How to Write an RFP for Software Development: The Ultimate Guide

Why an RFP Matters for Custom Software Projects

When embarking on a software development project , it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of software development vendors promising the perfect solution. Without a structured approach, you risk misalignment, unclear deliverables, and costly overruns. A request for proposal provides clarity, ensuring that all potential vendors understand your project goals, scope of work, and evaluation criteria. It also standardizes the vendor selection process, making it easier to compare options and choose the right development partner. Most importantly, an RFP establishes a shared framework that keeps both your internal team and external providers accountable throughout the project's lifecycle.

In short: a good RFP transforms a vague idea into a formal, structured, vendor-facing document that helps you land the right software development partner.

Key Terms to Understand (RFP, RFI, RFQ)

Because many people confuse procurement terms, here’s how they relate:

• RFI (Request for Information): A lighter, early-stage document to survey vendor capabilities before writing a complete RFP.
• RFQ (Request for Quotation): When your technical requirements are very specific and you primarily want a price comparison.
• RFP (Request for Proposal): More comprehensive, allowing vendors to propose their approach, tools, architecture, team, and creative solutions.

In many IT and software procurement processes, you may issue an RFI first, shortlist a few vendors, and then issue a formal RFP for detailed proposals.

The RFP Process in 5 Phases

Think of the RFP process as the foundation of your software development journey. Just as you wouldn’t start building a house without a blueprint, you shouldn’t begin conversations with software vendors without a well-defined roadmap. While every organization’s approach varies slightly, most effective RFPs follow five core phases that ensure clarity, fairness, and efficiency.

Across top resources, the RFP process is often broken into these stages:

• Discovery & Planning
• Drafting the RFP (Document creation)
• Distribution & Vendor Q&A
• Evaluation, Shortlisting & Scoring
• Vendor Selection & Contracting

1. 1. Discovery & Planning. Every strong RFP starts long before a single word hits the page. The discovery phase is where you bring together key stakeholders, including business leaders, product managers, IT specialists, and procurement officers, to align on a shared vision. This is your opportunity to articulate your business goals, outline project requirements, and pinpoint areas of pain in your current systems or workflows.

   Skipping this step often results in vague RFPs that attract similarly vague proposals. But when you take the time to define the project scope, constraints, and timeline, vendors will be able to respond with precise, actionable solutions. At this stage, many organizations also issue a request for information (RFI) to survey the landscape and understand what’s realistic before committing to an RFP.

   Checklist for Discovery & Planning:

   • Gather key stakeholders (product owners, business leads, finance, technical leads) to define business goals, project needs, and constraints.
   • Draft a project overview/project summary: context, market, existing systems, competitive differentiators, vision.
   • Establish your project goals, success metrics, target audience, and assumptions.
   • Define scope boundaries (what’s in, what’s out), technical constraints, dependencies, and integrations.
   • Estimate high-level budget parameters or price ceilings (even ballpark).
   • Establish a timeframe, key milestones, and final deadline.
   • Decide who on your side will manage the RFP document, communications, and vendor selection.
   • Perform preliminary market research: explore software development companies and methodologies (agile, scrum, waterfall, hybrid).
   • Optionally, issue an RFI to gather vendor capabilities before writing your full RFP.

2. 2. Drafting the RFP Document. Once you know what you’re asking for, it’s time to put pen to paper. Drafting the RFP is more than filling out a template; it’s about telling the story of your project in a way that vendors can quickly grasp. Think of your RFP as both a technical manual and a sales pitch: it should include detailed functional and technical requirements, but also convey the larger vision that makes your project worth investing in.

   A well-structured RFP document typically includes sections like company background, project overview, scope of work, deliverables, technical stack preferences, and evaluation criteria. This clarity not only helps vendors understand what success looks like but also allows you to compare proposals side by side, apples to apples.

   Possible RFP sections:

   • Title page, version control, date
   • Contact information: who to contact, for clarifications, etc.
   • Company description & background (brief, mission, domain)
   • Project overview/project goals
   • Scope of work/project scope
   • Deliverables & milestones
   • Technical requirements / functional & non-functional requirements
   • Assumptions & constraints
   • Methodologies & preferred architecture/tech stack
   • Quality assurance, testing, performance metrics
   • Vendor qualifications / past projects/references
   • Intellectual property/licensing/data ownership
   • Timeline/milestones/project plan
   • Pricing structure/budget/cost assumptions
   • Evaluation criteria/selection process/weighting
   • Proposal submission guidelines & format
   • RFP response deadlines / Q&A schedule
   • Terms & conditions/contract terms
   • Appendices (e.g., glossary, diagrams, existing system docs)

   Download our recommended software RFP template and adapt it to your project’s specificity.

