So far you have looked at your design criteria, the maturity of your solution and adaptation requirements, but there will be a broader set of considerations that will influence whether your organisation will adopt the solution.

A decision matrix is a simple tool which can be used to guide the process of strategic decision-making. Its main purpose is to help structure the discussion about strategy, and it provides a focus for looking at various options against a number of agreed criteria.

Download the spreadsheet below and carry out the following steps:

1. List the options which are competing for strategic support
2. List the key checks of how well each fits with your strategy, design criteria and the level of adaptation you feel is required for the solution (using the outcomes of the adaptability assessment). You can fill these cells in with simple scores or with detailed comments
3. Add some indication of the expected costs and benefits associated with the different solutions
4. Add a total score to arrive at a priority, based on the individual cells

You can carry on adding cells depending on the range of criteria you want to satisfy.  Use this Decision Matrix to assess each of your shortlisted solutions, before articulating and recording in writing your reasoning for why you would choose one particular option over others. After you have completed the Decision Matrix, gather the information you have generated and fill in the Adaptation Requirements Table.