CMMS RFP Template: What to Ask Before You Buy

Most CMMS RFPs are 50 pages of fluff. Questions about company history, financial stability, and generic feature checklists that every vendor answers "yes" to.

They don't reveal the differences that matter — the ones that determine whether the CMMS succeeds or fails in your plant.

Here's a streamlined RFP template that asks the right questions — the ones that separate winners from losers.

Section 1: Company Background (Keep It Brief)

Q1: How long have you been in business?

• <2 years: Risky (may not survive)
• 2-5 years: Proven but young
• 5-10 years: Established
• 10+ years: Stable

Q2: How many customers do you have?

• <100: Small customer base
• 100-500: Growing
• 500-1000: Established
• 1000+: Market leader

Q3: How many customers are in our industry?

• 0: No industry experience
• 1-10: Some experience
• 10-50: Strong industry presence
• 50+: Industry leader

Q4: What's your customer retention rate?

• <80%: Troubling (high churn)
• 80-90%: Average
• 90-95%: Good
• 95%+: Excellent

Section 2: Product Architecture

Q5: Deployment options — cloud, on-premise, or hybrid?

• Cloud only
• On-premise only
• Both (flexible)
• Hybrid

Q6: What's your technology stack?

• Legacy (proprietary, difficult to integrate)
• Modern (web services, APIs, microservices)

Q7: Do you offer a mobile app? If yes, what platforms?

• No mobile app: Eliminate
• Mobile web only: Acceptable
• Native iOS + Android: Preferred

Q8: Does the mobile app work offline?

• No: Eliminate (plants have poor connectivity)
• Yes: Required

Q9: What's your update policy?

• Forced updates (no control)
• Scheduled updates (you choose when)
• Optional updates (you choose if)

Section 3: Core Capabilities

Q10: Work order management — describe the workflow from creation to closure.

• Look for: Mobile creation, assignment, execution, parts tracking, closure
• Red flag: Desktop-only workflow

Q11: PM scheduling — what types of PMs do you support?

• Time-based (required)
• Meter-based (required)
• Condition-based (preferred)
• Seasonal (nice to have)

Q12: Asset management — do you support hierarchies? How many levels?

• No hierarchies: Eliminate
• 2-3 levels: Acceptable
• 4-5 levels: Preferred
• Unlimited levels: Best

Q13: Inventory management — do you support multiple storage locations?

• Single location only: Limited
• Multiple locations: Required
• Multi-site inventory: Preferred

Q14: Reporting and analytics — what KPIs do you track out-of-the-box?

• Ask for: List of pre-built reports
• Look for: MTBF, MTTR, PM compliance, backlog, maintenance costs
• Red flag: "Custom reports only" (you'll build everything yourself)

Q15: Do you support QR/barcode tagging?

• No: Eliminate (manual asset identification is outdated)
• Yes: Required

Q16: What's your maximum asset count per deployment?

• <1000: Limited
• 1000-10,000: Acceptable
• 10,000+: Scalable

Section 4: Integration and APIs

Q17: What systems do you integrate with out-of-the-box?

• Ask for: List of pre-built integrations
• Look for: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, MES, SCADA

Q18: Do you offer APIs? If yes, what type?

• No APIs: Eliminate (no integration capability)
• REST APIs: Required
• GraphQL: Preferred
• Webhooks: Required for real-time data

Q19: Can you provide API documentation?

• No: Eliminate (APIs are undocumented)
• Yes, upon request: Acceptable
• Yes, public documentation: Preferred

Q20: What's your integration support model?

• We don't support integrations: Eliminate
• We support integrations for a fee: Acceptable
• We provide integration support: Preferred

Section 5: Implementation and Training

Q21: What's your typical implementation timeline?

• <6 weeks: Fast (may be too simple)
• 6-12 weeks: Ideal
• 3-6 months: Complex

• 6 months: Avoid (overly complex)

Q22: What's included in implementation?

• Data migration: Required
• Configuration: Required
• Training: Required
• Integration: Varies

Q23: What's your training approach?

• Classroom only: Limited
• Online only: Limited
• Hands-on, on-site: Preferred

Q24: Do you provide ongoing training?

• No: Concerning
• Yes, for a fee: Acceptable
• Yes, included: Preferred

Section 6: Support and SLAs

Q25: What's your support model?

• Self-service only: Eliminate
• Email support (48-hour response): Minimal
• Phone support (24-hour response): Good
• Dedicated success manager: Best

Q26: What's your uptime SLA?

• No SLA: Eliminate
• 99% SLA (8.7 hours downtime/month): Minimal
• 99.9% SLA (43 minutes downtime/month): Industry standard
• 99.99% SLA (4.3 minutes downtime/month): Premium

Q27: What's your disaster recovery capability?

• No DR: Eliminate
• Backups only: Minimal
• Geo-redundancy: Good
• Active-active: Best

Section 7: Security and Compliance

Q28: What security certifications do you hold?

