Compare vendor options before an IT purchase

Step 1: Write down your actual requirements firstWord

Split the list into two explicit sections, Must-Have and Nice-to-Have, and write each requirement specifically enough to score ("supports SSO via SAML," not "good security").

Finishing and saving this document before opening a single vendor's website is what keeps the comparison honest instead of quietly bending to whichever vendor you already lean toward.

Step 2: Ask Copilot to build the comparisonCopilotClaude

Feed it your requirements list and the vendor documentation/proposals you've collected, and have it score each option.

Prompt idea:

Compare these three vendor proposals against our requirements list. Score each vendor on each requirement (Meets / Partially Meets / Doesn't Meet), and flag any requirement none of them fully satisfy.

Step 3: Investigate any requirement nobody meetsExcel

A gap across all vendors is worth surfacing to the requirements owner — maybe the requirement needs to flex, or maybe it's a genuine dealbreaker worth negotiating.

Step 4: Weight the requirements before declaring a winnerExcel

Not every requirement matters equally — apply weights to the must-haves before the comparison produces a final recommendation.

Check the work

• Verify the scoring against the actual vendor documentation, not a marketing summary.
• Confirm requirement weights were applied before ranking vendors, not just an equal-weighted average.
• Check pricing and contract terms were compared on the same basis (term length, volume) across vendors.

Source: Microsoft Copilot Scenario Library — IT (2026)