How To Write a RFP For Your E-Business

The explosion of the new e-conomy has irrevocably altered the best practices for all businesses, from global Fortune 50 companies to emerging shoestring start-ups. And while you can't take your eye off the ball where business fundamentals are concerned,witness Wall Street's recent puncturing of dot-com companies that thought profits were for the birds,many long-held business beliefs are now at least open to question.

For example, in a recent Gartner Group report listing the top ten new economy business imperatives, No. 1 is: "Never plan further than 24 months out." While initially shocking to experienced managers who have long taken pride in establishing and then executing long-term plans, this new rule makes sense in today's rapid-fire, technology-driven environment.

Ah, yes, speed. That's what it all comes down to. And, with technology driving business, IT plays a bigger-than-ever role in the corporate decision-making process. There's a new way for IT to add value when the corporation selects an e-business partner. IT organizations are leveraging their long-standing knowledge of requests for proposals (RFPs) to e-business. RFPs have always been a key part of choosing the right partners, so using them to create your e-business initiative makes sense.

But have you considered the elements that go into developing an e-business RFP? With their long history of creating RFPs for large purchases, IT departments are uniquely qualified to provide some guidelines to help their corporation select the right e-business partner.

First, keep in mind that the business is e-business,and vice versa. Your e-business strategy should be incorporated into your overall business strategy. If it's not, you're not sufficiently considering how an e-business initiative will affect existing business. As the Gartner Group report states, "e-business strategies created%85in isolation from the business strategy are counterproductive and almost certain to fail."

Next, it's critical to understand what you want e-business to do for you. There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all e-business application anymore. Your colleagues on the business-operations side may not understand that they need to set specific goals. Does your company want to generate revenue? Reduce costs? Strengthen customer relationships? Improve supply-chain management? Increase internal productivity? While these goals are not mutually exclusive, you must prioritize up front or risk devoting resources to the wrong projects.

Having prioritized your e-business goals, you can then address such vital points as the user interface and customer experience, network-traffic estimates (which will help you decide whether to host the site yourself or take advantage of the many outsourcing options) and interactivity requirements (which will drive your response-center needs).

There are certain essential e-business building blocks that are a key part of any RFP (see sidebar). Evaluating these components is a critical way for IT to demonstrate its value to the overall business.

At this stage, the organization has laid out clear goals in its RFP. It's just as important that the RFP explain how you will achieve those goals. This entails good old-fashioned project planning, a discipline IT organizations thrive on. For example, a detailed timeline is key; this timeline should include phases, milestones and deadlines,including penalties associated with missing those deadlines. Don't plan too far out (remember Gartner Group's 24-month recommendation).

It's also important that your RFP discuss pricing (will it be fixed, or itemized by time and materials?); testing (has sufficient application-testing time been built into the timeline?); and post support (how will needed updates and upgrades be handled?).

Next, your RFP should explain what resources you'll use to execute your e-business strategy. This portion will discuss the background and qualifications of all parties involved,including partners. When selecting partners, be sure to thoroughly check references. With so many consultants rushing into the e-business space, paper-thin references often serve as a giveaway that a potential partner is a johnny-come-lately with little experience and less credibility.

Finally, there's money. What financial resources are to be allocated for the e-business project, both for development and for on-going support? Your executive management team must understand the scope of the project and the allocation of resources needed to accomplish the large transformation into the e-world.

Using this template to create an RFP will help IT ensure a successful transformation. Given the importance of e-business, it's no surprise that businesses are turning to companies to provides facilities-based and fully integrated services to facilitate e-business and e-commerce in the digital generation.

RFP checklist

Your RFP should include these essential technology components:

Network infrastructure. Any e-business solution is only as good as the Internet backbone network that connects it to the world. Without a network that offers the necessary speed and capacity, your e-business will never realize its full potential.

Access. Can your users access your site whenever,and from wherever,they need to? In today's environment, multiple types of access are critical.

Web hosting. Is there a plan for the day-to-day management and maintenance of your e-business servers and hardware?

Application development. Have you explored all the ways to get your business where it needs to be?

Security and business continuity. It's important to prepare for emergencies such as a key employee leaving the company, or a serious outage. No matter how bulletproof your telecom plans are, security breaches and downtime happen. Data storage, warehousing and mining are vital to your e-business strategy, and a detailed security plan is a must.

For more information on WorldCom's e-business services, visit www.wcom.com or call 1-800-WORLDCOM. E-business networks and user access, application development and Web hosting are key components of MCI WorldCom's generation d,a corporate-wide focus on high-growth data, Internet and wireless services that enable e-businesses and drive today's digital economy.