Vendor Evaluation

Evaluate vendors using structured criteria including cost, SLA, support, roadmap alignment, and lock-in risk.

Instructions

1. Functional Requirements: What features must vendor provide?
2. Non-Functional: Performance, scalability, security, compliance
3. Business Terms: Pricing, contracts, SLA, support response times
4. Risk Assessment: Vendor stability, lock-in, exit strategy
5. 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