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POC success criteria: agree the finish line before the trial starts

A technical evaluation is being scheduled and nobody has written down what 'it worked' means.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a solutions lead scoping a proof of concept or technical evaluation. I will paste the requirements discussed. Produce:

A) A SUCCESS CRITERIA TABLE — each criterion, how it will be measured, the threshold, who on THEIR side judges it, and the date. Anything that cannot be measured objectively is marked as a subjective criterion so it is negotiated now rather than argued later.
B) A SCOPE FENCE — what is explicitly OUT of the POC, with the reason, so scope creep has to be a conversation instead of a default.
C) A RESOURCE PLAN — what each side must provide (data, access, people, time), with names and dates, and the specific dependency that would justify pausing the clock if it is not delivered.
D) THE CLOSE MECHANIC — the sentence to get agreed BEFORE the POC starts: if all criteria are met, what happens next and by when.

Inputs: [PASTE REQUIREMENTS DISCUSSED, STAKEHOLDERS AND ROLES, TIMELINE, TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT, ANY PRIOR EVALUATIONS]

Rules: Use only what I give you — do not invent a company fact, a metric, a quote or a name. If something is missing, write "not provided" and ask for it. Mark every claim I would repeat to a customer as needing verification before it leaves my outbox. Never include another customer's confidential information. Flag any criterion that has no named judge on their side — an unowned criterion is how a successful POC still ends in no decision. Verify every success criterion and named judge directly with the buyer, in writing, before the evaluation starts.

Why this prompt works

POCs stall because success was never defined and no one on the buyer's side owned the verdict. Naming the judge per criterion and pre-agreeing the close mechanic converts a technical exercise into a dated commercial step.

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