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CONTRACTUAL ISSUES REGARDING THE PURCHASE OF AN AFIS 197

9.4.1 COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT

A competitive procurement is one in which the government develops a specific,
detailed set of requirements for goods and services and solicits competitive
responses from qualified vendors. Depending on the nature of the procure-
ment, different competitive models can be used. For example, to acquire office
chairs, a government would probably use a competitive procurement model
that defines the specifications for the office chairs and the terms and condi-
tions for the sale (such as delivery and payment terms). If a proposed office
chair satisfies the specifications and the vendor agrees to the terms and condi-
tions, the government’s decision is then based on lowest price. Oftentimes
referred to as an invitation for bid (IFB) or a request for quotation (RFQ), this
competitive bidding model is premised on the use of yes/no decisions; there
is no (or only minimal) qualitative judgment involved. It is largely used only in
those procurements for which the decisions and the needs can be boiled down
to very concrete requirements. In light of the inherent complexities of AFIS
technology, it is highly unlikely that this type of competitive procurement would
ever be employed for an AFIS procurement. Instead, a competitive procure-
ment for an AFIS would most likely use a request for proposal (RFP), or similar
model, that permits the evaluation and relative weighing of qualitative factors.
It is awarded on the basis of something other than lowest price, sometimes
referred to as best value.
In contrast to the IFB or RFQ, the RFP model employs qualitative judgment
in the evaluation process. While the RFP model incorporates defined specifi-
cations (e.g., the proposed AFIS must be certified as compliant with specified
technology standards), those kinds of specifications are typically only a part
of the evaluation. It is common for a RFP to establish a multi-tiered evalua-
tion process, in which the yes/no decisions disqualify unsuitable products or
vendors from further consideration and the later evaluation tiers, such as
product demonstrations and functionality testing. A weighted scoring method-
ology is often employed that reflects the relative importance of the various
factors to the government’s procurement decision.
In general, there is a direct relationship between the complexity of the com-
modities and services sought and the means by which the procurement is con-
ducted. That is to say, the more complicated the AFIS procurement, the more
complicated the RFP and evaluation process.
The RFP model encompasses two distinct steps: development and conduct
of the RFP and negotiation and approval of the resulting contract. In contrast,
under the IFB and RFQ models, the vendor ordinarily agrees to the terms and
conditions set forth in the solicitation and may even submit a contract signa-