Feasibility And Rfp Design Final

RFPs and Feasibility Studies

Drivers of Critical Decision

Making

Decision Making Process

Phase Name Purpose Decisions

Phase 1 Pre-Feasibility Education

Develop political will and vision

Narrowed choices on technology, operating structure, open access, etc.

Holistic strategies

Phase 2 Feasibility Fact gathering and analysis, problem solving, integration of components.

Development of the business plan

Yes or no decision

Phase 3 Implementation Design and Build, Set up:

Operations

Marketing

Customer Service

Final choices

Purpose

Design

Implementation

Eric LamplandLookout Point CommunicationsEric@LookoutPT.com651.227.8122

Feasibility Studies

Feasibility - is it doable?

Educational Stage

Develop political will around a few paths

Feasibility Stage

Determine which choices are doable

Design and Implementation Stage

Do it - execute well

educational phase …

Document all of the above

• You have developed a fair idea of why this is good to do.

• You know something about the environment - who, what and how.

• Terminology isn’t so frightening and you can spell most T/FLAs.

• Key people understand the motivations and are supportive.

• Set up expectations, review key goals, know your objectives --

Preparing for feasibility … • Document for distribution with the (helper) RFP all --

Descriptions of your community (population, growth, number of houses, apartments, SMBs, campuses) Motivations and desired outcomes What services you are considering Any maps of the community (penetration of other providers, know fiber,

zoning, etc.)

• Develop an understanding of the work to be done. Construct the scope of work Prioritize according to your goals and objectives Know what you don’t know (very hard) - do your best

• Develop an oversight plan

Purpose … To determine feasibility - doable

• Can it be physically built and at what precise price

Physical Media, Electronics (Municipal Commons)

Services -- what, how delivered, partners (Closed or Open)

Operational methods and expense

Initial Capital, equipment/service replacements, upgrades

• Can it be paid for and how

Marketing Plan -- how and at what expense

Methods for financing, sources of revenue

Initial tentative agreements

• Confidence: that you are within 10% to 15% of actual

Full Business PlanListing of Types and Methods for ServicesRecommended Marketing PlanRecommended ArchitectureRecommended Operational PlanDoable Financial Model and GovernanceImplementation timing and horizon

Identification of Partnerships, Builders, Content …

Recommended Financing Model

When you finish …

Scope of Services: Markets - Services

• Establish your Competitive Posture Current Provider(s) offerings/negatives, price levels,

Bundles/packages, plans How are you different? Why are you better? Can you

maintain this over time?• Establish Pricing Strategy and Approach

What are you offering, what’s special, enticements and discounts, growth in services, new functions …

Iterate with cost of providing: video content, Internet bandwidth, interconnection charges

• Develop Quantitative Market Research Test your assumptions -- Focus groups, small sample

statistics, phone surveys, existing provider penetration, door-to-door, et al

Scope of Services -- Operations

• Services infrastructure and support RF for video, IPTV, VoD, Mobility, Telephone Services

Bandwidth on demand, authentication and security …

Partnerships -- content, peering, interconnect

• Operational methods mechanisms Who handles support and how, closed/open/hybrid capabilities,

inventory management, billing, provisioning, network management

How do you manage partnerships (services, support, vendors)

• Implementation Methods Initial roll out plans and modifications

Change management, service & system equipment refreshes

Scope of Services - Architecture

• Define access architecture(s) -- fixed and increments FTTH for Residences, SMB (WiMax for northern reach) WDM, GigE, MetroE, packet optical for larger commercial

enterprises, growth projection

• In Network Services caching, peer-to-peer, authentication, security, mobility, reliability, gaming,

impulse buying …

• Transport Structures and Aggregation• Quality of Service mechanisms

Method(s) of traffic separation, segmentation Service Level Agreements (mostly businesses) Reliability methods and attributes

• Home environment support

Scope of Services -- Financial Plan

• Roll up costs to build (Architecture and Services)Increments based on Marketing and Implementation

• Roll up costs to operate - fixed and variable/annualSoftware, people, equipment, electricity, peering costs, etc.

• Estimate market entry costs -- legal, initial marketing, delays, etc.

