Start with the accounts and records you actually manage
Before asking for proposals, list your official accounts, their owners and the content your organization needs to retain. Include accounts managed by separate departments and accounts that may close during the contract. Record the platform and account type: a vendor supporting a platform does not necessarily support every account type or content format on it.
Add the date range of existing records, typical activity and a busy-period example. Describe who searches the archive, who approves disclosure and who administers access. These details let vendors price and demonstrate the same scope.
Scope of this template: social media archiving procurement, written for US public-sector teams. Your records authority, procurement policy and IT requirements determine the final conditions. The checklist does not set retention periods or certify compliance.
If you are still deciding what an archive should do, start with the buyer's guide. This page takes the next step: writing requirements that can be checked.
Separate mandatory requirements from preferences
Have each decision-maker identify the requirements that would prevent a purchase if unmet. Mark each requirement as mandatory, preferred or out of scope before you send it to vendors. Avoid making every possible feature mandatory; ask for the capabilities your actual workflow depends on.
Define a pass condition beside each mandatory item. For example, “export supported media and source identifiers in a package that our records team can open without a vendor account” is testable. “Provide comprehensive exports” leaves the vendor to decide what comprehensive means.
Ask vendors to answer with one of four responses: available now, available with conditions, not available or planned. Require details and evidence for every answer. A planned feature is not a demonstrated current capability.
Twelve requirements to put in the proposal
Use these as starting points, then add your own pass conditions. For coverage questions, require a platform-by-platform response. Ask vendors to disclose exclusions as clearly as supported features.
| Requirement | Ask the vendor to demonstrate | Evidence to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Account coverage | List supported platforms, account types and required permissions for every account in our inventory. | Platform-by-platform coverage matrix; permission requirements; excluded content. |
| Content coverage | Explain capture of posts, comments, replies, media, reactions, edits and deletions separately for each platform. | Written exceptions, API limitations and a demonstration using agreed test content. |
| Capture timing | State normal capture timing, how delays are measured, and what can be missed before capture. | Timestamped test results; service commitments; behavior during API outages. |
| Connection monitoring | Show how failed connections are detected, who is notified and how capture resumes. | Alert example; reconnect procedure; recovery and backfill limitations. |
| Context and metadata | Keep supported author details, source identifiers, timestamps and conversation relationships with each item. | A sample record and export with a field dictionary and time-zone explanation. |
| Version and deletion history | Show how captured versions and source deletions are represented without overwriting earlier captured content. | Test record before and after a controlled edit and deletion; known exceptions. |
| Search and review | Demonstrate the required account, keyword and date filters and how reviewers find the surrounding conversation. | A repeatable search exercise with expected and actual results. |
| Export and integrity | Produce usable records, supported media, metadata and available integrity evidence outside the vendor application. | Sample export; format and size limits; checksum verification instructions where provided. |
| Retention and holds | Explain how our retention decisions, disposal approvals and preservation holds can be supported, including manual steps. | Written workflow, permissions and audit evidence; any unsupported controls. |
| Access and security | Describe authentication, user roles, audit access, hosting, subprocessors and incident notification. | Current security evidence; role demonstration; contractual commitments and exceptions. |
| Commercials and support | Quote the same account inventory and expected volume, including a busy-period scenario. | Itemized subscription, onboarding, support, overage, export and termination costs. |
| Historical access and exit | Distinguish source-platform history from importing an existing archive, and state access and export rights after termination. | Written import scope; sample historical export; exit timetable, fees and deletion terms. |
The downloadable worksheet includes a priority, acceptance condition, vendor response and evidence field for each row. It also includes a short RFP brief you can adapt to your purchasing process.
Check the workflow behind each answer
A feature name alone is weak evidence. Ask the vendor to show the task with representative content and supply a sample you can inspect afterward. For an export, check whether a colleague can find the original post, understand its conversation, identify available versions and open the included media.
Ask what the integrity evidence establishes. A file checksum can help you detect whether that file has changed since the checksum was produced; it does not by itself establish that every source item was captured or that the source content was true.
Security evidence should identify the service and scope it covers, the issuing organization and relevant dates. Have IT review the evidence against your requirements. A certification does not answer every question about access, hosting or incident handling.
Use the evaluation test guide for a shared demonstration script. Keep written answers alongside observed results, including any workarounds or items you could not test.
Ask every vendor to quote the same scenario
Provide the same account inventory, user count, expected record volume and contract term. Add a second scenario for a period of higher activity. Ask which assumptions affect the price and how usage is counted.
- Getting started: onboarding, setup, training and any historical retrieval or import work.
- Running the service: subscription, volume limits, additional accounts or users, support and storage.
- Producing records: export limits, service charges, support dependence and delivery time.
- Leaving: notice period, renewal terms, final exports, continued access and any deletion or closure fees.
Record taxes and currency separately. Keep optional services separate from the base offer so that a lower headline price does not conceal a different scope.
Resolve mandatory gaps before ranking the shortlist
Review mandatory requirements first. If a vendor cannot meet one, record whether the requirement changes through your approval process or the vendor is removed from consideration. Do not let a high overall score hide an unresolved mandatory gap.
For the remaining options, use weights agreed in advance. Record evidence, practical effort and cost alongside any scores. Keep an exceptions log showing the limitation, its effect, the proposed workaround and the person who can accept it.
Finish with a decision record: selected option, reasons, unresolved conditions, named approvers and required contract commitments. If the purchase replaces an existing service, attach the switching checklist before agreeing the start date.
Get the PDF workbook
The RFP worksheet includes: an editable procurement brief, account scope, twelve requirements with vendor response fields, commercial questions, an exceptions log and a decision record.
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Download the PDF and open it in a PDF reader to fill in the shaded fields, or print a copy. Save your completed file before closing. For expandable fields and extra rows, use the browser worksheet and choose Save my copy. Worksheet answers stay on your device and are not sent to Brolly.
Common questions
Can we use this template with any vendor?
Yes. The requirements describe tasks and evidence rather than a particular product. Adapt them to your accounts, records policies and procurement process before issuing the RFP.
Should every requirement be mandatory?
No. Make a requirement mandatory when your team cannot accept the service without it. Keep preferences separate and define how you will assess them before seeing proposals.
Does the template prescribe a retention period?
No. Have the responsible records team identify the applicable retention and preservation requirements. Ask vendors to explain how those decisions can be implemented, including any manual steps.
What should we do with a roadmap commitment?
Record it as planned and assess the current service separately. If your purchase depends on it, have procurement address delivery dates, acceptance tests and remedies in the contract.
Bring your requirements to a Brolly demo
Use your account inventory and mandatory criteria to guide the conversation. Ask us to demonstrate the relevant workflow and document platform-specific limitations.