A go or no-go meeting should take under an hour and follow a fixed order: gates, scored results, open concerns, references, and then a decision written down with an owner and a date. Do the analysis before the meeting so the meeting is only for deciding.
Before the meeting
Circulate a one page summary two days ahead:
- Gate results: pass or fail per vendor
- Scores per category, with the evidence notes
- Success criteria met or missed
- Pilot team survey results
- Pricing proposals, compared on the same assumptions
- A list of concerns the numbers do not capture
Ask each attendee to read it and send questions beforehand. If anyone first sees the data in the room, you will spend the hour explaining.
Agenda
1. Gates (5 minutes)
Any vendor failing a gate is out. Do not reopen gates in the meeting unless a factual error is found.
2. Scored results (15 minutes)
Show totals and the category breakdown. Run the sensitivity check: if moving a weight by five points flips the winner, say so. Close results are a reason to look at concerns, not a reason to flip a coin.
3. Concerns and risks (15 minutes)
Read the concerns column aloud. Typical entries: a missing integration your team can work around, a vendor still growing its support team, a reliance on a feature labeled beta. Rate each concern as acceptable, needs a contract term, or deal breaker.
4. References (5 minutes)
Share what reference customers said. See questions for vendor references.
5. Decision (10 minutes)
Choose one of: go with vendor X, go with conditions, run a limited extension on one open question, or no go. State the conditions plainly, such as "contract includes a ninety day exit clause" or "vendor must deliver the missing integration before rollout."
Write the decision record
One page, saved where the team can find it:
- Decision and date
- Who decided
- The evidence that mattered most
- Conditions and owners
- What would make us revisit
This record is what you will want in a year, when someone asks why this tool was chosen. It is also a useful artifact for an audit that asks how you assess suppliers.
Common failure modes
- The decision gets made by the most senior person, who ignores the scores. If that is going to happen, say so at the start, and record why.
- A late vendor demo changes minds. Rule: no new evidence after the trial closes.
- Price discussions begin before quality is discussed, which anchors the room on cost.
- No owner for next steps, so the choice drifts for a month.
After the decision
Tell the unsuccessful vendors the result, and give one sentence of feedback if they ask. Keep the notes, because the same vendor may be worth another look next cycle. Start the rollout plan within a week, while the pilot team's knowledge is fresh.
Quick check
Who should be in the room?
The budget owner, the person who owns security results, one engineering lead from the pilot team, and whoever runs procurement. Keep it small enough to decide.
What if two vendors tie?
Look at the concerns column and at reference calls, or run a short extension on the one question that separates them. Do not extend for general reasons.
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
