How would any vendor gain a competitive advantage using OpenRFP?
The winning vendor needs to show librarians how its products function differently and more effectively than those of competitors. Most of the time differences can be discerned only when individuals take time to think about what they are doing and review their workflows critically. This question does sound like someone making the unfortunate assertion that “all ILS products are the same”. The data OpenRFP has collected so far demonstrates this is not true, so vendors must show differences. Librarians and staff at the working level also know that systems are different and that the “best” system has not yet been developed. OpenRFP can help the supplier through a process of functional differentiation; it is our task is to make the differences come through because face-to-face contact is late in the sales cycle and necessarily limited due to time and cost. Even where functionality might be regarded as “weak”, there are various ways to present “work-around” solutions that can help librarians
