The way I approach RFPs is to just Google it. I Googled "Wirless RFP" and got a ton of hits. Looks like many public entities are required to post the RFPs so there is a lot to choose from.
>From recent experience I would say be very very specific on what you want in your RFP especially if you are hiring someone to implement it. Watch out for additional costs like POE if your switches are not POE capable and the cost of pulling wire to the new APs if that is needed. The RFP will be your document to come back to when there is a misunderstanding. You will be able to say, "It is right in the RFP." Be specific on when the vendor will get paid. Make sure they do not get full payment until you sign off. Make sure your legal console approves it especially if you do not have a boiler plate with all of the legalese already there. Are you going to do a wireless survey? One of the challenges with wireless RFPs is that it is hard to know exactly how many APs you need. A survey can help with coverage but density is another matter. How many users can be on an AP and still be ok? Depends on what they are doing, and the capability of the AP. It might be best to not get into all of that. You may find that one vendor is telling you that you need 300 APs and another is saying that you only need 225. In reality the coverage challenge will be pretty much the same across all vendors as the physics of the wave is consistent. Don't forget that all wireless connections are bidirectional so even if an AP is cranking out the a wave at high power you will be limited by your client's ability to respond. Also keep in mind that when you sign on with a manufacturer it is like stepping on one of those conveyor belts at an airport. You are not just buying a static thing. Look at their pipeline and look at how often they put out releases. Also look at the release notes for their past 10 or so updates. Do they have more fixes than new features? I hate hearing that in order to fix a problem I am having I have to upgrade. Don't chose a vendor because of some super special feature they offer outside of the standard 802.11 protocol. Chances are you will turn it off because some client has problems when you have it enabled. If you are really sold on some feature ask the references if they are using it and if not way not. Depending on your knowledge you may want to do an RFI first just to use the vendors to get the lay of the land. Then you take what you;ve learned from the RFI and use that to make your RFP. Be careful who you talk to prior to releasing the RFP\RFI. Manufacturers have this deal where the first person to register a deal get preferential treatment from the manufacturer. So if you have someone that you work with for say Cisco or Aruba but you mention that you are going to be upgrading your wireless in passing to someone else at a trade show they can register the deal and put your preferred vendor at a disadvantage. Usually you can force the manufacturer to make your preferred vendor the registered vendor for the deal but it is a hassle. The big thing with negotiation is to make sure you are in a position to walk away from a vendor. If you get it down to two vendors and you are equally happy with both choices you have a major advantage. When we went through this we had it down to two vendors. One was at $200K for 200 APs and the other was at $125K for 150 APs. The second vendor was our incumbent and we had 50 APs that could continue to be used. I thought both vendors were as low as they could go so I announced that vendor B was the winner. Once I did that vendor A dropped the bottom out. They came down $80K AND threw in 50 more APs just to not lose the deal. My point is you'd be surprised how much you can wheel and deal. John Kaftan Infrastructure Manager Utica College On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 9:01 AM, McClintic, Thomas < [email protected]> wrote: > That can depend on your scope. Are you looking for a one for one swap of > the hardware? Are you looking to expand your wireless coverage? Make sure > you identify the deliverables. Most importantly site survey documentation > prior to the installation for your review. Provide your minimum RSSI for a > and g. If you are allowing the vendor/contractor to specify your hardware > you may want to allow only specific APs your team is comfortable supporting. > > RFPs can be tricky, you want to it be exact enough to not limit your > contractors. Sometimes you may put a specific AP model & antenna or your > placement when the vendor has alternatives that could save on costs or > enhance the service. > > If you don't have a PM I would get one involved to assist. > > Good Luck! > > -----Original Message----- > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher Wieringa > Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 7:26 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless RFPs > > I'm going down the road of issuing my first RFP for wireless replacement > for a set of buildings. My team and I have never issued an RFP before, so > we're a bit unsure about everything that we should include (or shouldn't > include) in the RFP. > > Has anyone issued a wireless RFP that wouldn't mind letting us read over > it? Also, suggestions for things that must be in the proposal? > > (If you feel like you can share, feel free to send it to me directly if > you don't want to share with the whole list.) > > Thanks a ton! > > Chris Wieringa > Sr. Systems Engineer > Calvin Information Technology > > ********** > Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent > Group discussion list can be found at > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.educause.edu/groups/&k=yYSsEqip9%2FcIjLHUhVwIqA%3D%3D%0A&r=eHsexY0U6WY24UhDK4eLQbvXOPzMySRoCq87DX3WV5M%3D%0A&m=01m%2BsAZXrelHVZlcDs6CNHxtshFABoLIom%2FOZhfcsqE%3D%0A&s=3a2824278c7b80a45f5a40fe4a33b99068fa66a74ce9ef61d054dc10637b747c > . > > ********** > Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent > Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > -- John Kaftan IT Infrastructure Manager Utica College ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
