RFPs (Request for Proposals) and RFIs (Requests for Information) have been the bane of my existance ever since I started working in sales doing demonstrations. Before even being able to talk with the customer, or try to solve any problems, you first have to run the questionaire gauntlet and answer every question that the customer (or rather the highly paid consulting firm) is able to think of.
Many times, it doesn't seem like much care has been put into the RFP/RFI's in the first place, because they are copies of documents that you can find on the web, and as a result contain every question under the sun, many that I don't even think the customers know what they mean as well.