Software RFP Content

Software is addressed in the Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to solicit proposals that provide the information to support an effective Government evaluation and identification of strengths, deficiencies, uncertainties, weaknesses, and risks related to software. The sections is an RFP that should address software include: [1]

Statement of Objectives

The SOO is a top-level Government description of what is required by the solicitation, based on the content of the Initial Capability Document (ICD). The sole purpose of the SOO is to communicate to the industry the Government‘s most important desired outcomes in the performance of the effort. Software goals should be mentioned as one of the main objectives of a software-related program. [1]

Statement of Work

The SOW describes the software tasks that must be performed and the conditions under which they must be performed. The SOW should, at a minimum, include software requirements to: [1]

Define a software architecture and development approach appropriate for all computer software to be developed, integrated, and delivered under this solicitation
Document the software development approach and related processes in a Software Development Plan (SDP), maintain the SDP, and comply with the SDP for all software developed under this solicitation throughout the development effort
Support program office integrated product teams and working groups
Provide software engineering management and control to ensure all software activities are conducted in accordance with the contractor‘s approved SDP and software engineering processes
Conduct technical reviews to verify that the software products meet requirements and are suitable for intended use
Collect, analyze, and report software metrics data
Maintain consistency among software products (e.g., requirements, architecture, design, code, test cases)
Plan the blocks/increments and the requirements to be met in each block/increment
Plan, manage and conduct the integration, regression, and qualification testing of software items for each block/increment
Support system, segment, and subsystem requirements flow down and allocate requirements to software items. Maintain the integrity of the segment-wide software products and their configuration management

Section L

Should require the submittal of a proposed SDP to document the software development processes proposed for use on the program. The SDP will be evaluated during source selection, and after contract award it should be updated as appropriate and submitted as a Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) item for approval. [1]

Section M

Each proposal is evaluated against Section L requirements using Section M criteria to identify and document software-related strengths, deficiencies, uncertainties, weaknesses, and risks. The source selection evaluation is strictly limited to the evaluation factors and basis for award disclosed to the offeror’s in Section M of the RFP. [1]

AcqTips:

The System Requirements Document (SRD), draft specification, or equivalent, should incorporate unique software requirements which are evidenced at the system level. This typically includes any user sourced requirements as well as typical computing system reserve capacity, growth, and architecture requirements. These requirements are then reflected as appropriate in the RFP.
RFP Sections L and M must be consistent. Example content in Appendices C and D is not organized in a consistent manner, and is provided simply for consideration in developing RFPs for specific programs.

AcqLinks and References:

Updated: 7/24/2021

Rank: G1

Software Management