Write the decision memo first
One page: problem statement, must-have requirements, nice-to-haves, and disqualifiers. Share it with vendors before meetings so sales engineers prepare substance instead of generic tours. Revisit it after pilots; if the problem shifted, update the memo before expanding scope.
Proof tasks over slide decks
Ask each finalist to perform bounded proof tasks against sample data or APIs you provide. Watch them fail gracefully— that tells you more than any roadmap slide. For infrastructure, include backup and recovery scenarios in the rubric.
Total cost of ownership
License + implementation + training + three years of maintenance + opportunity cost of meetings. Compare honestly to keeping an older system with targeted improvements. Sometimes the right move is deletion—see vendor rationalization.
Contract hygiene
Data processing terms, export formats, SLAs with teeth for your tier, and clear exit windows. If legal review is slow, parallelize technical diligence; do not let procurement silence reveal gaps you will own later.
Further reading
- NIST C-SCRM resources — supply chain risk framing for acquisitions.
- Acquisition.gov — U.S. federal acquisition regulations (useful vocabulary even outside government).
- ISO/IEC 27001 — security management context for vendor due diligence.
- OWASP API Security Top 10 — technical diligence for API-first vendors.
Talk to us
We sit on evaluation committees, score RFPs, and help executives separate signal from vendor theater.
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