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The six jobs/Job 03

Choose and buy technology

Every vendor now sells AI features, and most contracts run for years. The work is to define the need, build a shortlist, ask every vendor the same questions, price the whole term, and sign terms you can leave.

The decisions

5 decisions make up this job

  1. 1

    What you are buying

    Write the requirements before the vendors do. Separate the must-haves from what a demo makes look important.

  2. 2

    The shortlist

    Start from the category, compare vendors on the same aspects, and read each vendor's own account of who it is not right for.

  3. 3

    The questions

    Ask every vendor the same questions, including how its AI features are priced, where your data goes, and whether your data trains its models.

  4. 4

    The cost of the whole term

    Price licenses, implementation, integration, growth in usage and the cost of leaving, not only the first year.

  5. 5

    The contract

    Agree exit terms, data return, renewal price caps and the security evidence the vendor owes you before you sign.

RFP questions

RFP questions you can send as they are

Question sets for a vendor's company, its supply chain, its exit terms and its finances, and full RFP packages for the large platform categories.

How others did it

Trench Notes on this job

Each page sets out the steps and the documents, and practitioners add what they learned doing it.

  • Building a third-party risk programRead
  • Consolidating IT vendorsPublishes January 26, 2027
  • Moving to or between managed service providersPublishes December 9, 2026
  • Implementing ServiceNowPublishes November 19, 2026
  • Implementing WorkdayPublishes December 24, 2026
  • Implementing NetSuitePublishes December 4, 2026
  • Rolling out IT service managementPublishes January 8, 2027
Choose the technology

Buyer Guides and comparisons

Also on CIOPages

More for this job

Keep reading

Checklist
Vendor Selection & RFP Readiness Checklist

Ensure your procurement process is complete before issuing an RFP.

Worksheet
Vendor RFP Outline

Generate a structured RFP skeleton tailored to your technology procurement.

Decision apps

Apps for this job

Enter your situation and each app returns a working document you can take into the meeting.

Technology Landscape AdvisorVendor-neutral analysis of any technology challenge, calibrated to your industry and stack.TCO / ROI BuilderCompare build-vs-buy total cost of ownership across a multi-year horizon with NPV (net present value) and break-even analysis.Vendor Security Questionnaire Auto-FillerDraft answers to vendor security questionnaires from your security profile, with placeholders for details to fill in.Architecture Decision AssistantWeighted decision matrix comparing two or three technology options against your context.Technology Bet Risk SimulatorStress-test a major technology investment against execution, market, and obsolescence risk.Platform Gravity AnalyzerScore how locked in you are to each vendor platform, and how concentrated your spend is.

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The other jobs
Job 01Decide where AI goes in the businessJob 02Govern the AI already in useJob 04Control technology spendJob 05Modernize the estateJob 06Secure and comply