Vendor Selection Checklist: Key Criteria

The Ultimate Vendor Selection Checklist

Selecting the right vendor is one of the most important decisions a procurement team makes. A wrong choice can lead to project delays, quality issues, and financial loss. The key to making the right choice is a standardized, objective evaluation process. See our IT vendor selection tips for additional guidance.

Use this comprehensive checklist to evaluate potential partners across four critical dimensions. For a detailed evaluation process, start by learning how to write an RFP that gets quality responses from vendors.

1. Financial Health & Stability

A vendor with the best product is useless if they go out of business halfway through your contract.

2. Technical Capability & Quality

Can they actually deliver what they promise? This is where you need to go deep into the details.

3. Security & Compliance

In an interconnected world, your vendor's security risk is your security risk.

4. Culture & Relationship

Soft factors matter. A difficult vendor will drain your team's energy and time.

Conclusion

Using a standardized checklist removes bias from the selection process. It forces your team to evaluate every vendor against the same objective criteria, leading to defensible, high-quality decisions. For ongoing supplier management, pair this checklist with a vendor scorecard.