• Estimate revenues -- vary them bypenetration rates, pricing strategy, service mix

find break even points, cash positives

• Determine value add for community in dollarsIncreased taxes (new business, new residents, property tax)

Governments services -- offsets to existing, new capabilities

Quality of Life benefits -- home health care, education, etc.

Scope of Services -- Governance

• Does the financial analysis suggest an approach?

• What are legal or regulatory issues and do they have impact?

• Have you thought through local control issues, PEG support, franchise revenues, customer support, permits and codes?(not only financial -- you don’t want to become “them”)

• What options exist to protect against downside risk?

• What is the impact on viability from various approaches?

Implement: RFP - write one

• Starting with a good sense of what you know, be specific. Create a Scope of Services categories might be:

Marketing - Services, Operations, Architecture, Finance, Governance

• Specify experience desired look for neutral companies if possible must include building/running networks, finance, marketing

• Prioritize evaluation criteria what is most important to your community create an evaluation guide (decision matrix).

• Prepare all documentation you can find that helps• Ask for a willingness to explore options --

ask if feasibility people can manage next stage ask for their vision on “things that make you special”

Implement: Oversight

• Develop an Oversight Plan

ensure ongoing education

ensure meeting community values and goals

ensure responsibility stays where it belongs

• It is a process, not just a list of tasks - be iterative

• Stop if you can tell that it is not doable

• Don’t let unsupported statements stand long

• Keep key persons and supportive community involved

Implement and Win

Know where you are . . .

Do your homework, document, details count, find balance

Get real help … helpful and knowledgeable guide(s)

Ask all the burning questions . . . And get answers if you can

Have some fun, but remember you are creating a public goodand when you Win, it will feel VERY GOOD indeed!

U-reka Broadband VenturesRFP Creation

“Preparing a document that gets you the information you need without

burning your eyes out”

Why do we know anything?

• Have created and responded to Requests in the Telecommunications Industry including:– Infrastructure– Equipment– Telecom Services– Consulting Services– Operational Support Systems

Asking the Right Questions

• Ask open questions that require respondents to provide more than a yes or no response

• Provide a space for response that keeps questions in an order that makes it easier to analyze

• Place your questions in an order that mimics your decision matrix

RFI, RFP,RFQ

• RFI-Request for Information-document that requires respondents to provide information on their product, service or solution and typically provide budgetary pricing

• RFP-Request for Proposal-typically used for service type requests; consulting, engineering, project management and the like. Firm numbers and commitments made by respondents

• RFQ-Request for Quotation-typically used for equipment, hard-assets and services to furnish and install

Examples of Open Ended

Please describe other projects where your company has provided financial analysis of competing telecommunications providers; describe the process you utilized to create pro-forma’s and gather financial information?Response:

How about Close-ended questions?

• Definition: Question is specific and must be answered with a yes or no, or with details as appropriate.

• Good to utilize when asking basic questions such as:– Insurance Requirements– Licensing Requirements– Other “check-off” types of requirements

Decision Matrix

• Determine your Desired Outcome• Understand the components to get there• Rate which are most important to least

important and provide a weighting to each• Utilize this matrix to then craft questions for

the RFP that will allow you to analyze the respondents

• Make decision on how percentages will be assigned

Example MatrixCategory/Sub Category % Weighting Rating 1 Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 5 Total

Expertise 50%

Network 15%

Operations 15%

Financial 20%

Sales/Marketing 15%

Regulatory/Legal 15%

Services 20%

Process 25%

Timeline 25%

Description of Process 50%

Previous Experience 25%

Pricing 25%

Price 80%

Insurance Requirements 10%

Licensing Requirements 10%

Go to Haves!

