RFPs and Contracts

RFP Process

Our process for RFPs is as follows:

• The RFP is publicly issued, posted to this page and announced to the RFP Announcement Mailing List, which anyone can subscribe to. 
• Potential bidders have until (issue date + 2 weeks) to submit any questions by email to ietf-rfps@ietf.org.  Questions will be treated as anonymous but not private, as explained below.  If you do not receive confirmation that your questions have been received within 24 hours then please resend until you do.
• A written response to all questions is provided on or before (issue date + 3 weeks), direct to those parties that sent questions, by email to the RFP Announcement Mailing List and posted on this page.  The response will include the questions asked and the answers, but will not identify the company asking the question.  If required, the RFP may be updated to correct or clarify any issues identified.
• Bids are due by (issue date + 4 weeks) by email to ietf-rfps@ietf.org.   If you do not receive confirmation that your bid has been received within 24 hours then please resend until you do.  The bid should include the following information:

1. Executive summary
   
2. Project approach including any assumptions.
   
3. Project plan and schedule including when the work will begin and end, and any other milestones, as well as any dependencies that may delay delivery.
   
4. Fee and payment schedule.  Fixed priced bids are preferred but if that is not possible then a maximum fee must be specified.
   
5. Warranty including a proposal for fee reduction/refund due to late- or non-delivery 
   

• The IETF Administration LLC and designated contractors and volunteers will select a preferred bid and notify the bidder by (issue date + 6 weeks).   The selection process may include questions by email and/or conference call. 
  
• The IETF Administration LLC then enters into contract negotiation with the preferred bidder, based on its standard contract and using the relevant sections of the Statement of Work below.  If contract negotiation fails then a different preferred bidder may be chosen.
  
• Contract negotiation is anticipated to complete by (issue date + 8 weeks) and result in the award of the contract.  All RFP contract awards are posted on this page and announced to the RFP Announcement Mailing List.  The terms of the contract are later posted publicly on this page, with the fee information and signatures (where possible) redacted.  In addition any Conflict of Interest declarations required of the preferred bidder are also posted publicly on our website.  This transparency is non-negotiable.
  
• Work generally begins immediately after award of the contract, unless specified otherwise in the Statement of Work or negotiated contract.

Issued RFPs

The table below lists all RFPs issued by the IETF LLC.  Please note the following:

• RFPs that are still open have "OPEN" in the Vendor/Contract columns
• Not all RFPs have a Q&A
• Award links to the announcement of the award of the contract.  Not all awards have been announced but all will be in future.
• Contracts are posted with financial information and signatures (where possible) redacted.
• The conflict of interest (COI) form posted is required of all contractors by IETF LLC Policy.  Where the contract was completed before this policy came into place, no COI form was requested.
• For RFPs posted before the creation of the IETF LLC, please see the archived IAOC site.

Specialist Service Contracts

The IETF LLC has a number of contracts for specialist services, where new projects are first offered to the specialist vendor and only go to RFP if we are unable to agree terms. Some of these have been awarded by RFP, some after the vendor won an RFP for a specific project, some through direct negotiation and some predate the formation of the LLC.

IANA Contracts

Contracts with ICANN/IANA are not subject to our normal contracting process and not subject to our COI disclosure requirements.

Legal contracts with the Internet Society (ISOC) can be found on the LLC overview.