3. 3. Distributing, Clarifying & Listening. Once the draft is polished, it’s time to send it into the world. This stage is often underestimated, but how you communicate with potential vendors can shape the quality of responses you receive. Distribute the RFP to a carefully chosen list of shortlisted vendors, ideally those with proven expertise in your industry or project type.

   Give them space to ask questions. A structured Q&A process ensures that every vendor operates with the same information and no one is disadvantaged. This back-and-forth not only clarifies misunderstandings but can also reveal blind spots in your own thinking. In many cases, vendor questions highlight important details you may have overlooked, which can then be shared as addenda to the full group.

   Checklist for Distributing, Clarifying & Listening:

   • Send the RFP to your shortlisted potential vendors (typically 10–20, then narrow down the list.)
   • Allow a vendor Q&A period: let vendors ask clarifications, and publish addenda so everyone sees the same clarifications.
   • Use a structured vendor responses tracker (here is our example).
   • Remind vendors of submission deadlines and any required format (PDF, Excel, etc.).

4. 4. Evaluation & Shortlisting. Here’s where the real decision-making begins. Once proposals are in, your team should evaluate them against the selection criteria you defined earlier. This might include pricing, methodology, team qualifications, cultural fit, and risk mitigation strategies.

   Rather than relying on gut instinct, most organizations use a scoring matrix to assign weight to different factors—say 30% for technical expertise, 25% for cost, 20% for past experience, and so on. The goal is not just to find a vendor who looks good on paper, but one who understands your industry, aligns with your working style, and can realistically meet your project timeline.

   At this stage, it’s common to shortlist two to four vendors for deeper discussions, demos, or even pilot projects. This allows you to see how they communicate, how quickly they respond, and how invested they are in your project’s success.

   Checklist for Evaluation & Shortlisting:

   • Use your evaluation criteria and scoring matrix (weighted scores) to rate proposals.
   • Select a shortlist (often top 2–4) for further interviews or discussions.
   • Walk through demos, proof-of-concept, and reference checks.
   • Request best and final offers (BAFO) if needed.
   • Evaluate team members, approach, methodology, culture fit, and numbers.
   • Use metrics and comparison tables to keep the decision objective.

   Download our recommended vendor evaluation template and adapt it to your project’s specificity.

5. 5. Vendor Selection & Contracting. Finally, the process culminates in choosing your development partner. After reviewing shortlisted vendors, holding presentations, and perhaps negotiating pricing adjustments, your organization selects the best vendor based on a combination of expertise, value, and cultural alignment.

   Once proposals are in:

   • Score each vendor using your predefined evaluation criteria.
   • Compare the vendor approach, team, and methodology side by side.
   • Ask for clarifications or POCs/demos from your shortlisted vendors.
   • Consider long-term partnership quality, not just the lowest price.
   • Evaluate risk, contingency plans, and vendor financial stability.
   • Review intellectual property, support, and contract terms
   • Negotiate final pricing, deliverables, and contract terms before awarding.

   Contracting is more than just signing paperwork. It’s where you lock down deliverables, milestones, intellectual property rights, service levels, and quality assurance standards. A strong contract doesn’t just protect you legally—it creates a framework for collaboration that makes the entire software development project smoother.

   And once the ink dries, your RFP has fulfilled its purpose: it’s taken a complex, ambiguous project idea and transformed it into a structured plan with a clear path forward. From there, your project management team and vendor can begin the real work of bringing your software solution to life.

   Checklist for Vendor Selection & Contracting:

   • Notify all participating vendors of your decision (including unsuccessful ones).
   • Negotiate final terms, milestones, deliverables, liabilities, IP ownership, and governance.
   • Sign the contracts and hand them over to your project management team to begin.
   • You may want to keep the RFP document as a baseline reference to manage change requests.

Detailed RFP Sections & Best Practices

Writing an RFP isn’t just about listing requirements—it’s about creating a document that vendors can actually work with. Each section of your RFP should provide potential partners with a clear understanding of what you need, while also allowing them to showcase their expertise and creativity. Think of it as striking a balance between structure and flexibility: too rigid, and you’ll miss out on innovative approaches; too vague, and you’ll invite misaligned proposals. By breaking your RFP into well-defined sections, you make it easier for vendors to respond thoroughly and for your team to compare responses fairly. This clarity is what ultimately drives stronger proposals, smoother evaluations, and a higher chance of project success.

