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Research and business strategy

Vendor evaluation

Evaluate a shortlisted set of vendors against decision criteria and recommend a next step. Use for vendor comparison, score these options, final vendor recommendation, supplier selection, or deep dive on a shortlist. Produces a cited recommendation with uncertainty and follow-up questions; it does not select, purchase, or contract with a vendor.

Works with the context you provideVersion 3.2.0

# Vendor evaluation

Use this method after a manageable shortlist exists. It turns decision-maker priorities into a fair, evidence-backed comparison and keeps unknowns visible rather than rewarding the vendor with the best marketing copy.

Inputs

Collect the use case, shortlisted vendors, users and decision-makers, current systems, non-negotiable requirements, preferred qualities, commercial constraints, and known evidence. Clarify whether the output is an internal decision memo or an approved client-facing artifact before exposing confidential context.

Method

  1. Translate decision-maker priorities into acceptance criteria (pass/fail) and evaluation criteria (comparative). Confirm them before researching.
  2. Define the comparison dimensions: capability, capacity, commitment, control, cost, culture, cleanliness or integrity, and communication. Add a dimension only when it supports a confirmed criterion.
  3. Gather comparable evidence for every vendor from official documentation, security and implementation material, pricing, attributable customer evidence, independent review, and supplied first-party experience. Capture source URLs and dates.
  4. Score only evidence-supported criteria. State the scoring scale, weights if authorized, and rationale for each score. Do not use a total score to hide a failed must-have.
  5. Record commercial signals separately from the core score: pricing model, implementation effort, contract terms, support, switching cost, and quote-only gaps. Treat financial stability as a scoped, sourced signal: do not infer it from investor prestige, and distinguish public ownership, funding, runway, or profitability evidence from an unknown financial position.
  6. Flag thin data on any decision-critical criterion and prescribe the next question, proof of concept, reference call, security review, or vendor briefing that resolves it.
  7. Rank options only after the evidence review. Recommend a winner, conditional next step, or no-selection outcome with clear conditions.

Comparative evidence and ranking

For each dimension, distinguish `Strong`, `Adequate`, `Concern`, and `Unknown` only when the stated evidence supports the judgment. Explain the rationale, source date, scope, and uncertainty beside the rating. Keep commercial signals narrative unless decision-makers explicitly authorize a scoring treatment. Rank in this order: no failed acceptance criteria; strength on highest-priority evaluation criteria; strength on lower-priority criteria; then commercial signals as a tiebreaker. A genuine tie stays a tie.

Check evidence freshness and comparability before synthesis. If sources conflict, record the competing claims and why they differ; if a decision-critical fact remains thin, recommend the smallest resolving step. Hand an accepted vendor and open dependencies to transition planning; do not conflate selection with readiness to change.

Output

```markdown # [Use case] vendor evaluation ## Decision summary ## Criteria and evidence standard ## Vendor comparison ## Commercial signals ## Thin-data flags and follow-ups ## Recommendation ## Glossary ## Sources ```

Quality rules

  • A vendor that fails a confirmed must-have cannot win on aggregate score.
  • Label vendor claims and missing information clearly.
  • Preserve differences between public list price, quote-only terms, and modeled implementation cost.
  • Do not select a vendor, start procurement, or change a contract; return a proposed handoff for an authorized owner.