Guide

Before you contact a provider

Prepare answers at a high level. You shouldn’t need to share any data to have a first conversation.

1. 01

   Which systems hold relevant records

   CRM, help desk, ERP, project tools, shared drives. A list of systems is enough — no exports.

2. 02

   Approximate history and volume

   Years of records and rough size. Ranges are fine at this stage.

3. 03

   Whether you own or can license it

   Some material may belong to customers, partners or vendors, or be covered by their terms.

4. 04

   Whether records include people’s information

   Customer, employee, patient, partner or client details raise extra obligations and may need removal or consent.

5. 05

   Whether contracts or privacy notices limit reuse

   Customer agreements, NDAs and published privacy notices can restrict new uses of data.

6. 06

   One-time payment or repeat licensing

   Decide whether you prefer an upfront sale, recurring license or revenue share — and whether you’d accept exclusivity.

7. 07

   Which uses you’ll consider

   Training, post-training, evaluation, retrieval — and whether resale or sublicensing is acceptable.