Request for Information (RFI)

A document that asks vendors for high-level organizational information about themselves or their products, used to narrow a long list down to a short one.

In a request for information, an organization is not asking for a bid; instead, they are focusing on who is willing and available for the project in the first place, with a focus on understanding the makeup and service offerings of each vendor. The final vendor choice is made through a request for proposal, where you ask the remaining vendors for detailed plans and prices. In other words, an RFI is the scouting step, while the RFP is where the serious comparison happens.