Is this decision ready to sign?

Run the 15 checks a CIO/CTO should close before vendor selection, budget approval or contract signature. Work through 64 evidence points, see which gaps are critical at your stage, and leave with owners and due dates.

15 checks
64 evidence points
3 decision stages
8 minutes

Start the checklist How MALA helps

Step 1 · Where is the decision?

Check your decision readiness

Mark an item Ready only when evidence exists and an accountable owner has confirmed it. "Not sure" counts as Not yet, because that is how a board or auditor will read it.

Vendor selection Budget approval Contract signature

Example

Example: a 900-person credit union about to sign a new contact center platform before its renewal. Replace with your own answers.

The decision

InitiativeWhat you are deciding on.

Decision owner

Target decision date

Budget or renewal valueTotal contract value or annual renewal. Used in your summary only.

How the gate is calculated

Ready checksCount of items marked Ready (evidence exists, owner confirmed), out of 15

Critical itemsAlways: business outcome, decision authority, security and compliance, commercial exposure. Vendor selection adds alternatives and objective evaluation. Budget approval adds validated assumptions and success measures. Contract signature adds capacity, safe transition and provider accountability.

Gate resultNot ready while any critical item is open. Proceed with conditions once every critical item is Ready or Risk accepted. Ready to commit at 13 or more Ready checks with no open critical items.

Evidence checklistsEach check breaks into 4 or 5 evidence points, 64 in all. Ticking them sets the answer: all ticked is Ready, some is Partly, none is Not yet. You can still override the answer by hand.

Due datesYour own due date wins. Otherwise open items are scheduled two at a time from today, critical items first, and flagged when they land after the decision date.

Weeks to closeEach Not yet item adds its typical close time; Partly adds half. Open items are assumed to run two at a time in parallel. Risk accepted items add nothing.

Weeks you haveWhole weeks from today to your target decision date

Step 2 · Your decision brief

Turn open items into a dated plan

Unlock every open item ranked by risk, the evidence and owner that close each one with a due date that fits your decision date, and the questions to put to vendors before you sign.

Every open item and what is missing

Evidence, owner and due date

Questions for vendors