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Ameen Abozaid
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ARC-040

Vendor and procurement

  • 5 Lessons
  • 3 h practice (estimate)
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On this page 9 topics

Overview

Topics

  • RFP/RFI
  • technical evaluation
  • SLAs
  • contracts

Learn first

3 h of practice (estimate)

Learning outcomes

  1. Write the technical sections of an RFI and an RFP.
  2. Design a technical evaluation (requirements coverage, demos, proof of concept, references).
  3. Review SLAs and contract terms for architectural risk (exit, data ownership, availability, support).
  4. Work with procurement and legal as a technical advisor.

Lessons

  1. 01The procurement process
  2. 02RFIs and RFPs
  3. 03Technical evaluation
  4. 04SLAs and contracts from an architect's view
  5. 05Demo: scoring two vendor RFP responses

Lab and exercises

Lab

ARC-040-LAB1 · Commerce platform RFP

Outcomes: 1–4 · Time: ~3 h

  1. Write the technical RFP sections for Larkspur's commerce platform: context, needs, non-functional requirements, integration, exit, support.
  2. Build an evaluation scorecard with weights traceable to requirements.
  3. Design the evaluation steps: coverage, scripted demos, proof of concept, references.
  4. Review a provided sample contract for SLA and exit clauses; list risks and asks.
  5. Present to a role-played procurement lead and legal advisor.

Acceptance: scorecard traceable to requirements; exit risks identified.

Exercises (case-based; six exercises)

IDOutcomeTask
ARC-040-EX011Rewrite a requirement "must use Brand X search" into a need-based requirement with measurable criteria.
ARC-040-EX021Write six non-functional requirements for the RFP (availability, store offline support, security, data residency, API limits, exit).
ARC-040-EX032Design a two-day technical evaluation for three vendors including a scripted demo of five Larkspur scenarios.
ARC-040-EX042A vendor claims "unlimited scale". Define the proof-of-concept test and pass criteria.
ARC-040-EX053A sample contract has 99.5 percent availability measured monthly, credits capped at 10 percent, data returned within 90 days in a proprietary format, 12-month minimum term. List the architectural risks and asks.
ARC-040-EX064Legal wants to remove the exit-assistance clause to speed negotiations. Write the technical advisor's note to procurement and legal.
Show solutions
  • EX01 "Provide search across 500 000 products with filters, results in under 500 ms at the 95th percentile at peak, typo tolerance, and synonym management by business users." Vendor names removed.
  • EX02 Examples: availability target and measurement; store tills sell offline up to a stated time; security certifications and testing evidence; data stored and processed in stated regions; API rate limits stated and sufficient for peak; exit support, export formats, and timelines.
  • EX03 Day 1 scripted demos on the same data (search, checkout, returns, partner API, offline), day 2 integration and operations walk-throughs; scoring sheets completed independently by two scorers; references called; weights fixed beforehand.
  • EX04 Load test with Larkspur's peak profile (and a multiple), measure latency and error rates, test scaling time and cost at load, run for a stated duration with observers; pass criteria set in advance.
  • EX05 99.5 percent allows about 3.6 hours per month of downtime; credits are not a remedy; proprietary export format raises lock-in; long return time; minimum term. Asks: higher target and measurement definition, open formats, shorter return time, termination for repeated failure, exit assistance.
  • EX06 Exit assistance is the safeguard against lock-in and vendor failure; removing it saves time but leaves Larkspur unable to leave without penalty; propose a shorter but explicit version covering data return, transition period, and rates.

Workplace evidence: a vendor evaluation you ran or contributed to.

Quiz

Outcomes: O1 technical RFI and RFP sections · O2 technical evaluation · O3 SLAs and contracts · O4 working with procurement and legal.

A self-check for you: nothing is graded, saved or sent anywhere. Choose an answer, then check it. You can try again as often as you like.

  1. 1A good RFP requirement describes:O1
  2. 2The RFI differs from the RFP in that the RFI:O1
  3. 3Requirements marked mandatory versus desirable help:O1
  4. 4Scorecard weights should be set:O2
  5. 5Scripted demos mainly:O2
  6. 6A proof of concept should target:O2
  7. 7Service credits in an SLA usually:O3
  8. 8Which clause is most important to avoid lock-in?O3
  9. 9In procurement the architect acts as:O4
  10. 10Legal removes the exit clause to speed things up. The architect should:O4

Practical part

RFP and evaluation review of the lab artifacts plus exercises ARC-040-EX01 to EX06. Pass: quiz at least 8/10, at least five of six exercises correct, and a lab with a scorecard traceable to requirements and exit risks identified in the sample contract.

Common mistakes

RFPs that describe a product instead of needs; ignoring exit and data-return terms.

Assessment

RFP and evaluation review.

Workplace evidence

A vendor evaluation you ran or contributed to.

Career relevance

Buy decisions are frequent in enterprise solutions.

Type to search levels, phases, modules and lessons.