Below is a deeper dive into each section, along with tips to make your RFP stand out and drive high-quality vendor responses.

Contact Information & Process Overview

• Provide a single point of contact (name, email, phone).
• Include RFP version control, issue date, and how addenda will be handled.
• State how vendors can submit questions, by when, and when responses will be published.
• Clarify your preferred method and format of proposal submission (e.g., PDF, Word, online portal).

Company Description & Objectives

• Offer a succinct but meaningful company description, domain, traction, and values.
• Share business goals and vision so vendors align with your mission, not just technical specs.
• If relevant, mention your industry (e.g., healthcare, fintech) and domain constraints (regulations, security).

Project Overview & Goals

• Explain why this software solution is needed, and what business problem it solves.
• Clarify your primary objectives and success metrics (e.g., user adoption, cost savings, revenue growth).
• Provide context about the existing ecosystem (legacy systems, APIs, data flows).

Scope of Work & Deliverables

• Define inclusions vs exclusions, interfacing systems, modules, and services.
• Break it into modules or features (e.g., login, user management, payment, reporting, admin).
• For each module: describe functionality, user roles, data flows, UI/UX expectations.
• Enumerate deliverables (design docs, prototypes, source code, deployment scripts).
• Specify milestones and interim deliverables.

Technical Requirements & Constraints

• State preferred or required technology stack, programming languages, frameworks, and databases.
• Specify non-functional requirements: performance, security, scalability, and reliability.
• Indicate platforms (web, mobile, hybrid, iOS, Android).
• Mention integration requirements (third-party APIs, single sign-on, external systems).
• Define data, storage, hosting, and cloud infrastructure preferences.
• Any regulatory, compliance, or domain-specific constraints (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR).

Methodology, Quality Assurance & Tools

• If you prefer a methodology (Scrum, Agile, Kanban, waterfall), say so.
• Describe your expectations around sprints, standups, demos, and backlog grooming.
• Define quality assurance, testing, performance, security, load testing, and acceptance criteria.
• Specify project management tools (e.g., Jira, Trello, Asana, Azure DevOps).
• Clarify reporting cadence, status updates, and the change request process.

Vendor Qualifications & Team Composition

• Ask vendors to list comparable projects, references, case studies, and domain experience.
• Ask for bios of the development team members, roles, and responsibilities.
• Request resumes, certifications, or relevant credentials.
• Ask for organizational capacity, team bandwidth, and risk mitigation plans.
• Clarify the outsourcing, subcontracting, or offshore team usage policy.

Intellectual Property, Licensing & Ownership

• Explicitly state that source code, IP rights, and documentation become your property.
• Clarify licensing terms, third-party dependencies, and open-source libraries.
• Clarify whether the vendor can reuse generic modules in other projects.
• Include confidentiality, nondisclosure,and data security clauses.

Timeline, Milestones & Project Plan

• Provide a detailed project timeline with key milestones, start date, and end date.
• Indicate when vendor responses are due, the evaluation window, shortlisting, and award date.
• If there’s flexibility, note negotiable vs non-negotiable dates.
• Request vendors to submit a proposed project plan (schedule, resource allocation, Gantt, or roadmap).

Pricing & Financials

• Ask for detailed pricing: breakdown by feature, module, labor, fixed vs variable costs.
• Clarify your budget constraints or cost ceiling (if you have one).
• Encourage vendors to propose pricing models: fixed bid, time & materials, milestone-based, hybrid.
• Request pricing assumptions (hours per role, rate cards, overtime, change control).
• Ask for payment terms tied to deliverables or milestones.

Evaluation Criteria & Vendor Selection Process

• Define in advance the selection criteria and weighting (e.g., technical approach 30%, team 20%, pricing 25%, references 10%, risk mitigation 15%).
• Use a scoring matrix to compare proposals side by side. BMC+2Emburse+2
• Describe how vendors will be shortlisted, interviewed, and how final selection decisions are made.
• Clarify whether there will be oral presentations, POCs, client visits, or BAFO rounds.

Submission Guidelines & Response Format

• Set a firm deadline for proposal submission, with the time zone.
• State format, page limits, file types, and whether appendices are allowed.
• Ask vendors to acknowledge acceptance of your terms, exceptions, or deviations.
• Include a section for vendor queries / clarifications, with a cutoff date and how answers will be shared.

Terms & Conditions & Legal Clauses

• Provide any contractual terms you expect (warranties, service levels, penalties, indemnification).
• Mention dispute resolution, liability limits, and termination clauses.
• Clarify compliance, insurance, regulatory, data protection, and audit rights.

