Building a CMMS request for proposal requires evaluating your organization’s needs, goals, budget and more. That’s why we’ve put together this CMMS RFP to help you get the ball rolling and get on your way to finding the perfect CMMS software for your organization.
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What This Article Covers:
What Is an RFP?
An RFP (or request for proposal) is a type of planning document. It’s part of the family of “request for” documents called RFx. These help you forecast the budget, goals and other expectations for a project or expenditure.
You can consider an RFP as a proposal document describing the project and soliciting bids from potential contractors. Both private and public or government organizations use RFPs.
An RFP is the middle of a three-part funnel, so before we dive into the RFP, let’s go into a summary of each of them.
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Request for Information
An RFI is the preliminary step for any big project, including obtaining CMMS software. As the name suggests, its main function is to gather information. You can do this by creating some high-level questions to ask of your organization and the vendors you’ll eventually shortlist.
The questions help you determine the features, goals and vendors for your CMMS implementation. Here are a few example questions that might be helpful:
- What deployment methods do you prefer?
- Do you need asset management software?
- Do you need mobile access or integration capabilities?
- What deployment methods do you offer?
- How long will implementation take?
- Do you offer 24/7 support?
The RFI is typically an informal document that can be as simple as sending an email or filling out a contact form on product websites. You haven’t committed to anything yet; you’re just gathering information. This interactive CMMS requirements template can help make the requirements and information gathering step much easier.
Request for Proposal
Once you’ve got an idea of what you need from a CMMS and what vendors can offer you, you’re ready to get serious about considering options. This step involves creating a shortlist of the vendors whom you requested information from in the previous step and narrowing down your options.
You can compare different platforms based on their performance for the CMMS features you identified as crucial in the RFI step to help you generate a shortlist.
When you have a shortlist of between three and seven platforms that you think would be a good match, you’re ready to send off your proposal! We’ll come back to the specifics for creating a CMMS software RFP in the next section, but some basics include:
- Be specific about your needs
- Include your general budget but be open-minded to tweaks
- Set a deadline for request responses
- Use an RFP management tool
Once you’ve submitted your RFP, you can wait for responses to roll in. When they have, you’ll be ready to look them over and complete the final step of the RFx process if vendors didn’t include it in the request responses.
Request for Quote
Some vendors will include a quote in their response to your RFP, but it’s not a guarantee. An RFQ is a request for quote. Many vendors price software systems on an incredibly individualized basis based on users’ unique needs. To get a price quote, they need to understand what modules you’ll be using, the size of your user base and any other unique information.
An RFQ comes after the RFP when you’re ready to get serious with a few of the original shortlisted vendors and find out their pricing. You aren’t obligated to choose a vendor you’ve submitted an RFQ to, so don’t hesitate to ask for specifics from your entire shortlist if you want to be extra thorough.
RFP Creation Process
Now that you know the generals of the RFx group, let’s get specific about making a CMMS RFP. We’ll define the step-by-step process, give you some resources and make sure you’re ready to find the perfect CMMS for your company.
Define Your Requirements
Like we mentioned above, you have to know what you need from a CMMS to start searching for one.
“Requirements” refers to the capabilities, price, customer support, deployment environments and other qualities the software must provide to meet your needs. These can be very broad (e.g., “has work order management capabilities”) to very niche (e.g., “has modules that are customized specifically for government-funded facilities”).
Defining your CMMS requirements involves selecting the various requirements that you think are most crucial to your organization. For example, an apartment complex will have different needs regarding a CMMS than a nuclear power plant, but both can benefit significantly from having one.
Our Decision Platform tool offers end-to-end streamlining of your RFP.
Our CMMS requirements checklist should help you get an understanding of your options regarding CMMS features. Our interactive CMMS requirements template will narrow down which are most important to you. You can also use our requirements planning tool to assist in generating a CMMS RFP.
This may not seem like a big deal, but pinpointing your specific requirements is a crucial step to ensure you choose the right CMMS for you.
Generate an RFP Document
After you’ve created a requirements list you’re confident in, you’re ready to create an official CMMS software RFP. The purpose of an RFP is to reach out to vendors to get a personalized proposal from them outlining how they’ll meet your criteria for a CMMS.
Reviews and research are an important part of any big purchase decision, but nothing online will tell you exactly what the vendor plans to offer you.
It’s important to make the RFP look professional — vendors are less likely to take you seriously as a client if you seem like you don’t take them seriously. Plus, it’s just good manners! An RFP planning tool can help with that aspect.
Create Vendor Shortlist
Now it’s time to create a CMMS vendor shortlist. You shouldn’t have any trouble with this step if you use your requirements to compare vendors with this CMMS comparison report.
Note the platforms that perform best for the requirements you’ll use often or who meet the highest number of your key requirements. A shortlist generally contains three to seven vendors — too many vendors is just as bad as too few, so try to stick to a manageable number.
