How the work is done
A strong platform decision is not just a successful selection process. It is a decision that holds up commercially, operationally, and after signature.
Align
Clarify the decision, the stakes, and the criteria before the market shapes them for you. Most evaluations start too late — by the time vendors are in the room, framing has already been ceded.
Output: a defensible basis for evaluation.
Stress-test
Examine vendor claims, pricing logic, delivery assumptions, and category-specific risks. The questions that feel too sharp in a vendor call are often the ones that matter most.
Output: a sharper shortlist and clearer risk picture.
Prove
Where needed, design PoCs or proof structures with explicit success criteria tied to business requirements. A proof of concept without defined success criteria is theater, not evidence.
Output: evidence leadership can stand behind.
Lock
Improve the quality of the commercial decision before commitment. Pricing logic, licensing structure, contractual risk, and remediation terms all deserve scrutiny before signature.
Output: stronger commercial defensibility and clearer contractual visibility.
Realise
Install the ownership, KPIs, and operating cadence needed for value to show up after go-live. Most platforms underdeliver not because the technology failed, but because accountability was never clearly installed.
Output: clearer accountability and stronger adoption confidence.
Why this framework works
Most platform decisions do not fail because the vendor looked weak in the room.
They fail because criteria were vague, claims were insufficiently tested, contract risk surfaced too late, and adoption ownership was never installed. This framework exists to reduce those failure modes — before signature, not after.
Vague criteria
Addressed in Align before vendors shape the frame.
Untested claims
Addressed in Stress-test and Prove.
Late contract risk
Surfaced and addressed in Lock.
Uninstalled ownership
Resolved in Realise before go-live.
See it in practice
Selected examples of the work the framework supports.
View results