Sample Software RFP Template Flow (Outline)

Below is a shorthand outline you can convert into your own software RFP template:

1. Introduction & Contact Info.
2. Company Overview
3. Project Overview & Goals
4. Scope of Work & Deliverables
5. Technical Requirements
6. Methodology & QA Approach
7. Vendor Qualifications & Team
8. IP & Licensing
9. Timeline & Milestones
10. Pricing & Cost Breakdown
11. Evaluation Criteria & Scoring
12. Submission Instructions
13. Legal Terms & Conditions
14. Appendices & Supporting Documents

You can expand each section with detailed subpoints as appropriate for your project. Many reference RFP templates follow a similar structure.

Using AI Tools Like ChatGPT to Draft or Respond to an RFP

Today, many organizations are turning to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT to speed up parts of the RFP process, whether it’s drafting the initial RFP document or creating a polished proposal response to send to a client. While AI won’t replace the need for human judgment and project-specific expertise, it can streamline writing tasks, improve clarity, and reduce time spent on repetitive work.

How to Prepare Before Using AI

To get the best results from an AI tool, you’ll need to feed it with structured inputs. Think of the AI as a junior assistant: it’s powerful, but only as good as the guidance you give it. Before prompting, gather these details:

• Company description: mission, size, industry, services.
• Project overview: what the software development project is about and why it matters.
• Scope of work: the functionality or modules required.
• Technical requirements: platforms, integrations, performance expectations.
• Timeline and milestones: deadlines, key delivery dates.
• Budget or pricing expectations (if applicable).
• Evaluation criteria: how proposals will be judged.
• Tone and style: professional, persuasive, or technical, depending on your target audience.

You can expand each section with detailed subpoints as appropriate for your project. Many reference RFP templates follow a similar structure.

Example Prompt for Drafting an RFP

You might start with a prompt like this:

“Act as a procurement manager. Write a professional request for proposal (RFP) for a custom software development project. The project involves building a mobile app and a web portal for healthcare providers. Include sections for: company description, project goals, scope of work, technical requirements, deliverables, timeline, pricing, evaluation criteria, and submission guidelines. Use clear and structured language so that software development vendors can easily respond.”

Tips for an Effective RFP / Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Even with the best intentions, many organizations fall into common traps when writing their first request for proposal. Some overcomplicate the document with unnecessary detail, while others leave it so vague that vendors have to guess at the real requirements. An effective RFP should strike a balance: clear enough to prevent confusion, but open enough to encourage innovative solutions. It’s also about process: how you communicate with vendors, evaluate proposals, and manage expectations along the way. By keeping a few best practices in mind, you can avoid costly mistakes and ensure your RFP process delivers the right outcomes.

• Be clear but flexible: don’t over-prescribe every detail so that innovation is stifled.
• Avoid ambiguity: vague wording invites assumptions and misalignment.
• Engage domain experts early (tech leads, architects) to vet technical requirements.
• Be realistic on timelines and budgets.
• Use a scoring matrix and weighted scoring to make the evaluation more objective.
• Be transparent with evaluation criteria so vendors know how you will judge proposals.
• Allow Q&A and publish clarifications publicly to ensure fairness.
• Avoid bias by anonymizing responses (if feasible) during initial scoring.
• Watch scope creep: lock in the basis of your RFP and freeze major changes.
• Check vendor references thoroughly: speak with past clients.
• Retain the RFP and proposals as governance artifacts for the project lifecycle.

Final Checklist Before Issuing Your RFP

Before sending your RFP to vendors, run through this checklist:

• Have you involved all internal stakeholders and had alignment on goals?
• Have you defined scope, constraints, assumptions, and exclusions?
• Are your technical and functional requirements clear?
• Did you define deliverables, timeline, and milestones?
• Have you set up an evaluation matrix and weighting?
• Did you ask for vendor qualifications, team structure, past work?
• Are your submission guidelines, Q&A, and addenda rules clear?
• Did you include pricing models, IP and legal clauses?
• Have you set your budget guardrails and payment terms?
• Did you plan for vendor clarifications, demos, and shortlist steps?

If all of those are in place, you’re ready to issue the RFP.

Conclusion

Writing an effective RFP for software development is not trivial—but doing it well dramatically increases your odds of success. A strong RFP:

• Aligns everyone (internal team and vendors) around project goals and expectations
• Facilitates objective vendor evaluation
• Reduces risk and ambiguity
• Helps with long-term governance and project management

By following this guide and referencing the template structure above, you’ll be well positioned to attract qualified software development companies, solicit meaningful proposals, and make a confident vendor selection.