Demand good proposals: Tips for writing an RFP

When you publish a Request for Proposal (RFP), you're looking for responses that tell you clearly and concisely how a security vendor is going to solve your problem. Too often, though, you're left reading through page after page of marketing filler laced with company acronyms, with little or no sense of what it means to your environment -- heck, you can get that off the vendor's Web site.

IT security professionals don't have time for this. Some proposals are so painful to get through that organizations would simply eliminate them outright regardless of how well the solution might fit.

The RFP response i

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Below are five guidelines that will improve prospects for proposals that actually respond directly to your requirements.

About the author
Jon Oltsik is a senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group, and previously VP of marketing and strategy at GiantLoop Network and senior analyst at Forrester Research.

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