The GO Methodology
From vendor value claim to a number an underwriter will stand behind.
GO assesses available vendor evidence and models a risk-managed delivery floor—a defensible threshold subject to the certification's data quality, assumptions, conditions, and limitations.
The Five-Step GO Certification Process
01. Risk Modelling
GO works with the vendor to access their historical deployment data — outcome records, implementation timelines, customer evidence, and success metrics across comparable rollouts. Our underwriters build a full outcome distribution model: mapping the range of actual results, identifying the conditions that separate success from failure, and deriving a statistical floor.
02. Certified Delivery Floor
The floor is the specific outcome GO will certify. It is the number that sits at the conservative end of the outcome distribution — the result a buyer can plan against, take to their finance team, and hold the vendor accountable to. It is not a projection. It is a certified threshold backed by the distribution model.
03. Best Practices Playbook
The floor is conditional. The playbook defines those conditions explicitly: what the buyer must do, what the vendor must deliver, and what constitutes a breach. It is co-signed by both parties at the point of contract. It is the accountability layer that makes the certification actionable.
04. Certification Report
The certification report packages the floor, the playbook, and a risk model summary into a document that procurement, finance, and audit teams can evaluate. It is the artifact vendors include in their RFP response and buyers include in their business case.
05. Optional Insurance
Where the risk model supports an application, GO can seek efficacy or value insurance. An independent carrier determines appetite, eligibility, pricing, exclusions, limits, claims validation, and policy terms; certification does not guarantee coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the certification process take?
Typically two to four weeks from scoping to certified report, depending on the quality and completeness of the deployment data provided. Vendors with well-structured outcome records move through the process faster.
What data does GO need from the vendor?
Historical deployment outcomes across comparable rollouts — customer evidence, implementation timelines, outcome metrics (productivity, cost reduction, revenue), and any conditions that distinguish successful from unsuccessful deployments. GO provides a structured data request at scoping.
What happens if the vendor's data is too thin?
If there is insufficient data to derive a defensible statistical floor, GO will not issue a certification. A partial or inconclusive engagement is still valuable — it identifies exactly what evidence the vendor needs to build. Some vendors return to certification after a structured data-gathering period.
How does the certified floor differ from the vendor's own value projection?
A vendor's value projection is a forward-looking estimate based on assumed conditions. GO's certified floor is a risk-managed threshold derived from available evidence across comparable deployments. It remains subject to the report's data quality, assumptions, conditions, and limitations and is not a guarantee of performance.
When is insurance available?
Insurance is a downstream, conditional product. An independent carrier determines availability, appetite, eligibility, pricing, exclusions, limits, and policy terms. Where a policy is issued, it may provide a financial backstop tied to the insured metric; certification does not guarantee coverage.
Who pays for the certification?
The vendor commissions and pays for the GO certification. The cost reflects the scope of the engagement — number of products, deployment complexity, and data volume. Certification is a vendor-side investment; the resulting report is provided to buyers as part of the sales process.