Lab 04 · Procurement & executive decisions · 40–50 minutes
The PQC Buying Committee
Three proposals. One budget. A recommendation you can defend.
Fictional procurement scenario · No account needed
You are the buying committee
Meridian Services, a fictional organization, has $200,000 for its first year of post-quantum readiness. It holds sensitive records, serves external partners, signs software updates, and relies on network appliances that have no supported PQC upgrade. Three suppliers want the business.
Price is not value
Compare what is included, what is missing, and who bears delivery risk. Support and integration costs count against the same budget.
Claims need evidence
Post-quantum cryptography runs on ordinary computers. Naming a standard is not proof that a complete product works, meets applicable requirements, or can be deployed safely.
Deferral needs ownership
You cannot fund everything. An unsupported system needs a documented exception, interim controls, an accountable owner, and a date to revisit the decision.
Your mandate
Choose an offer to evaluate, request evidence, allocate funds to readiness work, and recommend a conditional pilot, a hold, or a rejection. Defend the tradeoffs in an executive memo. There is no universal winning supplier and no automatic compliance score.
All names, quotes, costs, and timelines are invented for training. Use the fictional case only, not sensitive organizational information.