Template · Sales engineering
Proof of concept (POC) success criteria tracker
Score POC criteria as met or not met against targets, with weighted results, must-haves, milestones and a recommendation.
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XLSXCSVODSXMLNumbers| POC success scorecard | |||
| Example data — replace the blue input cells with your own. | |||
| CRITERIA MET (OF TESTED) | WEIGHTED SCORE | MUST-HAVES NOT MET | DAYS REMAINING |
| 60% | 65.7% | 1 | 42 |
| Example: fictional data integration proof of concept for Example Manufacturing Co. | |||
| Dates | |||
| POC start date | Sep 14, 2026 | First day of the proof of concept | |
| POC end date (readout) | Nov 20, 2026 | Date of the go or no-go readout | |
| Status as of | Oct 9, 2026 | Change this date to re-score the timeline | |
| Days remaining | 42 | Negative means the end date has passed | |
| Share of the POC period elapsed | 37% | ||
| Results | |||
| Criteria in the list | 12 | ||
| Met | 6 |
Showing the first 16 of 38 rows and 4 of 4 columns. Cells with formulas show the formula on hover.
| POC success criteria | |||||||||||
| One row per criterion (up to 50). Enter the actual value when a test is complete; a blank actual is Not tested. | |||||||||||
| Criterion | Category | Metric | Unit | Target | Actual | Direction | Weight | Must-have | Owner | Status | Tested weight |
| Sustained ingest rate | Performance | Records ingested per second over a 2-hour run | records/s | 5,000.0 | 5,420.0 | Higher is better | 5 | Yes | Integration lead | Met | 5 |
| Nightly batch load time | Performance | Minutes to load the full nightly batch | minutes | 45.0 | 52.0 | Lower is better | 3 | No | Integration lead | Not met | 3 |
| Dashboard query latency | Performance | 95th percentile response time, standard dashboard | seconds | 2.0 | 1.6 | Lower is better | 4 | Yes | Data lead | Met | 4 |
| Source connectors without custom code | Integration | Source systems connected with built-in connectors | systems | 6.0 | 6.0 | Higher is better | 4 | Yes | Integration lead | Met | 4 |
| Schema change handling | Integration | Test cases where a changed column does not stop the job | % of cases | 95.0 | 88.0 | Higher is better | 3 | No | Data lead | Not met | 3 |
| Failed record reprocessing | Integration | Failed records reprocessed after the fix is applied | % of cases | 100.0 | Higher is better | 3 | No | Data lead | Not tested | ||
| Encryption in transit | Security | Connections using TLS 1.2 or later | % of connections | 100.0 | 100.0 | Higher is better | 5 | Yes | Security lead | Met | 5 |
| Role-based access | Security | Access test cases that pass against the role matrix | % of cases | 100.0 | 96.0 | Higher is better | 4 | Yes | Security lead | Not met | 4 |
| Audit trail coverage | Security | Configuration changes written to the audit log | % of events | 99.0 | 99.5 | Higher is better | 3 | No | Security lead | Met | 3 |
| Dashboard build time | Usability | Hours for an analyst to build a sample dashboard unaided | hours | 4.0 | 3.5 | Lower is better | 2 | No | Analytics lead | Met | 2 |
| Vendor response time | Support | Median first response to a severity 2 ticket | hours | 4.0 | 6.0 | Lower is better | 2 | No | Support lead | Not met | 2 |
| Vendor onboarding time | Support | Days from contract signature to first live data load | days | 10.0 | Lower is better | 1 | No | Project manager | Not tested |
Showing the first 16 of 55 rows and 12 of 14 columns. Cells with formulas show the formula on hover.
| POC milestones | ||||
| Planned and actual milestone dates. Slip and status use the status date on the Scorecard tab. | ||||
| Milestone | Planned date | Actual date | Slip (days) | Status |
| Kickoff meeting | Sep 14, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | 0 | Done on time |
| Test environment ready | Sep 25, 2026 | Sep 28, 2026 | 3 | Done late |
| Source access and credentials | Sep 30, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 | 2 | Done late |
| Historical data loaded | Oct 6, 2026 | 3 | Overdue | |
| Integration test runs | Oct 16, 2026 | 0 | Upcoming | |
| Performance test window | Oct 23, 2026 | 0 | Upcoming | |
| Security review | Nov 2, 2026 | 0 | Upcoming | |
| Readout and decision | Nov 20, 2026 | 0 | Upcoming | |
Showing the first 16 of 28 rows and 5 of 5 columns. Cells with formulas show the formula on hover.
