| If any company wants to procure goods or service | | | | generally issue RFQ, i.e., Request for Quotation. |
| by signing a contract with another company, the first | | | | RFQ is issued for purchasing standard off the shelf |
| step for the buyer organization or project team is to | | | | items. |
| identify what they want. Sometimes, they are not | | | | Purchase Order or PO is the simplest type of |
| sure of their own requirement and in such cases; | | | | contract. In such contracts, the buyer mentions the |
| they issue what is called RFI, i.e., Request for | | | | item that they are purchasing and at what price. PO |
| Information. | | | | is generally issued for small purchases. |
| For example, a Telecom Operator in India wants to | | | | Statement of Work or SOW defines the scope of |
| setup a 3 G network. They are not sure what all is | | | | the deliverables as per the contract. Generally |
| required to run a 3 G network, so as first step they | | | | contracts are drafted by the legal department where |
| can issue an RFI to vendors like Nokia, Siemens, | | | | as SOW is drafted by the project team to actually |
| Alcatel etc. After receiving the RFI, the telecom | | | | define the deliverables required as per the SOW. |
| operator gets aware of the process of setting up a | | | | NDA stands for Non Disclosure agreement. NDA is |
| 3 G network. With that knowledge they can now | | | | signed to maintain the confidentially of each other's |
| issue an RFP, which stands for Request for Proposal. | | | | information. |
| Sellers like Nokia, Siemens, and Alcatel etc can submit | | | | LOI or Letter of Intent is generally issued by the |
| their proposal against this RFP. | | | | buyer to the seller. This is issued to indicate the seller |
| Sometimes RFP is also called RFB, or Request for | | | | that the buyer is interested in buying their services. |
| Bids. | | | | And lastly, T&C stands for Terms and condition. |
| If the buyer wants to procure some standard items | | | | In any contract, there are various Terms and |
| like HP laptops, HP Printers, Usha Fans etc, they | | | | conditions. |