Byrne Tony Byrne

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Four words to drop from your RFP -- and one to add

16-Apr-2007

Tags: Document Management (ECM), Portals and Content Integration, Web Content Management

In product selection, as in life, the key to differentiating among possible alternatives is precision. Vague, wordy RFPs (or "tenders" for our international readers) beget vague, wordy responses. Taking a scenario-based approach can help you make very specific assertions and requests. You can also help your enterprise by removing conveniently ambiguous buzz-words. Here's four that I think you can safely drop from any RFP:

  • Integrate. This word allows you and the vendor to conspire in postponing discussion of the hard work coming your way. Instead, articulate specific needs for read- or write-access to repositories, as well as event-triggers across systems. Extra credit: lose seamless too. Seams are part of the fabric of all software.
  • Intuitive. To whom? Vendors are justifiably proud of their tools and deem them easy to use. Remember: usability is fitness to purpose, so discover your colleagues' true purpose in employing any tool.
  • Robust. Vendor-speak. If you mean "multifunctional," or "development platform," you may unintentionally mitigate against ease of use.
  • Compliant. Sure, standards are important, but adherence is always relative. What do you really want out of a system that espouses J2EE/.NET/WSRP/JSR 170/Etc. compliance?

 

Here's a word to employ more frequently at the beginning of any question: How. Vendors differentiate less on what they do than how they do it. Good luck in your product search!

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