sethdford Vendor Evaluation
Evaluate vendors using structured criteria including cost, SLA, support, roadmap alignment, and lock-in risk.
Instructions
- Functional Requirements: What features must vendor provide?
- Non-Functional: Performance, scalability, security, compliance
- Business Terms: Pricing, contracts, SLA, support response times
- Risk Assessment: Vendor stability, lock-in, exit strategy
- References: Talk to existing customers
Anti-Patterns
- Vendor Selection Without SLA: Pick based on marketing. Guard: Require written SLAs with penalties.
- Ignoring Lock-In: "We're committed to vendor." Guard: Evaluate exit cost before committing.
Further Reading
- Vendor Evaluation Frameworks