German Corridor!

Recently I had the opportunity to meet a highly prestigious client in Germany as a part of their IT procurement process.

They invited Vendor’s to discuss and present their RFP, and to take any questions from them. What truly amazed me was the quality of the RFP, it was well thought off, exhaustive, detailed, articulate and totally informative and transparent. Wow!
This RFP’s were provided to the vendor’s a few days before the meet to form their thoughts on it. I appreciated it, read it and formed an impression of the client and its IT environment and the expected Service delivery model.

The meeting started with a lot of energy and the eager beaver Vendor’s introduced themselves and the presentation took off. The Clients introduced themselves and took us all thru their requirements again and were happy to receive any questions. Towards the end, all of us in the room realized that the project in discussion was a small one and to acquire it would mean to climb up steep walls in terms of expectations. Took the wind out of most of the vendors! Finally got everyone thinking if all that effort is worth the financial benefit that would accrue.

What truly got me thinking is the German love for Protocol, detail and Process. Imagine putting up a 150 page RFP document together, I am thinking of the deliberation, discussion and meetings. Imagine covering all angles security, service methodology, service locations, process, landscapes, timelines, indicative numbers, expectation areas, performance areas, reporting, infrastructure, quality control, system landscapes, liquidated damage clauses….etc

Not that a Good RFP would not provide all these details and more, they would off course. But definitely for a project of this size the RFP was detailed and exhaustive. And I must commend their efforts to articulate themselves giving no room for error and confusion.

The German love for Protocol is truly unbelievable; there are no Grey areas. Its either Black or White. What is Grey? Does that exist?

Well I think we should invite them to India, for a shot of Grey goose vodka :-)