[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFPs for system development

[Lori Bowen Ayre]

Emily,

This is a great description of how to do evaluation and selection.  Can you
package this up (I bet you have some handy documents you could append by way
of example) and submit it to the the RSCEL.or site for the ILS to OSLS Arc
of Resources (http://www.rscel.org/arc)?  Use the "Share a Resource" links
to incorporate something into this pool of resources.

FYI, everyone is invited to participate at rscel.org.  Just register
yourself and get involved.  Speak your mind.  Share resources.  It's a work
in progress so we're open to ideas for how to improve it.

Lori

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 5:53 AM, Almond, Emily <ealmond at georgialibraries.org
> wrote:

> Experience has taught me that an open-source RFP would do well to include
> the elements George and Lori are talking about. I structure mine the
> following way:
>
> -- Requirements - as Lori mentioned, there needs to be a priority metric in
> place.
> What makes one priority more important? The immediate functional needs of
> one library? The fact that every library in the consortium wants this or
> that feature?
>
> How do you plan for "phasing" your development if need be. One of the good
> things about open-source is that it's never finished (no software is,
> really..) so how do you know when phase 1 is done/good enough to test and
> launch? When you can answer that, you have what you need to put your "P1's"
> in place. *Then* you get to figure out your P2's, P3's, etc.
> -- Workflows - as George mentioned, if you have your workflow mapped out
> (the way you want it to work, not the way it works now) then you know what
> you want, what you really really want. I have discovered countless questions
> we were able to answer and incorporate into the RFP just by asking ourselves
> "how do we want this to work? What's software and what's policy and process
> (remember to only chart the software workflow) and how many different ways
> does it really need to work to get this job done?
>
> When you have good workflows, you can label key junctures (wf1, s12) and
> refer back to them in your RFP - this context can prove invaluable to any
> contractor or developer you're working with in understanding what it is that
> you really want.
>
> -- Use Cases - finally, in terms of trying to make sure you have your bases
> covered and in trying to describe your requirements in yet another way, use
> cases are great tools. They're a story - Sue Patron walks into a library and
> wants to... and talk it all the way through. It's a way for us to make sure
> we haven't left anything out and a way for the developers/contractors to
> perhaps, with this context, not only really understand what we're talking
> about, but suggest a different solution?
>
> In my experience reading rfp's, I often start with use cases so I can get
> my head around what the potential client is talking about, then look at the
> workflows, then dive into the requirements - big picture to small.
>
> These are just initial thoughts based on doing lots of RFP's... is there a
> right way? Nope, imho. Depending on the scope of your project, there's lots
> of ways to do this.. Good luck!
>
> Emily
>
> Emily A. Almond
> PINES Software Development Manager
> Georgia Public Library Service
> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150
> Atlanta, GA 30345-4304
> (404) 235-7149.tel
> (404) 235.7201.fax
> ealmond at georgialibraries.org
> http://www.georgialibraries.org/pines/
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From: *"George Tuttle" <gtuttle at prlib.org>
>
> *To: *"Evergreen Discussion Group" <
> open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
> *Sent: *Sunday, May 16, 2010 5:19:43 PM
>
> *Subject: *Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFPs for system development
>
>  Hi Lori,
>
>
>
> By wide-scale, I mean “to your heart’s content.”   Open source puts more
> pressure on you to understand the software and your workflow in advance.
> Testing helps, but you need an effective testing model. An RFP for that
> service could be the answer. Thanks. Good thought.
>
>
>
> BTW, besides Equinox, is there anyone else providing these services?
>
>
>
> George
>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:
> open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] *On Behalf Of *Lori
> Bowen Ayre
> *Sent:* Saturday, May 15, 2010 4:05 PM
> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group
> *Subject:* Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFPs for system development
>
>
>
> George,
>
>
>
> I agree. Open Source DOES mean rethinking the RFP process. And, one way to
> rethink it is to do an RFP for *services*.  Some of the services I might
> seek via RFP are:
>
>
>
>    - getting help setting up a test environment
>    - migration, support and/or hosting services
>    - assessing the suitability of products against a set of criteria, or
>    - helping develop the criteria  to be used for evaluation
>
>  Not sure what you mean by wide-scale testing or if that is the ONLY way
> to "rethink the RFP" process.  But, definitely a rethink is needed.  To
> paraphrase something someone else said (which I could remember who)... if
> you use the same old procurement method, you'll keep getting the same old
> thing.
>
>
>
> Lori Ayre
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:56 AM, George Tuttle <gtuttle at prlib.org> wrote:
>
> Open Source means rethinking the RFP process. What wide-scale testing have
> you done so far?
>
>
>
> George Tuttle
>
> Computer Services Librarian
>
> Piedmont Regional Library System
>
> 770-867-2762 x103
>
> 770-891-0654 (cell)
>
> 770-867-7483 (fax)
>
> gtuttle at prlib.org
>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:
> open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] *On Behalf Of *Kathleen
> O'Connor
> *Sent:* Friday, May 14, 2010 11:40 AM
>
>
> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group
> *Subject:* Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFPs for system development
>
>
>
> Our director has been toying with this idea for quite some time. I was just
> trying to get a heads up on it when he finally decided to pull the plug on
> voyager
>
>
>
> Whatever you can share would be appreciated
>
>
>
> Kathleen E. O'Connor
>
> Systems Librarian
>
> Falvey Memorial Library
>
> Villanova University
>
> Villanova,  Pa. 19085
>
>
>
> kathleen.oconnor at villanova.edu
>
> 610-519-4158
>
>
>
> *From:* open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:
> open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] *On Behalf Of *Lori
> Bowen Ayre
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11:13 AM
> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group
> *Subject:* Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFPs for system development
>
>
>
> Hi Kathy,
>
>
>
> Are you planning to do development or are you looking for an RFP for
> services such as migrating and implementation?  The KCLS software specs were
> for writing a LOT of new code and I'm thinking that's not really what you
> had in mind so wanted to clarify.  I do have an RFP sample for support I
> could share.  And another very simple one for implementation and training.
>
>
>
> Lori Ayre
>
> On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 7:45 AM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I’m working with the three Massachusetts consortia that are planning to
> move to Evergreen in 2011. We are in the latter phases of identifying our
> development needs for Evergreen with the plan of issuing an RFP for system
> development in early summer.
>
>
>
> I was wondering if anyone in the Evergreen community has an RFP they have
> used for system development in Evergreen or another open-source product that
> you would be willing to share with us. I do have a copy of King County’s RFP
> for system support as well as the specs they posted to the
> http://oss4pl.org/ site.
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!
>
>
>
> Kathy Lussier
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Kathy Lussier
>
> Project Coordinator
>
> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
>
> (508) 756-0172
>
> (508) 755-3721 (fax)
>
> klussier at masslnc.org
>
> IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo)
>
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/techielibrarian
>
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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