You signed a partner. Now make sure "done" gets defined.
Independent oversight on active engagements. For long programs, novel technology, regulated work – anywhere "done" is hard to write down and the cost of drift is high.
Most engagements don't fail at the start. They fail in the middle.
Delivery Assurance is the service buyers ask for after the vendor relationship has started. Sometimes because something already went wrong. More often because the buyer is sophisticated enough to know that "definition of done" is the failure mode they want to prevent.
We're independent. Not on the vendor's side. Not on yours. On the side of the engagement working out. That distinction matters when something needs to be raised.
Six layers of oversight.
- 01
Define success
A joint working session with you and the vendor to write down what "done" actually looks like. Most engagements skip this. Most engagements regret it.
- 02
Establish cadence
Weekly or biweekly delivery review with the vendor PM and a buyer-side stakeholder. We bring the structure. The meetings get short.
- 03
Risk monitoring
Staffing changes. Scope creep. Timeline slippage. Quality drift. A live risk register everyone can see, maintained by us.
- 04
Escalation support
When something needs to be raised, we surface it. We help structure the conversation so the relationship survives the issue.
- 05
Stakeholder voice
An independent read in steering committees and QBRs. Especially useful when the vendor and the internal champion are aligned and you want a third perspective in the room.
- 06
Quarterly review
A written assessment of delivery health: what's working, what isn't, and what to change before the next quarter starts.
Right for you if…
- The engagement is long – six months and up.
- The technology is novel and progress is hard to evaluate from the outside (AI, custom platforms).
- You're in a regulated industry where audit trails matter.
- You're a first-time buyer of complex work.
- Your buyer-side champion is already overloaded.
- The engagement has already drifted and needs to be re-anchored.
Look elsewhere if…
- The engagement is short or fixed-scope (under three months). The overhead doesn't pay off.
- An internal PMO already provides strong oversight. Don't double up.
- You haven't picked a partner yet. Start with Partner Search or Managed Selection, then layer this on once delivery begins.
If you're earlier in the process.
If you're still selecting →
Partner Search
Lightweight buyer-retained search. Vetted candidates, leveled proposals, finalist recommendation.
If the search is complex →
Managed Selection
Full-service search for complex scopes and exec-sponsored programs. Often paired with Delivery Assurance once the partner is signed.
Related guides.
Delivery Assurance Questions
Can I get this without using you for the search?
Yes. We routinely pick up oversight on engagements where the partner was selected independently. The starting point is the same either way: a working session to write down what success actually looks like.
Are you adversarial with the vendor?
No. Vendors who do good work appreciate having someone in the room who can validate it. Independent oversight makes it easier to surface and address risk early. We become a problem only when delivery does.
What if you flag something we disagree with?
We document it. You decide. Our job is to surface signal, not to override your judgment. The risk register is the artifact. What you do with it is the buyer's call.
How heavy is this on our internal team?
Light. Typically one or two stakeholder calls a week, plus an async working group. The work happens between us and the vendor. You get a synthesized read, not another standing meeting.
What kinds of engagements is this most useful for?
Long ones. Novel-tech ones. Regulated ones. Anywhere 'done' is hard to define, where the cost of drift is high, or where the buyer-side champion is overloaded. AI implementations and custom platform builds are the common shape.
Engagement underway?
Fifteen minutes. No pitch. Tell us what's running and we'll tell you whether Delivery Assurance is the right shape – or whether something simpler will do.
Talk to an Advisor