Writing a Mobile RFP: Steps, Processsing, and More

A mobile app RFP is a document that both you and the app development vendor utilize to establish an understanding of your project’s desideratum. This document becomes the statement of a narrative description of a project’s work requirement. A comprehensive mobile app RFP will help one acquire more precise information regarding a specific project. One will also be able to find the best development partner to work with instead of choosing one that appears to be capable but is not fit enough to work within the constraints of one’s project. Organizations have come to understand that investing in a mobile app RFP process that adheres to best practices carries nominal advantages that do not ameliorate but also improve outcomes across multiple measures. Developing and homing in on an effective RFP process improves the overall quality of purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to engage in apples-to-apples comparisons across potential vendors. Creating one’s own request for proposal (RFP) for mobile development and platforms, one should be keenly aware of the various models that can be utilized to source mobile development. Those models will be explained and described how to make RFP that will make vendor responses easier for one to evaluate.

 

Steps Involved

 

Define the project

 

The basic section of an RFP demarcates the scope of the work. Mobile solutions are either small or large. RFPs should include:

  1. Definition of components/visual presentation.
  2. Executive summary.
  3. Questions to ask each vendor.

 

Executive summary: An effective mobile solution is always strategic. The focus of the solution is to give a user approach to information, allow him to adjudge and make a decision, then close the app in less than one minute. The executive summary is a proficient way to test how tactical the mobile project is.

 

Components and architecture: The second section of the RFP outlines the components and architecture of the project. One gives the responding vendor a crystal-clear acknowledgment of what one aspires to accomplish with the project. The goal is that one manages the anticipations of the project for each vendor to avoid confusion.

 

Vendor questions: Finally, vendors can be quizzed regarding their skill set. Questions may include the model of delivery used by the team, tools used to vindicate persistent code quality, test for remote connectivity, etc.

 

Define the mobile delivery model

 

Estimating the model size can have a significant impact on the type of delivery model being leveraged.

Four models can be used to deliver mobile solutions. They are:

  • Augmented staff
  • Supervised service delivery
  • Boutique
  • Financing

 

Augmented staff

Augmented staff is one of the common methods of delivering a solution. Multiple companies keep a catalog of developers, designers, and computer scientists on record. Augmenting the project works quite effectively when one is aware of the skill sets required and how a person will fit within one’s team. The challenge one has with this approach is that day-to-day management is still up to the team’s leaders. One must consider the time needed to manage each person before he can look for adding more iOS and Android developers.

 

Managed service delivery

Managed service delivery is quite like augmented staff, with an exception: The service provider manages each team member. Managed service delivery is the size of the delivery model versus the sack of the project.

 

Competencies should be outlined as well.

  • RESTful API development
  • JavaScript/HTML5
  • UI/UX creative elements
  • iOS/Android native app development

 

Checking off the required technology needed provides a framework for the size of the team required to deliver the solution. Once the framework is chalked out, it is a matter of complying with it to the budget. This will not be exact, but it gives the scope of the project to the managed service provider. This is the preferable method to use because it allows one to set out a relationship with a strategic partner.

 

Boutique

This concept is like a managed service. The difference is that a boutique specializes in a particular function. An example is the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that are highly specialized. With the boutique approach, you can find a proficiently skilled company that works on smaller and expensive projects.

 

Crowdsourcing

The ultimate way to source a project is with crowdsourcing. The model works when you post a clearly defined idea to a crowdsourced delivery site. The best ideas are smaller in scope such as:

  • Develop UI/UX for a portable application that must have X, Y, and Z capacities.
  • Build an iOS application for iPhone utilizing APIs A, B, and C.
  • Bring down the time it takes to return a dataset.

 

Foundation for success

 

Curating mobile solutions is hardly cumbersome, but what is not easy is that these mobile solutions remain safe and operational.

Mentioned criteria identify the foundation for success:

  • Governance
  • Developer tools
  • Communication

 

Governance defines how to curate an app that is compatible with your company standards, how does the certificate process look like, and how to pass on the progress. The developer tools currently being used to manage mobile solutions should be undoubtedly identified. These include list building tools, regression testing, and UI tools. The vendor being picked should be accustomed to one’s toolset. The communication and cadence tools should also be clear.

 

 

The mobile world is growing incessantly. The method of developing an RFP is also changing. There is an increasing number of options companies can choose from to pick a vendor. The persistent delivery cycle that mobile is dictating enforces a new set of tools needed to ensure successful delivery.

 

RFP Processing

 

  1. Timelines

Vendors are provided with dates of RFP process stages.

  • RFP issue
  • Phone call/meeting.
  • Seller questions.
  • RFP Accommodation.
  • Merchant waitlist choice.
  • The last seller selection.

Make sure that the developers are given sufficient time to respond to one’s request for proposal. This will help to ensure that one receives the most accurate estimates.

  1. Proposal Requirements

This is where one educates the sellers regarding what you anticipate from them. By characterizing the information and records you need, you increment the number of significant reactions and limit the ideal opportunity for clarifications and solicitations for extra data.

  1. Approval Criteria

Vendors are given a reasonable comprehension of what is generally significant for them (experience, timetable, cost, and so forth). This data will assist them with giving you the most ideal proposition.

  1. Stakeholders and Contacts

Tell the vendors who settle on the choices about the undertaking who is liable for the RFP cycle. The vendors ought to have the option to reach out to somebody from your organization on the off chance that they have any inquiries.

 

The entire RFP interaction may appear to be confounded, yet it merits going through. It assists you with seeing whether you have a reasonable and definite comprehension of the item inside the organization, to arrange exhaustive correlation, and, eventually, to track down the best accomplice for a drawn out coordinated effort. For versatile application improvement organizations, it is anything but a great deal of time and exertion to audit and react to a RFP, particularly on the off chance that it is anything but elegantly composed.

 

Sunvera Software develops next-level software applications from start-to-finish. Schedule a free 30-minute call with us to discuss your business, or you can give us a call at (949) 284-6300.