Evaluate proposed solutions according to documented proposal evaluation criteria.

Proposals submitted in response to solicitation packages are evaluated in accordance with an overall established timeline, preliminary project plans, and proposal evaluation criteria. Proposal evaluation criteria are used to evaluate potential supplier responses to the solicitation. Evaluation results and decision-making notes (e.g., advantages and disadvantages of potential suppliers and scoring against criteria) should be documented and maintained.

For task orders or changes in the terms of an existing supplier agreement, the acquirer uses documented evaluation criteria to evaluate task order responses or proposed changes to terms of the agreement. In a sole-source or change order environment, this practice is critical to enable relevant stakeholder understanding of the intent of the effort or changes before placing additional work against the supplier agreement.

Typical Work Products

1.    Clarification correspondence between the acquirer and potential suppliers

2.    Evaluation results and rationale

3.    List of candidate suppliers

Typical Supplier Deliverables

1.    Proposal revisions based on clarifications

2.    Supplier documentation of their approach to the project work, their capabilities, and a preliminary technical solution

Subpractices

1.    Distribute supplier proposals to individuals identified by the acquirer to perform the evaluation.

2.    Schedule an acquirer evaluation review of supplier proposals to consolidate questions, concerns, and issues.

3.    Schedule supplier presentations.

4.    Confirm the mutual understanding of the statement of work.

A good practice is to compare the supplier’s estimates to those developed in project planning; this comparison provides a means to determine if there is a mutual understanding of requirements and the associated work to fulfill them.

5.    Evaluate supplier proposals and document findings.

6.    Execute due diligence.

Due diligence provides an opportunity for the acquirer to further clarify requirements, particularly those related to the acquirer’s existing environment and products in use. Potential suppliers ask questions and gain understanding, which enables them to make realistic proposals. It also enables the acquirer to gain insight into the capability of the potential suppliers’ proposed solutions to meet requirements.

Due diligence helps to eliminate assumptions and replace them with facts, to identify and document risks and their mitigation plans or effect on the agreement, and to list issues and dependencies between the acquirer and supplier to include in the agreement.

7.    Document candidate supplier recommendations based on the proposal evaluation.