Competitive Intelligence · AI Strategy
Strata Advisory Group builds the evaluation frameworks program managers and prime contractors use to compare AI vendors — and to defend the decision when it comes under review.
Services
None of this work is a sequence. Each service exists because a program office or a capture team is facing a different kind of decision — and each one ends in a deliverable you can put in front of reviewers.
When you’re choosing a vendor
Structured landscape assessments that surface real differentiation between vendors — beyond FedRAMP status and proposal language — in a market that is crowded and moving fast.
When you’re reading a market
Sector research written for decision-makers, not technical staff. Every brief is built to be presented in a program review and to survive the questions that follow.
When you’re setting direction
Translation between what AI and cloud vendors claim and what an agency can actually deploy, with capabilities mapped to mission priorities rather than product roadmaps.
Methodology
Most vendor evaluations default to FedRAMP status and lowest price. MERIT documents the methodology first: five dimensions, weighted against mission priorities before a single proposal arrives, so the decision holds up under inspector general review or contract protest.
Select a stratum to see the question it asks and the evidence it demands.
Stratum M · Mission Fit
Does this capability address the agency’s actual operational problem?
What we examine
A capable product that misses the mission is still the wrong buy.
Stratum E · Evidence of Performance
Can the vendor prove what they claim?
What we examine
Marketing language does not count as evidence.
Stratum R · Risk and Compliance
What is the agency exposed to if this goes wrong?
What we examine
Authorization alone is not the full picture.
Stratum I · Integration
Will it run inside the systems the agency already operates?
What we examine
Implementation debt erodes ROI before go-live.
Stratum T · Total Value
What does it cost across the life of the decision?
What we examine
Three-year TCO, not base price.
Fig. 1 · The MERIT evaluation column. Dimension weights are set against mission priorities before proposals arrive.
The MERIT Framework is available as a full white paper with the evaluation matrix, vendor scoring guidance, and an illustrative procurement scenario.
Read the white paperFeatured Insight
White Paper · 2026
The paper sets out the MERIT Framework in full: where standard evaluations break down, what each of the five dimensions asks, and how to document a decision so it survives inspector general review and contract protest. Written for program managers and capture teams, not technical staff.
Request a copyStrata Advisory Group is available for subcontracting engagements: vendor evaluations, competitive briefs, and analytical support on active contracts.
Email Strata Advisory Group SAM.gov Registration In Progress · NAICS 541910 · 541690 · 541511