Vendor Selection Part 2

Panning for Gold: The RFP Process 

Nicole Burgess

Just as with the hunt for precious metals, it can seem daunting to choose a location to dig. The landscape is vast, but I assure you, there is gold in the paydirt. Let's break down the steps in the RFP process. 

1. Gather your equipment 

The equipment you should arm yourself with are: the goals of selecting your new DAM, the needs of the future system, and the users that will be interacting with the system. This first step was covered in part 1 of this series. You’ll want to go check that out to get clear on what you are looking for. From that work, you should have your success metrics, your requirements list, and your champions. 

2. Choose sites 

Next, you will need to research and gather information on a shortlist of vendors. This step may not be the most important in your selection, but it will prove impossibly difficult to mine for gold if you are looking in an area that does not have it. 

Start pulling names from the internet. You can supplement this list by attending webinars and conferences and talking to the vendors at the booths. I also recommend asking around – not just the name of the vendor but also their experience with the tool and customer service. A good ballpark number is to have between 5-15 vendors in your shortlist. 

This part can feel overwhelming and murky if you don’t know the qualities of the vendors and if they can meet your basic requirements. That’s okay – the RFI will help you sort that out. 

3. Dig 

Time for the RFI (Request for Information). This should be in a spreadsheet, with a line item for each requirement and a column for the vendor’s responses – yes, no, and requires explanation – as well as a column for the vendor to note any specifics and clarifications to their answers. 

4. Classify your paydirt

Once you get back the responses to your RFI, you can begin scoring and classifying the vendors’ ability to meet the needs you’ve set for your DAM. 

Just like when sifting for gold, your first step is to remove the obvious unwanted, like pebbles and sticks – any vendor that does not meet a non-negotiable should be eliminated from the pool. For example, your industry may require specific compliance certificates, or IT may have a prerequisite of which storage platform the vendor hosts the assets. 

Then, at the basic level, count the number of line items that are supported in each vendor’s platform. To help differentiate the options, you could either apply a weight to the line items/sections or distinguish between how many must-haves and nice-to-haves are supported. For example, if you have two vendors that support 20 of your 30 line items, vendor A may have a 10/10 split of must-haves and nice-to-haves, while vendor B may support 15 must-haves and 5 nice-to-haves. You’re looking for DAMs that meet all of the required elements and a good number of extras. 

NOTE: I keep those notations internally, not sharing them in the sent RFI document as it could cloud the answers that the vendors give. 

From there you’ll want to narrow it down. Generally, this should be in the ballpark of 3-5 vendors that scored the highest on the RFI. Less than 3 and you’ll be reducing your options prematurely, more than 5 and you’ll be taxing your staff with the next step. 

5. Panning the paydirt 

“The basic idea is to agitate the material in the pan in water so as to stratify it with the heaviest stuff at the bottom and the lightest stuff at the top.” [source] 

Gold is rarely left in its original form. It takes work to transform it for jewelry, awards, electronics, window tints, and aeronautical circuitry. Clarification through demos is our next step in sifting. How the vendors support your use cases will show you features and capabilities you hadn’t thought of before. For this you will need to develop some scenarios – scripts of typical use cases. This is where your user discovery will come in handy again. Share the use cases with the vendors ahead of the scheduled demo so they have time to prepare. 

There are several points in this process that are great places to get your champions involved. Demos are one of them. Not only do they get to weigh in on the future tool they will be working with, but they also get to see what is possible. You may have experienced some blank stares in the discovery phase from users that did not previously have experience with a DAM and therefore may not have had much to add in terms of wants for their teams. This is when you will start to see the lightbulbs click on. 

Adoption is key. Get your users involved, or at least informed, early on. I can write a whole series on user adoption, so I will leave it at that for now. But just to be clear, I don’t recommend inviting everyone at the company to these demos – key stakeholders and champions only. This is to reduce the number of cooks in the kitchen for scoring and to reduce the overhead cost of excess personnel sitting in. 

6. Finding the gold

“In the end, all you want left in the pan is heavy black sand and (hopefully) some gold.”  

After the demos, you’ll want to meet with your stakeholders and champions to cut the options that didn’t show well. Have each person fill out a scorecard for the use cases you asked the demo to showcase. Then meet and discuss, if possible. 

Get the number of candidates down to 2 or 3. Now you can send an RFP. 

So how does the RFP differ from an RFI?

Once you’ve narrowed your vendor options to the top 2-3 contenders, you’ll want to ask the nitty gritty questions. Now that they know your use cases better, have them draft a pricing proposal for your needs. This should include the number of user licenses you’ll need, storage requirements, add-on modules, integrations, managed services, and implementation costs. They will also quote you a ballpark timeline to launch the DAM and provide information on their support team availability. 

NOTE: in some companies, the RFI and the RFP are synonymous; in that case, my definition of RFP would be – stage 2 of the RFI process. 

7. Stake your claim 

Select the vendor, sign the contract, and begin the work of implementing the new system and migrating your assets and data. Eureka – You’ve done it! 

If, during any part of this process you feel covered in muck or return empty handed, reach out to us at Salt Flats. We know the vendors in the marketplace to help you craft a shortlist, we have a template for analyzing RFI requirements, and we have experience leading custom demos for clients’ use cases. We also have industry specialists and librarians that can help you navigate and sift through the silt to find the precious metals. 

In part 3 of this series, we’ll sift through some common questions and tips for a successful vendor selection. 

What’s Next

Make sure to come back for Part 3 – Extracting: Choosing the Right Vendor. Missed our DAM Drinks event June 14th? Stay tuned for future events to come. Reach out to us here to start your DAM journey.