• None: Concerning
• SOC 1: Basic
• SOC 2: Industry standard
• ISO 27001: Good
• Both SOC 2 + ISO 27001: Best

Q29: Where is your data hosted?

• Single region: Acceptable
• Multiple regions: Better
• Customer can choose region: Best

Q30: Do you offer data export capabilities?

• No: Eliminate (lock-in risk)
• Yes, upon request: Minimal
• Yes, self-service: Required

Section 8: Pricing and Contract

Q31: What's your pricing model?

• Per-user: Calculate based on your user count
• Per-asset: Calculate based on your asset count
• Tiered subscription: Understand tier limits
• Flat fee: Understand what's included

Q32: What's included in the subscription?

• Core features only: Limited
• All features: Preferred
• Support, training, updates: Should be included

Q33: What's NOT included (will cost extra)?

• Ask for: List of additional costs (implementation, integrations, custom reports, extra storage, API calls)

Q34: What's your contract minimum?

• Monthly: Flexible
• Annual: Standard
• Multi-year: Negotiate for discounts

Q35: Do you offer a trial or pilot period?

• No: Concerning (lack of confidence)
• Yes, 30 days: Standard
• Yes, 60+ days: Preferred

Q36: What's your cancellation policy?

• No cancellation: Eliminate (lock-in risk)
• Cancel at end of term: Standard
• Cancel with notice: Understand notice period
• Cancel with penalty: Avoid

Section 9: References

Q37: Can you provide 3 references in our industry?

• No references: Eliminate
• 1-2 references: Limited
• 3+ references: Standard

Q38: Can you provide references from similar-sized plants?

• No: References not relevant
• Yes: Preferred

Q39: What's your average customer satisfaction score?

• Don't know: Not tracking
• <80%: Concerning
• 80-90%: Good
• 90%+: Excellent

Section 10: Roadmap and Future

Q40: What's your product roadmap for the next 12 months?

• No roadmap: Concerning
• Roadmap available: Standard
• Customer-driven roadmap: Preferred

Q41: How do you prioritize feature requests?

• Vendor decides: Limited
• Customer voting: Better
• Customer advisory board: Best

Q42: How often do you release updates?

• No fixed schedule: Concerning
• Quarterly: Standard
• Monthly: Agile
• Continuous: Cloud-native

The Scoring Matrix

Use this matrix to score vendors:

Category	Weight	Vendor A	Vendor B	Vendor C
Company Background	10%
Product Architecture	15%
Core Capabilities	25%
Integration/APIs	15%
Implementation	10%
Support/SLAs	10%
Security	10%
Pricing	5%

Minimum score to advance: 70/100

Red flags (automatic disqualification):

• No mobile app
• No offline mode
• No SLA
• No security certifications
• No references in industry
• No API documentation

The Demo Script

Don't let vendors drive the demo. Use this script:

Scenario 1: Technician creates work order

• Technician logs into mobile app
• Creates work order for equipment failure
• Attaches photo
• Submits work order
• Planner receives notification
• Planner assigns work order
• Technician receives assignment
• Technician adds parts and labor
• Technician closes work order

Scenario 2: PM scheduling and compliance

• Planner schedules PM
• Technician receives PM assignment
• Technician follows checklist
• Technician marks steps complete
• System records PM compliance

Scenario 3: Reporting

• Manager generates MTBF/MTTR report
• Manager exports report to Excel
• Manager schedules weekly report distribution

Look for:

• Mobile-first design
• Offline capability
• Checklists and procedures
• Real-time notifications
• Report generation

Red flags:

• Desktop-heavy workflow
• No mobile app (or mobile app is afterthought)
• No offline mode
• No checklists
• Complex report generation

The Reference Call Script

When calling references, ask:

Q1: How long have you been using the CMMS?

• <6 months: Too early to judge
• 6-24 months: Sweet spot
• 24+ months: Long-term perspective

Q2: What was implementation really like?

• Duration vs promised
• Pain points
• Adoption curve

Q3: What's your adoption rate?

• <60%: Troubling
• 60-80%: Acceptable
• 80%+: Excellent

Q4: How's support?

• Response time
• Resolution time
• Quality of support

Q5: What do you wish you'd known before buying?

• Reveals hidden issues
• Reveals sales vs reality gaps

Q6: Would you buy again? Why/why not?

• Yes, because: Confirms strengths
• No, because: Reveals deal-breakers

The Bottom Line

This RFP template cuts through the fluff and asks the questions that matter — the ones that reveal whether a CMMS will succeed or fail in your plant.

Use it. Score vendors objectively. Check references thoroughly.

Don't let slick demos and enthusiastic salespeople sell you a system that fails in production.

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Sending a CMMS RFP? OpexMX provides detailed RFP responses — with demo scripts, reference calls, and pilot deployments. Let us prove we're the right fit, not just tell you we are.