What's the difference between an RFI, an RFP, and an RFQ?

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A Request for Information (RFI) is used when you think you know what you want bu
t need more information from the vendors. It will typically be followed by an RF
Q or RFP.
A Request for Quote (RFQ) is commonly used when you know what you want but need
information on how vendors would meet your requirements and/or how much it will
cost.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) is used when you know you have a problem but don t kn
ow how you want to solve it. This is the most formal of the Request for processes
and has strict procurement rules for content, timeline and vendor responses. The
appendices in the Guide to Successful Software Acquisition provide templates fo
r this approach.

Estimation:
A sample abstract for a software project
Software Project Estimate
Abstract
S.N. Item Unit Qty Role/Skill Man days Rate (INR)
Amount (INR) Remarks
1 Visionary doc Nos 1 n/a 2 4,000 .00 8,000.00
2 Workflows / Subworkflows Nos 55 n/a 55 4,000 .0
0 220,000.00
3 Use cases Nos 50 n/a 250 3,200 .00 800,000.
00
4 Objects in hierarchy tree Nos 210 n/a 262.5 3,200 .0
0 840,000.00
5 Technology Nos 10 n/a 5 4,700 .00 23,500.0
0 gathering +analysis
6 Non-functional req doc Nos 1 n/a 2 4,000 .00
8,000.00
7 Tiers Nos 4 n/a 2 5,000 .00 10,000.00
8 Activity diagrams Nos 100 n/a 1050 3,047 .62
3,200,000.00
9 Flowchart / Processes Nos 100 n/a 800 3,000 .00
2,400, 000.00
10 Components Nos 7 n/a 98 4,000 .00 392,000.
00
11 Objects in framework tree Nos 150 n/a 300 3,500 .0
0 1,050, 000.00
12 Deployment Nos 2 n/a 22 3,181 .82 70,000.0
0
13 Test case designs Nos 400 n/a 500 3,200 .00
1,600,000.00
14 Tools Requirement Nos 6 n/a 3 5,000 .00
15,000.00
15 User Acceptance Testing Nos 1 n/a 900 3,000 .00
2,700,000.00
total 4252 3,136 .89 13,336, 500.00 $296,366
.67
Add Risk Factor Nos 3 1.00 40,009, 500.00 $889,100.00
Requirements Gathering
S.N. Item Unit Qty Role/Skill Man days /Unit Rate Amount
Remarks
1 Visionary doc Nos 1 BA 2 4,000 .00 8,000.00
2 Workflows / Subworkflows Nos 55 BA 1 4,000 .0
0 220,000.00
3 Use cases (major only) Nos 50 BA 1 4,000 .00
200,000.00 user interface, user process components
4 Objects in hierarchy tree Nos 210 Designer 0.25
4,000 .00 210,000.00 business components
5 Technology Nos 3 BA 0.5 4,000 .00 6,000.00
IE, asp.net, sqlserver
6 Non-functional req doc Nos 1 BA 2 4,000 .00
8,000.00
total 320 652,000.00
Requirement Analysis
S.N. Item Unit Qty Role/Skill Man days /Unit Rate Amount
Remarks
1 Tiers Nos 4 Architect 0.5 5,000 .00 10,000.0
0 presentation, business, data format, data storage
2 Activity diagrams Nos 100 Designer 0.5 4,000 .0
0 200,000.00
3 Flowchart / Processes Nos 100 Sr.Dev / Dev 1 3,000 .0
0 300,000.00 workflow components
4 Components Nos 7 Architect / Designer 7 5,000 .0
0 245,000.00 interfaces, controller, data entities
5 Objects in framework tree Nos 150 Designer 1
4,000 .00 600,000.00 service interfaces, data access, external interf
ace, security
6 Technology Nos 7 Architect 0.5 5,000 .00
17,500.00 html, xml, jscript, c#, asp.net, sql, com+,
7 Deployment Nos 2 Architect 1 5,000 .00
10,000.00 design
8 Test case designs Nos 400 Test lead 0.25 4,000 .0
0 400,000.00
9 Tools Requirement Nos 6 Architect 0.5 5,000 .0
0 15,000.00 vs.net, load runner, win runner, nunit, vss, xml spy
total 776 12.25 1,797,500.00
Development and Testing Entities in Above Items
S.N. Item Unit Qty Role / Skill Man days /Unit Rate Amount
Remarks
1 Flowchart / Processes Nos 100 Sr.Dev / Dev 7 3,000 .0
0 2,100,000.00 Development of the workflow components
2 Activity diagrams Nos 100 Sr.Dev / Dev 10 3,000 .0
0 3,000,000.00 Development of the workflow components other than those
developed from the flowchart
3 Test case designs Nos 400 Test lead 1 3,000 .0
0 1,200,000.00 Testing
4 Objects in hierarchy tree Nos 210 Sr.Dev /Dev 1
3,000 .00 630,000.00 Development of the business components
5 Objects in framework tree Nos 150 Sr.Dev /Dev 1
3,000 .00 450,000.00 development of service interfaces, data access,
external interface, security, logging, event handling, constants, enumerations,
globalization, localization
6 Use cases Nos 200 Sr.Dev /Dev 1 3,000 .00
600,000.00 user interface, user process components
7 Deployment Nos 20 Sr.Dev /Dev 1 3,000 .00
60,000.00 deployment script/files for sql, dll's and exe's
8 Components Nos 7 Sr.Dev /Dev 7 3,000 .00
147,000.00 interfaces, controller, data entities
9 User Acceptance Testing Nos 1 Dev. Team 900 3,000 .0
0 2,700,000.00 interfaces, controller, data entities
total 1188 7,980,000.00
Entities: These are the objects in the diagrams created and/or items ident
ified in requirement gathering & analysis . The diagrams include the object hier
archy tree (framework, business objects, forms), work flows, flow charts, activi
ty, use cases, components and deployment