• Description of Project– Community Information– Previous work completed

• Expected Outcomes/Requirements• Three Broad Categories to cover in an RFP:

– Expertise of Vendor– Process Vendor will use to complete project– Pricing and Legal

• Evaluation Criteria and Rating

Expertise• Network-what knowledge and experience does the vendor have regarding

fiber-to-the-premise networks • Operations-operational knowledge and experience operating fiber-to-the-

premise networks• Financial-ability of vendor to create Performa's and analyze financials

regarding capital, operations and financing options• Sales/Marketing-ability of vendor to create and analyze sales and

marketing objectives• Regulatory/Legal-ability of vendor to analyze and interpret the Regulatory

and Legal landscape and provide guidance on the Regulatory hurdles of differing solutions

• Services-ability of vendor to provide guidance surrounding services to be provided over the network including voice, data, video and other ancillary services

Process • Timeline

– How long will it take the vendor to complete the project– Asking for a project chart to represent this is always a good idea

• Description of Process– How will the vendor gather information, work with you, compile the

information and provide a final product– Another important piece is what expectations the vendor has

regarding your involvement in the process– What you are looking for here is good project management practices

and thoroughness of the process• Previous Experience

– References of Previous Projects– Other telecommunications background and projects

Pricing

• Scope as Understood by Vendor• Pricing for the project

– Not to exceed?– Change orders?– Other Hourly services?

• Insurance coverage• Other financial qualifications-want to make

sure they will be around

Analysis

• Utilize the team you have put together for creating the decision matrix

• Each member should do an independent evaluation utilizing the decision matrix and provide ratings

• Combine these ratings to determine the ranking of your vendors

Vendor Matrix Tally SheetCategory/Sub Category % Weighting Rating 1 Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 5 Total

Expertise 50% 1-10 1-10 1-10 1-10 1-10

Network 15% 6 8 7 5 4 30

Operations 15% 7 8 3 5 6 29

Financial 20% 5 7 6 6 3 27

Sales/Marketing 15% 4 6 6 2 4 22

Regulatory/Legal 15% 5 6 2 9 5 27

Services 20% 6 4 5 4 5 24

Process 25%

Timeline 25% 8 6 7 9 5 35

Description of Process 50% 8 7 6 8 5 34

Previous Experience 25% 8 6 6 8 4 32

Pricing 25%

Price 80% 6 6 7 5 8 32

Insurance Requirements 10% 10 10 10 10 10 50

Licensing Requirements 10% 10 10 10 10 10 50

Vendor Matrix TotalsCategory/Sub Category % Weighting Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3 Vendor 4 Vendor 5

Expertise 50%

Network 15% 30 22 26 16 35 35

Operations 15% 29 26 23 18 28 29

Financial 20% 27 20 19 17 29 29

Sales/Marketing 15% 22 24 21 14 25 25

Regulatory/Legal 15% 27 22 19 12 26 27

Services 20% 24 19 17 13 25 25

Process 25%

Timeline 25% 35 28 26 18 32 35

Description of Process 50% 34 25 26 16 34 34

Previous Experience 25% 32 26 22 16 31 32

Pricing 25%

Price 80% 32 35 30 28 32 35

Insurance Requirements 10% 50 40 45 35 50 50

Licensing Requirements 10% 50 40 45 35 50 50

Vendor Matrix RankingsCategory/Sub Category % Weighting Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3 Vendor 4 Vendor 5

Expertise 50% 47% 39% 36% 27% 49%

Network 15% 13% 9% 11% 7% 15%

Operations 15% 15% 13% 12% 9% 14%

Financial 20% 19% 14% 13% 12% 20%

Sales/Marketing 15% 13% 14% 13% 8% 15%

Regulatory/Legal 15% 15% 12% 11% 7% 14%

Services 20% 19% 15% 14% 10% 20%

Process 25% 25% 19% 18% 12% 24%

Timeline 25% 25% 20% 19% 13% 23%

Description of Process 50% 50% 37% 38% 24% 50%

Previous Experience 25% 25% 20% 17% 13% 24%

Pricing 25% 23% 24% 22% 20% 23%

Price 80% 73% 80% 69% 64% 73%

Insurance Requirements 10% 10% 8% 9% 7% 10%

Licensing Requirements 10% 10% 8% 9% 7% 10%

TOTAL 100% 95.2% 82.5% 76.6% 58.4% 97.0%

Contact Informationwww.blandinonbroadband.org

• Eric Lampland– Lookout Point Communications– Eric@LookoutPT.com – 651.227.8122

• John Schultz– U-REKA Broadband– jschultz@u-rekabroadband.com– 651 967-7196

• Bill Coleman (all Blandin Broadband Inquiries)– Community Technology Advisors– bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com– 651-491-2551