RFI process serves in theory to the company to understand specific capabilities a provider has, so you qualify it to the RFP.

My point is that when you invite the big logos to an RFI, basically they all have these capabilities (or at least the ability to document that they have it).

Does it make sense to have an RFI step before the FRP?

Absolutely!!!

These big companies sometimes struggle to engage internally and focus on the delivery that is requested.

Even if the delivery is easy to achieve, a good set of questions with different nature forces the big companies to demonstrate their internal coordination in short period of time.

Leadership

To me the ability to convince a customer to procure your services depends on the leader that is assigned to the deal.

In big companies there are good and bad leaders. The buyer knows it. S/he also knows that it’s important how committed the whole organization is with respect your needs.

You as a buyer, do not know if the assigned leader will be one or the other, how focus is the provider to commit with you at all levels.

The tricky things is

that they sometimes fail, and it could be by different reasons, but you as a buyer do not want to spend your time/resources with a company that has not set the right leadership in front of you.

An RFI does not tell you who is the best, but enables you in some way to discard who is for sure not engaged with you.