should be no surprises for buyer and seller. If function, form, and performance are not as expected, then there has been a misunderstanding in the past, or something about the hardware, software, or services needs troubleshooting and fixing. Ideally, the due diligence process takes into account the requirements and specifications, and compares capabilities and performance of equipment, facilities, and services of one or more sources of supply. The process should begin with a simple paper-based evaluation. Once every- thing looks okay on paper, more extensive evaluation can be under- taken. There are two basic approaches to conducting evaluations. A general evaluation can be undertaken whereby the supplier provides a set of information about the capabilities and performance characteristics of the equipment. The evaluator takes that information and proceeds to determine if the equipment or services are capable of performing as claimed in the information provided. This may or may not determine if the equipment and services meet the business requirements of the buyer. The other approach to evaluating equipment and services takes a specific requirement or set of requirements and then proceeds to determine if the equipment and services meet some or all the details in the requirements established by the buyer. Once a direction is established, then the process can be sequenced into three or fewer logical steps. Step one can be what's referred PRACTICAL IP AND TELECOM FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS to as a paper-based exercise. Simple expert analysis of the informa- tion provided by potential suppliers can be analyzed to determine if it meets or exceeds the requirements established by the potential buyer. The next step after paper evaluation requires examination and testing of one or more working samples. Depending on the size and complexity of the project and the potential risks/returns at stake, scalability may be an issue. If scalability is a concern, then the struc- ture of the initial working samples and th