---
title: "Evaluating Cloud Optimization Partners: A Procurement Checklist"
description: Use this procurement checklist to compare cloud cost optimization services, pricing models, savings claims, and implementation responsibilities.
image: https://blog.sisystems.com/hubfs/Blog/Preview%20Image/Evaluating%20Cloud%20Optimization%20Partners%20A%20Procurement%20Checklist.png
---
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# Evaluating Cloud Optimization Partners: A Procurement Checklist
October 01, 2026
Cloud optimization proposals are only comparable when partners are measured against the same baseline, scope, and accountability standards.
[](https://blog.sisystems.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJgRfYX%2FVKyndYFC%2BmmNis8iFbO3PaH3uhtHzD8jy3vHiYlD46oAdNYsC1UgtTcQE3hJeUzjVSvQmW6TNJL2DuC9WeLIiXqV5iJhrZVJWUQpIt4WixrmwRN4DZuA2IU9DSW%2BEelgiS0DXHlJHcyjzD%2FFsJld3AtEHbKeSEMgTkoFJjKfVot0LnsL1bvh7GWHC3Vva3Mntg2Z4OmXo2ppwOhKBdhxaXRrdTYSXcM&webInteractiveContentId=218807067922&portalId=19957201&hsLang=en)
Proposals for cloud cost optimization services can be difficult to compare, and the numbers rarely mean the same thing from one partner to the other. A partner might quote a savings percentage against current spend. Another might propose a FinOps consulting engagement with no percentage at all. And a third might tie fees to results that aren’t clearly defined yet.
Read the fine print on three proposals, and you'll find three different definitions of success.
This isn’t just a cloud optimization problem. Deloitte Canada found that [56% of Canadian business leaders surveyed](https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/about/press-room/report-canadian-organizations-face-barriers-to-digital-adoption-and-transformation.html) considered choosing between competing software vendors or cloud service providers somewhat or very challenging.
So when it comes to evaluating partners, the real question is whether they’re proposing to do the same job at all. Among the technology procurement leaders that we work with, that lack of common ground comes up repeatedly in cloud optimization evaluations.
## Why cloud optimization proposals are difficult to compare
No two partners define savings, scope, or accountability the same way, so a number that looks comparable often isn't. Three factors drive that inconsistency.
**Baseline methodology** shifts the calculation. Savings measured against current spend, spend before discounts, or a smaller workload will give you three different numbers for the exact same work.
**Scope** shifts it further. One proposal might cover your entire cloud footprint. Another might leave out categories like storage tiering or discount programs, without saying so.
**Accountability** shifts it most. Finding a savings opportunity and delivering it are two different jobs, done by different people. A quoted figure can represent only the first and still sound like a finished result.
## What to require from cloud optimization partners
Ask for clarity on five things before comparing proposals, whether the engagement is framed as optimization work or a standalone cloud cost assessment:
1. **Baseline:** What spend is measured, over what period, and whether discounts or planned changes are factored in
2. **Scope:** Which accounts, workloads, and optimization categories are included, and what's excluded
3. **Implementation:** Whether the partner identifies opportunities, executes them, or both
4. **Economics:** How fees are structured, and what triggers additional charges
5. **Accountability:** How savings are verified, and who owns unimplemented recommendations
Assess each partner on these five points, and you'll have a good basis for comparison.
## How to validate savings claims
A savings figure is usually built on assumptions and isn’t proof of what the partner will deliver. The only way to know for sure is to see how that number was actually reached.
Ask the partner to walk you through the full chain behind the number, from baseline to identified opportunity, implementation, and realized savings. Somewhere in that chain is where claims break down. An opportunity can be identified and never implemented. It can be implemented without ever being checked against the actual bill.
Scope validation matters just as much. A partner can maintain a savings percentage while quietly narrowing what's covered, so ask whether the scope being reconciled still matches what the original proposal promised.
Check these before you trust the numbers:
- Reconcile savings against actual billing data rather than the original estimate
- Check whether the fee ties to identified savings or realized savings
- Verify that the reconciled scope matches the original proposal
- Request a reference who can speak to savings verified after implementation
## The cloud optimization partner evaluation checklist
The checklist below brings all of this together. Confirm each item with every partner before you score a proposal:
☐ Baseline spend and date range, so every proposal is measured against the same starting point
☐ Whether discounts or planned changes are included in that baseline or excluded from it
☐ Every account, cloud, and optimization category covered, including exclusions
☐ Who is responsible for executing the recommended changes, and what internal access or engineering capacity that requires
☐ The fee structure, whether fixed, subscription-based, tied to savings, or hybrid
☐ What triggers an additional charge
☐ What happens if projected savings fall short of the estimate
☐ How realized savings will be verified against actual billing
☐ A reference who can speak to savings verified after implementation
One item on that list outweighs the others. It’s who executes the recommended changes. Even a well-scoped, well-priced plan still needs cloud engineering or DevOps capacity to carry it out. And that capacity doesn't always exist internally.
HashiCorp's 2024 State of Cloud Strategy Survey found that [64% of respondents lacked staff expertise needed to support their cloud infrastructure strategy](https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/hashicorp-state-of-cloud-strategy-survey-2024-cloud-maturity). Skills shortages were also the most commonly cited contributor to cloud waste.
## How we support cloud partner selection and delivery
The checklist above is built specifically for cloud optimization proposals. It doesn't capture other things worth knowing about a partner, like their financial stability, how they've performed for other clients, or what happens if the team executing the plan changes.
**Our [IT Vendor Evaluation Scorecard](https://info.sisystems.com/it-vendor-evaluation-scorecard?hsLang=en) covers that broader picture, scoring vendor viability, functionality, cost, and delivery risk for any IT vendor you evaluate.**
Once you've chosen a partner, the next question is who's actually delivering the work. That's where the [Contractor Management and Payroll Services](https://www.sisystems.com/find-talent/services/contractor-payroll/) team at S.i. Systems comes in, taking compliance and administration completely off your plate.
**[](https://blog.sisystems.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJgRfYX%2FVKyndYFC%2BmmNis8iFbO3PaH3uhtHzD8jy3vHiYlD46oAdNYsC1UgtTcQE3hJeUzjVSvQmW6TNJL2DuC9WeLIiXqV5iJhrZVJWUQpIt4WixrmwRN4DZuA2IU9DSW%2BEelgiS0DXHlJHcyjzD%2FFsJld3AtEHbKeSEMgTkoFJjKfVot0LnsL1bvh7GWHC3Vva3Mntg2Z4OmXo2ppwOhKBdhxaXRrdTYSXcM&webInteractiveContentId=218807067922&portalId=19957201&hsLang=en)**
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