DMS/ECM System Planning Guide

Cost/Benefit Analysis - Request for Proposal (RFP) preparation sets the stage for good cost/benefit analysis, and ensures the best document or enterprise content management system is selected! Why? Only after all departmental needs are identified, and how these needs affect other units in your company, is it possible to reliably forecast future savings. Proper rfp preparation ensures accurate financial analysis of all vendor responses!

Without an accurate future savings forecast, it is impossible to calculate the financial impact of a proposed product. Creating a meaningful RFP ensures all operational and procedural needs and related efficiency improvements are identified. This enables you to enjoy the benefits of full weighted grade point score suitability and cost/benefit analysis when evaluating vendor RFP responses!

Project Domain - You might hear that a Request for Proposal is a waste of time, that a knowledgeable vendor will answer questions such as - What should a new document management system do? Should legacy systems be integrated or replaced? Not true at all!! How could a vendor answer these questions without first having spent a good deal of time examining your operations? And if they did, how do you know their suggestions aren't biased to their own offerings? A request-for-proposal puts you in control of your own destiny, due to the good project planning made possible with a detailed RFP! And if you feel there is not enough time, or need assistance, there are reliable rfp software tools that make it easier!

Clearly defining the boundaries of a new enterprise content management or document management system, and exactly where and how it will integrate with other systems, procedures, and departments is known as establishing the "project domain" of a new system project. Having this up-front will help you select the system best for your immediate and long-term needs, manage the entire project more effectively. Establishing the correct Project Domain is one of the most important benefits of preparing a request for proposal (RFP)!

Project Planning - Done correctly, an RFP becomes a mission critical tool for successfully planning any project! Why? Ideally, the department or procedure to BEGIN the system implementation with should be the one that offers, if improved, the biggest return on the initial investment of time, people, and money. This sounds deceptively simple, but in actuality becomes very complex when data conversion, user training, and document management software (DMS) or enterprise content management (ECM) software issues come into play. The required system features and business priorities identified during the request for proposal preparation and rfp response evaluation processes are extremely helpful when deciding just where and when to begin system implementation!

Vendor Proposal Evaluation - Without a Request for Proposal to use as a yardstick, it is impossible to evaluate vendor RFP responses in a QUANTITATIVE manner that ensures all responses are reviewed in a consistent, objective, unbiased manner. Each vendor proposal would be different if there was no common measuriong stick - the request for proposal!

System Implementation - Project planning does not stop when system implementation begins - it is an on-going part of any good project management formula! The criteria established when creating a properly organized RFP are vey helpful in determining the best training options, answering the many minor system configuration questions that will come up, and in making major decisions about what to do if a completely unforseen business situation develops (like buying a competitor, or a new product line) halfway into the implementation.

Enterprise Content Management or Document Mangement System Expansion - Your Request for Proposal, and the vendor RFP response of the vendor you selected as your partner, become very useful in determing the right path to take when system expansion becomes necessary, on either an unplanned or planned basis.

      In short, an Request for Proposal (RFP) is not just a one-time use tool for preparing just one type of RFP, but a project management tool useful over and over again for many different applications!