Guide
How to turn supplier proposals into an evidence-linked comparison
Start from your requirements, not the vendors' structure. Each cell in the comparison should hold a quote from the proposal or an explicit 'not stated'. Silence is a finding.
For procurement teams and buyers. Written by the Encevra engine team. Reviewed 2026-10-12.
Requirements first
List each requirement as a row: uptime, data residency, restore time, total cost over the term. Columns are vendors. A comparison built from each vendor's headings will hide what they left out.
Quote or 'not stated'
Every cell is either a quoted passage or 'not stated'. A missing restore time is as important as a weak one. Conflicting figures, such as a stated three year total that ignores an annual increase, should be flagged for a person to recompute.
Where automation stops
Exact totals should be computed in a spreadsheet or calculator you trust. The current engines restate figures from the material and flag inconsistencies; they do not run verified arithmetic.
A worked comparison layout
One row per requirement, one column per vendor, and one cell per quote or 'not stated'. Add a final column for the reviewer's note so disagreements are recorded next to the evidence.
- Requirement: restore time after an outage
- Vendor A: quoted passage with its location
- Vendor B: not stated
- Reviewer note: ask Vendor B for a written commitment
Frequently asked questions
- Can the engine total the costs for me?
- Not reliably. It restates figures and flags inconsistencies; compute totals in a tool you trust.
- What if two proposals use different terms?
- Map both to your requirement wording, and keep the original quote so the mapping can be checked.
- Which engine fits this?
- The Procurement engine, or a custom engine configured in Studio from your requirement list.