Request-for-Proposal (RFP) for IT DR Services [Part 1]

Request-for-Proposal (RFP)

Provision of good background information on the history of DR activities in your organization will be very useful when you are setting up a RFP process. 

The rationale for your request of an RFP and your organization’s IT roadmap or vision that have a bearing on the scope of RFP will help the vendor design a more suitable solution for your organization.

These are some of the information needed.  The key areas are shown in Part 1 and Part 2 (click icon):

[Click icon to view the second installment of the "RFP for IT DR Services Part 2"]

Corporate Overview

It is always useful to let the vendor know about criticality and dependency of the organization’s business operations on IT services.

These are some of the points worth highlighting to the Vendors:

• The organization’s core business, mission statement and core value statements
• The relationship between it and business units
• A high-level organization chart to indicate the reporting structure
• The extent it is used in the organization to support business operations

Scope of Services

Define clearly the extent and coverage of this RFP, so that Vendors are clear on what to deliver to your organization. The information to be written down should include:

• Tangible objectives for calling this RFP
• Lines of business and their international overseas presence, and which of them are included in this RFP.
• Key criteria such as your expectations in determining the success in implementing the proposed solution

Requirements

At this point, you should provide a more detailed description of the scope and objectives that you have briefly mentioned in the introduction section of RFP. The level of detail to be presented must be sufficient for the vendors to formulate and package their proposed project approach, resources, and timeline to meet your expectations.

For example, the information should indicate whether there’s already a DR Plan in place; if so, when it was done; when it was last updated; the schedule of the last completed test and so on.

Business Specification

Indicate any dependencies between the supporting business applications and the respective daily business functions. State the tolerable downtime, user base regarding location and size, business functions in the sequence of the level of criticality. You may want to include information on some of the following areas under the business specification:

• What are your project resources and their availability to participate together with the vendor to deliver the DR strategy?
• What will be the project management methodology that you will be expecting from the vendor if you have one? For example, a methodology that is equivalent to the ISO 9000 IT project management standard
• What are the project management status reporting and escalation procedures that you will be expecting from the vendors, or will be giving to them?

Be specific about your requests and expectations on the vendors’ description of their project approach, deliverables and timeline. Indicate clearly the degree of detail you require on the major tasks and relative effort and involvement by resources and the consultants from both the vendor and the organization.

Technical Specification

Provide technical details such as the scope, functions, size and configuration of each of the IT applications in your existing environment and how these technical components need or are expected to be recovered. Some of these technical items include the the software, hardware and network aspects of the IT DR solution.

Application Software

• Name and version of the application software
• System software that it operates on
• Provider or manufacturer of the application software

System Software

• Name and version of the application
• Provider or manufacturer of the system software

Hardware

• Detailed configurations
  • CPU, RAM, and hard disk size of the servers, notebooks and desktop PCs

Data Center Network

• A detailed list of the network setup and routers, switches, hubs, concentrators, repeaters, and modems.
  • Physical number
  • Brand
  • Mode
  • Made
  • Manufacturer 

Dedicated / Leased Lines

• A detailed list of the physical number, types, speed and providers of:
  • All leased lines
  • ADSL lines
  • MPLS connections
  • Dial-up connections.

Geographical Coverage

• The locations and how they are all inter-connected for information exchange and access

Overall IT Infrastructure Configuration Diagram

Qualifications of Vendor

Request the vendor to provide a short write-up on its organization’s setup.  This ifnormation includes the Vendor's:

• Name
• Address
• Core businesses
• Past turnover and investment in the DR services as compared to the other business, if any
• Presence in the rest of the world
• Prior experience in delivering similar scope of DR services
• Certification and qualification of the organization individuals who will be delivering the proposed solutions

References of Past Customers

Request for a list of customer references a general description of the scope of the project, and the value achieved by the referenced customers, who can testify to the services quality of the Vendors.