SECURITY PROCUREMENT · PRACTITIONER PROGRAMME
Efficient Security Vendor Selection
Turn competing security proposals into an evidence-based buying decision. Build requirements, run a proof of value, compare lifecycle costs and defend your recommendation.
BlueTeam Academy
BUY WITH EVIDENCE
A buying decision you can defend.
Security managers, procurement teams, IT service owners and technical evaluators selecting security products or managed services.
Follow Northstar, a fictional 600-person company replacing its monitoring service. Compare three competing proposals, challenge a polished demonstration, calculate weighted scores and test how usage changes the economics. Every module produces one part of your final recommendation.
No procurement qualification is required. Familiarity with company IT services helps. All supplier names, prices and performance results in the case are fictional. The method applies to products and managed services; it does not rank real vendors.
FROM REQUIREMENT TO HANDOVER
Eight modules. One complete selection project.
- 0120 min
Frame the buying decision
Decision charter
- 0220 min
Write testable requirements
Requirements register
- 0320 min
Score evidence, not promises
Weighted scorecard
- 0420 min
Investigate the supplier
Supplier assurance register
- 0520 min
Run a controlled proof of value
Proof-of-value protocol
- 0620 min
Compare the full economic commitment
Three-year cost comparison
- 0720 min
Negotiate delivery and exit
Acceptance and exit checklist
- 0830 min
Defend the decision and measure value
Selection memo and 90-day review
- ✓
Final assessment: 16 scenarios · 80% pass mark
Allow additional time for the final assessment and review. Study time depends on the depth of your written work.
LEARN BY MAKING THE DECISION
Cases, calculations and a practical recommendation.
Practise before you are assessed
Each module includes a case, three teaching steps, a coached decision with consequences, and a written application. English narration follows each slide. Revise practice decisions before passing the separate module check.
Leave with a usable work product
Build a requirements register, pilot protocol, cost comparison and final memo. Your capstone explains the recommendation, rejected alternatives, residual risks, approval conditions and a 30/60/90-day value review.
Vendor comparison workbook
Compare up to eight vendors against 50 editable criteria. Set your weights and scores to calculate normalized totals and rankings automatically. Ten mandatory pass/fail requirements keep ineligible vendors out of the ranking. Includes the fictional Northstar worked example.
Download vendor comparison workbook (Excel)
Download the practice workbook (English, TXT) ↓
The workbook contains the fictional case data and eight reusable templates. Use fictional or sanitised information. Submit your module responses in the academy to retain them with your learning record.
Lessons, narration, workbook and assessments are in English. Complete all coached decisions, module checks and written applications, save your professional role, and pass the final assessment to receive a named certificate. Written work is retained for review, not independently graded. The certificate records course completion; it is not a procurement qualification, supplier accreditation or legal advice.
Reference guidance
- NIST SP 800-161 Rev. 1 (updated 2024): Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management
- NIST SP 1326 (July 2026): Due Diligence Assessment Quick-Start Guide
Based on the Academy’s vendor-selection outline and requirements-workbook structure, with newly authored cases and evaluation exercises.