RFP kit
Direct answer
Most test-automation RFPs end up favouring the vendor with the best demo theatre. This kit reframes the conversation around 12 evaluation questions, 8 weighted scoring criteria, and 6 contractual traps. Designed to run the BrowserStack vs Sauce vs mabl demo loop in 10 working days.
Section 1
12 RFP questions every vendor must answer
- What is the per-seat or per-result rate at our planned scale and term? Provide a written quote, not an estimate.
- What is the annual escalation cap? If none, justify the absence.
- What is the documented parallel ceiling on the proposed tier?
- What happens to test data and recordings on contract termination?
- Which CI providers are first-class integrations with full documentation?
- How is self-heal measured and reported, if claimed?
- What is the mean time to fix a critical defect in the last 12 months?
- List three reference customers of comparable size in our industry.
- What is the IP-ownership posture on tests authored in your platform?
- How are agentic AI features priced relative to the base licence?
- What is the SSO / SCIM / audit-log support and at which tier?
- Provide the SOC 2 Type II report and a recent pen-test summary.
Section 2
8-point evaluation scorecard
Score each vendor 1-5 on each axis, then weight: stack fit 0.20, parallelism 0.15, mobile 0.15, maintainability 0.15, integration 0.10, security 0.10, pricing transparency 0.10, support 0.05.
Section 3
6 contractual traps
- Uncapped vendor price escalation, including re-tiering "due to volume changes".
- "Fair-use" parallel limits that are not in the data sheet.
- Per-test-result pricing that ratchets on flake (you pay more when your suite is unstable).
- Mandatory professional services tied to renewal.
- Auto-renew with a 90-day notice window.
- Termination clauses that revoke access to test recordings.