Running a Buy Decision and Vendor Selection for a Microsoft Teams Billing Platform

You are a product manager on Microsoft Teams. Teams needs a billing system, and the direction is to acquire an existing one rather than build it in-house. Walk through the process you would follow, from working out what the system must do to choosing it and putting it into use. ```hint Requirements before vendors Resist starting with vendor names. Work out what Teams has to bill and which groups inside the company depend on billing, turn that into weighted must-haves, and let those criteria drive the shortlist and how you test the finalists. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "acquire" mean licensing a vendor's billing product, or buying a company that makes one? - What will the system bill: per-seat business subscriptions, consumer plans, usage-based add-ons such as calling, or all of them? Is Teams sold directly, through partners, or both? - Does the new system replace a billing system Teams already uses, or will it bill offerings that are not billed today? - Is there a launch or deadline that sets the timeline? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Requirements gathered from every group that depends on billing (finance, tax, legal and compliance, security, engineering, sales and partners, support, and customers), with knockout criteria separated from weighted ones. - A structured selection process: market scan, shortlist, scripted demos, a proof of concept on realistic data, reference checks, and a weighted scorecard that includes total cost of ownership. - Integration with Teams' licensing and the company's finance and payment systems, plus contract terms that limit lock-in and secure an exit. - A phased rollout with parallel billing runs, careful migration of existing customers, and rollback. - Success metrics and the main risks, each with a mitigation. ### Follow-up Questions - The finalist with the best features cannot keep European customers' billing data inside the EU. What do you do? - Two finalists tie on the scorecard: one is cheaper, the other integrates more easily with your licensing system. How do you decide? - How would you move existing paying customers to the new system without charging anyone twice?