This is the time to search the internet for other people’s experiences with a vendor. Read reviews, watch demos of the product and understand whether people like using it. This step might help you narrow down your shortlist further, or at least prepare you for what to expect from the product.
Submit RFP to a Vendor Shortlist
Now you’ve got the beginning of your equation: vendor shortlist + CMMS RFP document. Submitting the RFP puts the ball in the vendors’ court — they’ll create proposals based on what you asked for, and then you can evaluate the proposals to make your final choice.
Typically an RFQ takes place either concurrently with the RFP or after you receive the proposals if you need pricing clarification.
You can submit your RFP through email, through a vendor contact page or through an RFP management tool, but the first is the most common. Make sure to include further contact information so vendors can send back their proposals.
For best results, we suggest including the following information in your CMMS RFP:
- Some general information about your company, such as industry, the number of people who’ll likely use the software and budget
- A response deadline date
- Some challenges you’re hoping CMMS will help your organization overcome
- Your key feature requirements
Make sure not to leave any ambiguity in your technical requirements (for example, what kind of security regulations do you need to adhere to?) or customer support needs in order to get an accurate proposal.
Review and Select
And now the final step of the equation: vendor shortlist + CMMS RFP = your perfect CMMS solution!
Evaluate in-depth product comparisons with our Decision Platform before creating RFPs.
RFP management tools like our Decision Platform offer a big advantage over email for this step. Instead of risking responses being sent to a spam folder or being buried under your other emails, you’ll receive responses neatly organized in a single place.
You can evaluate all the responses from the various vendors and streamline your selection process. If vendors didn’t include a price quote, now is the time to submit an RFQ to ensure you have an accurate understanding of the costs associated with the software.
It’s considered good etiquette to inform eliminated vendors that they aren’t a good match. When you’ve narrowed your search to two or three products, it’s time to follow up. A follow-up consists of requesting in-depth demos, free trials, proof-of-concept demonstrations or other ways to experience their software.
The big kahuna of these test runs is a live demo day. You can have your end users take the software for a test drive performing tasks they’ll have to do once you implement the software.
This is a great resource for troubleshooting and getting kinks worked out before you’ve committed. It gives you firsthand knowledge of any gaps in the system and a feel for the user-friendliness of the product.
Once you’ve made your final decision, you can finalize your contract and move on to the implementation step.
Common Pitfalls
There are plenty of big hazards that can derail your project, but it’s often the small hiccups that slip by unnoticed and cause problems. Here are a few common pitfalls to avoid during the CMMS software RFP process:
Depending on the RFP Alone
While the RFP step is incredibly helpful, the research beforehand and the follow-up are equally vital. If you send an RFP to every CMMS vendor that sounds good, you’ll end up drowning in proposals. If you don’t follow up thoroughly, you could end up with a system you don’t like or can’t use effectively.
Being Too General
Just because you might not think a detail is important doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include it. Vendors can’t adequately cater to your needs if they don’t have an incredibly specific understanding of what those needs are. It’s much better to include too many details about your goals for the CMMS than too few.
Most RFPs don’t consider the logic behind the changes required or the outcome. It’s obvious to cite improved efficiency and productivity of maintenance teams or fewer manual processes.
However, these don’t mean anything until you offer actionable insights that are defined and measurable.
It’s important to set clear expectations in the RFP in a standardized format. Create a well-crafted and concise document that defines objectives so all team members are on the same page.
Unrealistic Expectations
Whether it’s timeline, budget or capabilities, you need to have realistic expectations for your software. A free CMMS won’t give you the same functionality as one that costs $500 a month: it just can’t. At the same time, if you only need basic CMMS functions, it doesn’t make financial sense to stretch your budget to buy a product with all the bells and whistles.
Additionally, implementation takes time — think months, not weeks. Find out a general time frame from your vendor up front and then stretch it a bit, and you should have an accurate estimate for how long it will be before your CMMS is up and running.
Wants vs. Needs
We’ve all done it in our daily lives — do you need that new purse or 72” TV? Or do you want it? Software is the same game. Just because a system can offer extensive EAM capabilities or real-time business intelligence features doesn’t mean you’ll use them. More features cost more money, so it’s important not to over-buy. This often leads to overly cumbersome systems that don’t get used.
Next Steps
Choosing a CMMS is a project that takes dedication and attention to detail. Using an RFP management tool can save you time, money and headache in the long run, so it’s worth your consideration.
This project will run smoothly if you start out with input from all stakeholders, generate accurate requirements and set accurate expectations.
You should have end users take part in any demos or trials as they’ll be the ones who have to use the software, so their input is priceless during this step.
If you’re ready to start creating your CMMS RFP, head over to our Decision Platform to take the reigns or check out our Managed Selection Services to pass the work off to us!
Do you have any specific challenges facing you in your CMMS RFP process? Let us know in the comments!