Re:RFP is the answer (Score 2, Informative)

I think that's pretty much right. Two suggestions though...

Firstly, the more you put into the process the more you'll get out of it so be prepared to come up with a good RFP. If you're not an expert in clusters then you might well not know the answers to some of these questions so be prepared to take advice from suppliers. Sure, some of them may try and rip you off but most will be honest and helpful which will make the dodgy ones pretty easy to spot. Alternatively, look for some external, independent help to work with you on both writing the RFP and selecting a supplier.

Secondly, once you've got an RFP don't send to every company you can find. Pick a few - say 5 or 6 - good ones, send it to them, and then be prepared to spend some considerable time talking to them and answering their questions. You'll get much better responses that way. Alternatively, have short, very initial discussions with a larger number and then reduce that down to a short list as early on as you can.

Part of my job involves responding to RFPs. We're usually pretty busy so we have to prioritise which RFPs we respond to and how much time we put into the response.

The ones we put most effort into are, quite frankly, the ones which we think we stand a good chance of winning. Those are usually the ones which the client has done their homework on and come up with a good spec of what they want to achieve (but not necessarily how they want to achieve it), and done a reasonable amount of pre-selection of suppliers before expecting them to invest lots of time responding.

The ones tend to politely decline are those that have been sent to everyone and his dog as, from experience, it suggests that the client doesn't really know what they're after, doesn't really know how to judge between suppliers, and/or isn't really bothered about who they choose and will just go with the lowest bidder.

Having said all that, though, I work in a different field so some of this might not apply. On the whole, though, it's worked when I've been commissioning work and finding suppliers so I think the basic principles work!