The project manager makes available the Public RFP to potential offerors, either by distributing it via e-mail or by uploading it onto a Web server, from where it can be downloaded.

In some cases, the project manager may decide to go with a two-phase evaluation, meaning that phase 1 is designated the exploration phase. The Public RFP contains only a small set of the most critical requirements and is widely distributed. More or less every RFP recipient is invited to participate in the evaluation. RFP Responses are evaluated and only those vendors that made it to the top 5 or 10 of the list (or whatever proves practical) are considered for phase 2. The second phase would then involve the full set of requirements.

Technically speaking, there is no difference between the one-phased and the two-phased approach. Process steps are identical.