1. Executive verdict
- State Go, No-Go, or Go under conditions in the first paragraph.
- Name the decision owner and deadline.
- Explain the recommendation in plain language.
- State what would change the verdict.
Free decision asset
Go / No-Go Decision Brief Template
Use this structure when a vendor decision needs to be explained to Finance, Operations, IT, Legal, founders, or an executive reviewer.
Why this exists
The decision brief is the bridge between research and commitment.
A team can collect a lot of information and still fail to produce a decision. The brief forces a verdict, names the evidence, and makes uncertainty visible.
Template
The sections every Go / No-Go vendor brief should include.
2. Decision context
- Vendor, product, use case, team size, expected growth, and budget.
- Required capabilities, compliance needs, integrations, and rollout scope.
- Known concerns before review.
- Alternatives or fallback options if relevant.
3. Evidence summary
- Top claims that support the recommendation.
- Source quality for each claim: primary, vendor-provided, external, or unverified.
- Confidence level and why.
- Contradictions or missing evidence.
4. Risk framing
- Top risks by impact and likelihood.
- Pricing and TCO traps.
- Security, compliance, lock-in, and operational risks.
- Which risks are acceptable, mitigated, or unresolved.
5. Verification queue
- Vendor questions to send before purchase.
- Documents to request before full rollout.
- Pilot tests to run.
- Internal acceptance decisions that must be made.
6. Final recommendation
- Proceed, reject, pause, or pilot under conditions.
- State the conditions explicitly.
- Assign next actions to owners.
- Set a review point if the decision is conditional.
How to use it
A decision brief should be short, inspectable, and hard to misread.
If a reader cannot identify the recommendation, the evidence, the top risks, and the next action within minutes, the brief is still research.
EvidenceOps