| Proof of concept (POC) success criteria tracker |
| Notes: what this workbook does, how to use it and the method behind it. |
| What it does |
| Keeps the success criteria for a proof of concept in one place. Each criterion is scored Met or Not met against its target, weighted, and checked for must-haves, and the scorecard gives a recommendation for the go or no-go decision. |
| How to use it |
| 1. On the Criteria tab, agree each criterion, its metric, target, direction, weight, must-have flag and owner with the customer before testing starts. |
| 2. Enter the actual value for each criterion when its test is complete. Leave it blank until then. |
| 3. On the Scorecard tab, enter the POC start date, the end date and the status date. |
| 4. Read the criteria met, weighted score, must-haves not met and the recommendation on the Scorecard tab. |
| 5. Enter actual milestone dates on the Timeline tab as they happen. |
| Formulas and method |
| Status: Not tested when the actual is blank. Higher is better: Met when actual is at least the target. Lower is better: Met when actual is at most the target. Otherwise Not met. |
| Tested weight = weight of each Met or Not met criterion. Points earned = weight of each Met criterion. |
Showing the first 16 of 33 rows and 1 of 1 columns. Cells with formulas show the formula on hover.
What does this template do?
This tracker keeps the success criteria for a proof of concept in one place, so the go or no-go decision rests on numbers agreed at the start. Each criterion has a category, a metric, a unit, a target, a direction (higher or lower is better), a weight, a must-have flag and an owner. Enter the measured actual value when a test is complete; a blank actual shows Not tested.
Status compares the actual with the target in the stated direction and returns Met or Not met. The Scorecard tab counts the criteria met, gives the weighted score as points earned divided by the weight of the tested criteria, and counts the must-have criteria that are not met. It shows the days left to the end date and a recommendation: At risk when a must-have is not met, Incomplete when criteria are untested, and On track otherwise. The Timeline tab compares planned and actual milestone dates with the status date.
The example is a fictional data integration proof of concept for Example Manufacturing Co. Its criteria, targets and results are illustrative. Agree the criteria and targets with the customer before testing starts.
What’s inside
- Status by direction: Met or Not met against the target, and Not tested while the actual is blank
- Weighted score as points earned divided by the weight of the tested criteria
- Must-have failures flagged, and the recommendation changes to At risk
- Planned and actual dates for eight milestones, with slip in days and status
- Room for 50 criteria, with days remaining and the share of the POC period elapsed
Which tabs does the workbook have?
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Scorecard | Dates, KPI tiles, criteria met, weighted score, must-haves, the recommendation and results by category. |
| Criteria | One row per criterion with target, actual, direction, weight, status, points and must-have failures. |
| Timeline | Planned and actual milestone dates with slip in days and status. |
| Notes | Purpose, steps, formulas used, assumptions and limits. |
What formulas does this template use?
This template holds 280 formulas in 522 cells across 4 tabs, so 54% of its cells calculate. They use 11 distinct functions; the longest formula is 188 characters and 50 of them read from another tab.
| Function | Uses | What it does |
|---|---|---|
IF | 754 | one result when a test is true, another when false |
AND | 50 | true when every test is true |
OR | 50 | true when any test is true |
COUNTIFS | 16 | counts cells meeting several conditions |
MAX | 16 | largest value |
COUNTIF | 11 | counts cells meeting one condition |
SUM | 7 | adds numbers |
COUNTA | 2 | counts non-empty cells |
SUMPRODUCT | 2 | multiplies matching entries, then adds them |
MIN | 1 | smallest value |
SUMIF | 1 | adds values meeting one condition |
Counted from the workbook itself. Only functions that Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers evaluate the same way are used, so the formulas survive every download format.
How do you use it?
- On the Criteria tab, agree each criterion, its target, direction, weight and must-have flag with the customer.
- Enter the actual value for each criterion when its test is complete.
- On the Scorecard tab, enter the POC start date, end date and status date.
- Read the criteria met, weighted score, must-haves not met and the recommendation.
- Enter actual milestone dates on the Timeline tab as they happen.
What is it good for?
- Tracking a data integration or software pilot against agreed criteria
- Presenting a go or no-go readout with a weighted score
- Showing a customer which must-haves are still open
- Planning test windows against milestone dates
Questions about this sheet
How is a criterion marked Met?
A higher-is-better criterion is Met when the actual is at least the target. A lower-is-better criterion is Met when the actual is at most the target. A blank actual is Not tested.
What does the weighted score measure?
It is the points earned by met criteria divided by the total weight of the tested criteria. Untested criteria count toward neither the points nor the weight.
When does the recommendation say At risk?
It says At risk: must-have not met when any must-have criterion is Not met, even if other criteria are untested. It says Incomplete when criteria are untested and no must-have has failed.
Can the status date be changed to test a later point?
Yes. The status date drives days remaining, the share of the POC elapsed and the overdue status on the Timeline tab. Results still come from the actual values entered.