Module 11: Vendor Evaluation & Tech Due Diligence - Buying Technology Wisely

How do you tell a vendor that will scale with you from one that will trap you?

Every organization signs more vendor contracts every quarter than it has the capacity to seriously evaluate. The cost of getting one wrong compounds for years through integration costs, exit costs, and opportunity costs. This module is the structured approach to vendor due diligence: what to look for, what to demand, and what to refuse.

What you'll learn in this module

• The vendor risk taxonomy: financial, operational, security, regulatory, concentration, and strategic risk
• The technical due-diligence pack that separates serious evaluation from a procurement checklist: architecture, scalability, integration, security posture, and roadmap
• Contract terms that matter: SLAs, data portability, exit assistance, audit rights, sub-processor flow-down, indemnification, and price escalation
• Reference-call discipline: the questions that produce honest answers and the ones that produce vendor-coached talking points
• Post-signature vendor management: the operating cadence and the metrics that catch problems before they become breach notifications

The complete module gives executives a defensible process for choosing technology vendors that survives both internal challenge and external audit.