---
title: observability-vendor-selection
studio: vendor-management
stages: [requirements, evaluate, negotiate, onboard, monitor]
status: complete
---

# Observability Vendor Selection

Select a single observability vendor to consolidate logs, metrics, and traces. Top contenders: Datadog, Grafana Cloud, New Relic. Must-haves: native OpenTelemetry support and a compliant EU region. Annual budget ceiling is $300K.

## Goals

- Requirements document covering OTel, EU residency, SSO, and retention
- Head-to-head evaluation against the three contenders with scored criteria
- Negotiate pricing, ramp terms, and multi-year lock-in against the $300K ceiling
- Onboard the selected vendor with a 30-day dual-run validation window
- Monitor SLAs and usage vs. contract terms post-onboarding
