METRICS
The project will be successful if:
- [fill in: goal: from today’s value to the target value by a date]

3. USERS
The system will be used by:
- [fill in: group, number, internal / external]

4. KEY SCENARIOS
- [fill in: one sentence = one scenario]

5. DATA AND DATA MIGRATION
Data: [fill in: sources, volumes, quality].
We will provide a sample of anonymized data once a non-disclosure agreement is signed.

6. SECURITY AND LEGISLATION
We do not yet know which requirements apply to us. In the proposal, the vendor will address security, personal data protection, and accessibility.

7. DEADLINE
Required deadline: [fill in: date].

8. BUDGET RANGE
Budget range: development [fill in: from–to CZK] excluding VAT.

9. LICENSE AND SOURCE CODE
We require an exclusive license, unlimited in time and territory, with the right to modify it and to sublicense it to third parties, ongoing handover of the source code to our repository, documentation, and a list of third-party components (SBOM).

10. EVALUATION CRITERIA
We evaluate proposals based on:
- Total price (development + 5 years of operation) 30%
- Understanding of the brief and proposed solution 25%
- Team (interview with key people) 20%
- Management approach and technical setup of development 10%
- Verified references 10%
- Contract principles (license, code, exit) 5%

11. PROPOSAL STRUCTURE
The proposal will include:
1. understanding of the brief and risks
2. proposed solution and technologies
3. team with names and seniority
4. schedule with phases
5. effort breakdown by role and phase
6. assumptions and what the price does not include
7. total price and rates
8. operations and support for 5 years
9. references with contacts
10. comments on the draft contract

12. DEADLINES AND RESPONSE FORMAT
Questions by [fill in: date] to [fill in: email]; we will send the answers to everyone.
Proposals by [fill in: date].

    The structure is based on the brief template (chapter 6) and on what belongs in an RFP according to the practice of Czech contracting authorities. The text is a starting draft: edit it and add the brief and the draft contract. For public procurement, it is only a basis for a market consultation, not tender documentation.

    How to compare proposals that cannot be compared

    A prescribed structure has a single purpose: to make proposals comparable. Ask for an effort breakdown by role and stage (analysis, design, development, testing, security, management, deployment, data migration) and a list of assumptions and items the proposal does not include. A fixed price without them is a red flag, because every ambiguity then becomes additional work. Chapter 4 explains why the rate alone does not decide. You will find how to score proposals in chapter 9.

    Ministry of Culture: ten bidders and no objections (2026)

    For the Kreativní Česko contract worth more than CZK 12 million, the ministry first held preliminary market consultations and gave quality a 70% weight in the evaluation. Ten bidders took part, and none of the unsuccessful ones filed objections Lupa.cz, 2026. The case is described by a vendor association; the tender documentation has not been verified. The lesson: open consultations with the market and clear criteria help you get more high-quality proposals.

    Source: Lupa.cz, September 15, 2026 (article by the vendor association ASWA)

    How it goes wrongHow to do it right
    How it goes wrongAn RFP sent to 15 companies with a 7-day deadline.How to do it rightRFI to 6–10 companies, RFP to the best 3–5, a deadline of 3–4 weeks.
    How it goes wrong“Send us a price for an order management system.”How to do it rightProblem, goals, users, data, constraints, budget range, criteria, and proposal structure.
    How it goes wrongOne proposal has 4 pages, another 90, and each has a different structure.How to do it rightA prescribed proposal structure and a table with the effort breakdown by role.
    How it goes wrongYou answer a question only to the vendor who asked it.How to do it rightQuestions until a set deadline, the answer to everyone at once.
    How it goes wrongThe analysis is done “for free” by a vendor who then wins.How to do it rightPaid discovery; the outputs are yours and you pass them on to others.
    How it goes wrongYou keep the budget secret “so they don’t ask for too much.”How to do it rightThe budget range, or at least its order of magnitude, is in the RFP.

    Questions

    Questions for the vendor

    1. What assumptions and risks do you see in our brief?
    2. What would discovery include, and how much would it cost?
    3. Which parts would you do differently, and why?
    4. Is there an off-the-shelf or open-source solution that would cover part of our needs?
    5. What is missing from our RFP for you to give a fixed price?
    6. How do you price change requests?
    • The equivalent of an RFI is a preliminary market consultation (PTK) under Section 33 of the Public Procurement Act (ZZVZ). You may hold it as long as it does not distort competition. In the tender documentation, you must then identify the information from the consultation, list its participants, and include all essential information (Section 36(4)).
    • The consultation helps uncover conditions that unjustifiably favor a particular vendor (Section 36(1)) and references to specific products or brands without the option to offer an equivalent solution (Section 89(5) and (6)).
    • You can tender discovery as a separate small contract and use the results in the documentation for the next stage. You must make the outputs available to all bidders.
    • Watch out for splitting a contract to circumvent the law (Section 35), and remember that the estimated values of all parts must be added up (Section 18(1) and (2)).
    • Unlike a company, you cannot negotiate freely: the conditions and criteria are set by the tender documentation (chapter 12).

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