Bob's team has issued its RFP and has got three responses. Team has created the following evaluation criteria. Price is the most significant criterion; second most significant is extent to which shopping cart system can be modified; third most significant is number of features available in system; fourth is number of years vendor has been in business; and fifth is th number of employees vendor has. For price, lowest price is best. For alteration, more is better, and same is true of number of features. Longer vendor has been in business, and more people vendor employs, the better.
a. First proposal, from Three Guys Who Are Programmers Inc., had the licensing cost of $1,500 per year with unlimited clients and charged $400 per year for technical assistance. Bob's team judged system from Three Guys to be moderately modifiable, but it had very few features. Three Guys has been in business for two years and presently employs 12 people.
b. Second proposal, from Global Domination Software Inc. (GDSI) cost $5,000 per year for license with unlimited clients, and technical assistance was offered for free as long as there were fewer than 12 requests for assistance. After that, each request cost $100. Bob's team found software to be very limited in terms of the number of modifications that could be made, but it had an incredibly high number of features. GDSI has been in business for 25 years and has 20,000 employees worldwide.
c. Last proposal was from E-Commerce Associates Inc. (ECA). One-year license for unlimited clients with free technical help cost $3,000. Software was moderately modifiable and had average number of e-commerce features. ECA has been in business for 10 years and presently has 50 employees.
Which proposal must Bob's team choose? Which proposal must win? Prepare the weighting system using spreadsheet, and show which proposal must be chosen.