Practice vocabulary for vendor evaluation and product demo meetings: asking technical questions, assessing SLAs, and procurement vocabulary.
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1 / 5
During a vendor evaluation, you want to ask about the contractual guarantee for uptime and response times. Which term is correct?
SLA (Service Level Agreement) is the standard term for the contractual commitment that covers uptime, response times, and remedies for breaches. Asking for 'your SLA for critical incidents' is the correct procurement vocabulary. 'Uptime' is a metric within an SLA, not the agreement itself. 'Response time' is also a metric. 'Guarantee' is a general word that lacks the technical specificity vendors expect in evaluation meetings. When evaluating vendors, ask for the SLA document, then drill into specific metrics: RTO, RPO, MTTR, and availability percentages.
2 / 5
You want the vendor to explain their security model during the demo. Which phrasing is most natural?
'Walk someone through something' is the standard phrase for a guided explanation: 'Can you walk us through your security model?', 'walk me through the onboarding process', 'walk the team through the architecture'. The preposition is always 'through'. 'Walk by' means to pass something. 'Walk over' is not standard in this context. 'Walk about' is non-standard. In vendor meetings, 'walk us through X' is used to request a systematic, step-by-step explanation of a process, architecture, or feature.
3 / 5
You are evaluating how a vendor's platform handles sudden increases in traffic. Which question is most precise?
'Handle traffic spikes automatically' is the most precise question — it names the specific event (traffic spikes), the expected behaviour (automatic handling), and implies you are evaluating auto-scaling capabilities. 'Burst traffic' is also a valid technical term (sudden short-duration traffic surges), and 'handle burst traffic' is correct. However, 'automatically' makes Option D more precise because it distinguishes between manual and automated responses. 'Fast traffic' and 'big traffic' are not standard technical terms for this concept.
4 / 5
Before committing to a purchase, your team wants to test the vendor's sandbox environment. Which verb is most natural in a procurement context?
'Trial' as a verb ('to trial something') is the most natural procurement term for testing a product in a sandbox or pilot phase before purchasing: 'We'd like to trial the platform', 'Can we trial the sandbox?'. It specifically implies a time-limited evaluation with a view to purchase. 'Test' is also commonly used and correct. 'Evaluate' and 'assess' suggest a more formal scoring process rather than hands-on usage. In vendor conversations, 'trial' signals that you want a practical, time-bounded access period — typically a standard part of the procurement process.
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You want to understand how the vendor supports new customers after purchase. Which question is most natural?
'Onboarding' is the standard term for the structured process by which a vendor introduces a new customer to their product: account setup, training, documentation access, and dedicated support. 'What does your onboarding process look like?' is the most direct and natural question in this context. 'Setup' focuses only on technical configuration. 'Integration' refers to connecting systems. 'Implementation' is broader and often refers to large enterprise deployments. 'Onboarding' is the umbrella term covering all early-stage activities that help a new customer become productive.