How to Write an RFP for Digital Work

What an RFP should achieve

A Request for Proposal (RFP) has one purpose: to help vendors give you accurate, comparable proposals so you can make an informed decision. Most RFPs fail because they are either too vague (leaving vendors to guess what you need) or too prescriptive (dictating solutions before the problem is understood).

A good RFP describes the problem, the context, the constraints and the evaluation criteria. It does not prescribe the technology, the architecture or the methodology, because those are the vendor’s expertise. Your job is to explain what success looks like. Their job is to propose how to get there.

For businesses in Bahrain and the Gulf, a clear RFP is particularly valuable because it levels the playing field between local and international vendors. A well-written brief attracts better responses from the right partners and wastes less time on proposals that are not a fit. Our choosing a technology partner guide helps you evaluate the responses once they arrive.

Executive summary

The executive summary is the most-read section of your RFP. If a vendor cannot tell from the first paragraph whether this project is relevant to them, they may not read further. Write one paragraph that covers: who you are, what you need, why you need it now, and what you expect from the proposal.

Example: “Almada is a web hosting and software development company in Bahrain. We need a custom customer portal that integrates with our existing billing system, allows clients to manage their services, and reduces support ticket volume. We are issuing this RFP to select a development partner to design, build and deploy the portal over a 12-week timeline.”

Keep this section to 100–150 words. Its purpose is to let vendors quickly decide, yes, we can do this, or no, this is not our speciality.

Scope of work

The scope of work defines what the project includes and, equally importantly, what it does not include. Use bullet points for clarity and separate the scope into categories: functional requirements (what the system must do), technical requirements (platform, security, performance), design requirements (brand guidelines, accessibility, responsive behaviour), and integration requirements (existing systems the new solution must connect to).

Be specific about volumes. A requirement that says “the system must handle many users” is useless. “The system must support 500 concurrent users with a response time under two seconds” is actionable. The same applies to data volume, transaction frequency and storage requirements.

Indicate which requirements are mandatory and which are desirable. This helps vendors propose appropriate solutions without gold-plating the scope. Our software development services page shows how we structure project scopes for clarity.

Timeline, evaluation criteria and budget

Timeline: State the target completion date and any hard deadlines (e.g. product launch, fiscal year end). Ask vendors to propose their own timeline within that constraint, including milestones for design approval, development sprints, testing and deployment. A timeline that does not include buffer for feedback rounds is unrealistic.

Evaluation criteria: Publish the criteria and their weighting so vendors can tailor their responses. Common criteria: relevant experience (30%), proposed approach (25%), team quality (20%), pricing (15%), timeline (10%). Publishing weights makes the process transparent and defensible.

Budget: You do not have to publish the exact number, but give a range or a budget category. “Our budget for this project is BD 3,000–5,000” saves everyone time. Without a budget indicator, vendors either lowball to get the job or propose a scope that is far beyond what you can afford.

Common RFP mistakes

Copying a template without customisation. Vendors can tell when an RFP is generic. A tailored RFP signals that you have thought about the problem and are a serious buyer. Asking for too much detail upfront. A 50-page RFP response requirement discourages good vendors from responding. Ask for the information you need to shortlist, not to make a final decision. Ignoring the relationship. Digital projects fail more often because of communication breakdowns than technical issues. Include a section on your preferred communication style, meeting frequency and reporting structure.

Not involving the end users. If the people who will use the system are not consulted during the RFP phase, the requirements will be wrong. Include user personas or interview summaries in the RFP so vendors understand who they are building for. Changing scope during the evaluation. Every change to the RFP after it has been issued should be communicated to all vendors equally, and the submission deadline should be extended accordingly.

RFP distribution and response evaluation

Send the RFP to 4–6 vendors maximum. More than six and the quality of responses drops because vendors sense the competition is too broad. Include a mix of specialist agencies (who do this type of work exclusively) and generalist firms (who can bring broader experience). Both bring different value.

Give vendors 10–15 business days to respond. Shorter timelines favour incumbents who already know you. Longer timelines cause momentum to fade. Hold a Q&A session or publish an FAQ document so all vendors receive the same information.

When evaluating responses, score against the published criteria before looking at pricing. This prevents the price from biasing your perception of quality. Invite the top two or three vendors for a presentation before making the final decision. The questions to ask a web designer guide contains useful questions that apply to any digital vendor evaluation.