Use this worksheet to compare two or more technology operating models on equivalent terms. Start with the same sites, systems and required support, then separate quoted amounts from estimates and unknowns. Record the evidence behind each assumption so a decision-maker can see both the expected cost and the uncertainty.
Purpose and limitations
This is a comparison template, not a Nexus pricing offer, a measured savings study or a promise that managed service costs less. Obtain current proposals and have your finance team review the completed model before making a commitment.
How to use this worksheet
- Choose a common planning period and currency. Record the model date, owner, included locations and systems before entering prices.
- Classify each input as a current quote, contract obligation, internal estimate or unresolved item. Keep the source and date beside the value.
- Run a base case and alternatives for uncertain assumptions. Compare operational responsibilities and exclusions alongside the totals.
Separate initial, recurring and end-of-term costs
Put onboarding, remediation, equipment and installation in an initial-cost schedule. List recurring services separately, including charges paid directly to carriers or software providers. Record expected replacement and transition costs in the periods when they would occur; do not count the same item in both equipment ownership and a bundled service fee.
- Initial survey, design, corrective work, equipment and commissioning
- Recurring provider fees, connectivity, software and excluded support
- Planned refresh, replacement allowances and disposal or transition obligations
Normalize the support being compared
A monitoring-only offer is not equivalent to one that includes repair labor or replacement equipment. Write down support hours, covered devices, onsite work and incident priorities for each option. Keep response targets separate from restoration commitments, and identify tasks that remain with your staff or another vendor.
- Remote and onsite inclusions, dispatch charges and maintenance windows
- Hardware ownership, replacement eligibility and exclusions
- Administrative access, configuration records and transition assistance
Show uncertainty instead of hiding it in a total
Use a low, base and high assumption where a cost is genuinely uncertain. If you model staff time or interruption impact, show the hours and rate used rather than presenting the estimate as an observed loss. Ask finance which tax, discounting and accounting treatment belongs in the decision; this worksheet does not choose those assumptions for you.
- Mark estimates that materially change the preferred option
- Keep unpriced risks visible rather than entering an unexplained zero
- Review overlapping contracts and renewal adjustments explicitly
Make the decision auditable
For a simple undiscounted comparison, total initial costs, recurring costs over the selected period, planned replacements and exit costs for each option. Show any credits separately. Keep qualitative requirements beside the financial model: a lower modeled total does not establish that an option meets the required service scope. Record the decision, its conditions and the owner of unresolved items.
- Attach the proposal version and assumptions supporting each option
- Identify conditions that must be satisfied before award
- Set a review date for material assumptions that may change
Your planning worksheet
- Decision and owner
- What decision is required, by whom, and by what date?
- Common scope
- List sites, systems, users, support hours and excluded work.
- Planning period
- Record dates, currency and finance-approved modeling conventions.
- Initial costs
- For each option, enter quoted or estimated onboarding, remediation, equipment and installation costs with sources.
- Recurring and replacement costs
- Record each fee, billing interval, permitted adjustment, replacement assumption and whether it is already included elsewhere.
- Exit obligations
- Identify remaining contract commitments, ownership, transition services and any credits.
- Sensitivity and unknowns
- Which inputs change the decision? Assign evidence requests and owners.
- Decision record
- State the selected option, non-financial requirements, approval conditions and review date.
