Do not begin with the grid

EDR evaluations often begin with a list of features and end with a licence negotiation. The missing layer is the operating model: who watches, who investigates, who can isolate a device and what happens when the detection sits outside the endpoint.

Define the decisions first

  • What endpoint coverage is genuinely required?
  • Which team owns policy and tuning?
  • Who investigates outside business hours?
  • Who has authority to contain a device?
  • How will endpoint telemetry connect to identity, cloud and email evidence?
  • Which outcomes will be reviewed at renewal?

Prove the workflow

A proof of value should test deployment, visibility, detection quality, investigation and response—not simply whether an agent installs. Use representative devices and exercise the hand-offs between the product, the managed service and the internal team.

Buy the service you intend to run

The strongest technical platform can still fail when it is deployed without ownership, tuning or response capacity. Select the combination of technology and operating support that the organisation can sustain after the project team moves on.