DailyDOOH

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Not quite sure how many RFPs Dunkin’ Donuts need to do (or why they keep doing them) but by our count the latest one (this time) put together by IT consultancy Accuvia Consulting this is number 4.

The RFP is for ‘Digital Menu Board solution and Creative Design Services‘ and has already gone out to 18 digital signage software vendors. Why the RFP needs to have such a wide circulation is a bit of a mystery and it seems to us that something distributed to more than a dozen vendors will be seen as “a bit of a broadcasted joke” by the really serious vendors in this space.

Responses to the RFP are due by Friday, August 20th – they are hoping for a pilot installation by October 2010.

The problem is that 99 per cent of the Dunkin’ Donut stores are franchisee-owned and operated so any software vendor who thinks they will get 1,000’s of (gift wrapped) stores by winning the RFP is, err, well, delirious.

The other question that of course keeps cropping up is this; “is there already a preferred vendor in the mix?” i.e is this yet another blighted RFP doing the industry a sad disservice or is this as honourable as it should be?

Let’s give Accuvia Consulting and Dunkin’ Donuts the benefit of the doubt for the moment on that specific topic but one thing’s for sure and that’s all our friends in our #DSTop10 and elsewhere are getting a little tired of answering the SAME old questions for these sorts of guys.

The Digital Signage RFP, circa 2010 needn’t be very complicated…

1. prove to me you will be in business for the next three years
2. show me why your menu board is better than the others
3. convince me your pricing model is the way to go

We surely all know who the top 12 digital signage vendors (or so) are? From that list and say with the addition of half a dozen, perhaps local or national specific vendors, it’s relatively straightforward to select 3 or 4 of those who are best suited or have proven track records in the vertical or sector you are looking at.

The best consultants that Dunkin’ Donuts can hire are NOT those who can put together a humongous RFP but those who can (and will) impartially say to them; “go in-depth in your labs with the likes of STRATACACHE, WireSpring, Harris Broadcasting, Real Digital Media and NEC and then decide which 3 to go to pilot with”. There’s no reason to waste everyone’s time answering long lists of questions – we loved one of the questions in the RFP about whether the solution supports video townhall meetings? – it’s a freaking menu board for heaven’s sake!!

There are a few consultancies who are impartial enough to do this selection process properly (and indeed put their reputations on the line) but unfortunately there seem to be very few organisations who are smart enough to recruit or listen to them.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 21:01 @918 and is filed under DailyDOOH Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.