Templates · Strategy & leadership
Decision memo template
Frame a decision, options and a recommendation for sign-off
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The template filled in for a made-up company, so you can see what good looks like.
Decision memo: move EU customers to a Frankfurt region
Author: Tomas Lindqvist (VP Engineering, Halyard) · Date: September 18, 2026
Decision needed & by when
Do we stand up a dedicated EU hosting region in Frankfurt this year (option B), or keep serving EU customers from Virginia with contractual safeguards (option A)? We need an answer by October 10: the Halden Group renewal ($310k ARR) requires an EU data residency commitment in the contract, and our cloud reserved-capacity window closes October 15.
Background
Halyard has 42 EU customers, 27% of ARR. Three of the five largest renewals in the next two quarters have asked for EU residency in writing, and two prospects in late-stage pipeline (about $450k combined) list it as a requirement. Legal's view is that standard contractual clauses cover us today but will not satisfy procurement at Halden or at the two prospects. Full analysis: the EU residency working group notes from August.
Options
| Option |
Pros |
Cons |
Cost |
Risk |
| A. Stay in Virginia, strengthen contracts |
No engineering work, no new on-call |
Fails Halden's procurement test, likely loses the renewal |
About $20k legal |
High commercial risk |
| B. Full Frankfurt region by January |
Meets every request we have seen, a sales asset |
Six engineer-months, second region to operate |
$180k year one, about $9k a month after |
Delivery risk on a fixed date |
| C. Frankfurt storage only, compute in Virginia |
Cheaper, faster (8 weeks) |
Legal says it likely fails "processing" language |
$70k year one |
Might have to redo as B in 2027 |
Recommendation
Option B. Halden alone covers the year-one cost, and the two prospects make it clearly positive. Option C saves money only if procurement teams read contracts loosely, and the evidence so far says they do not. We will scope the region to the core app and defer the analytics pipeline to Q2 2027 to hold the January date.
Implications
- Two platform engineers move off the queue rewrite for one quarter; the rewrite slips to Q2.
- On-call gains a second region; SRE asks for one additional hire in H1.
- Sales can commit to EU residency in contracts signed after December 1.
Review
Review by: October 8, 2026
| Reviewer |
Role |
Status |
| Amara Chen |
CEO (decider) |
Approved |
| Joel Brandt |
CFO |
Approved |
| Sofia Ruiz |
General counsel |
Approved with note |
Decision record
| Decision |
Date |
Decided by |
Notes |
| Option B approved, analytics pipeline deferred to Q2 2027 |
October 6, 2026 |
Amara Chen |
Legal to review Halden residency clause before signature |
The template
Show the blank template
Decision memo
Author: [your name] · Date: [date]
Decision needed & by when
The exact decision, phrased as a question with a clear yes/no or option A/B/C answer, and the date it stops being free to decide.
Background
The minimum context a decision-maker needs, not everything you know. Link the deep-dive if there is one.
Options
| Option |
Pros |
Cons |
Cost |
Risk |
|
|
|
|
|
Recommendation
Your actual recommendation, not a neutral summary. A decision memo that doesn't recommend is a status update wearing a costume.
Implications
What changes once this is decided: budget, headcount, roadmap, other teams' plans.
Review
Who must sign off, and by when. Reviewers mark their status here; the decider fills in the decision record.
Review by: [date]
| Reviewer |
Role |
Status |
|
Decider |
Pending |
|
Consulted |
Pending |
Decision record
| Decision |
Date |
Decided by |
Notes |
|
|
|
|
Questions
- How long should a decision memo be?
- One to two pages; link the deep dive instead of pasting it
- Should it include options I reject?
- Yes, at least two real alternatives, so the decider can see what was traded away
- Who fills in the decision record?
- The decider, at the moment of deciding, so the memo becomes the audit trail
Fill it with your agent
Connect Claude to reph over MCP, then paste this. The draft arrives as suggestions you accept or reject section by section. How to connect Claude.
Find my reph doc "Decision memo" with search_docs, then read it with read_doc. Draft Background and the Options table from the meeting notes, Slack threads and data linked in the doc, giving each option real pros, cons, cost and risk. Do not write the Recommendation; note where the evidence points. File it with suggest_edit, one replace_section op per section (heading line kept) so each can be accepted alone. Ask each open question (unverified facts, questions the decider must answer) with add_comment quoting that section's heading line, then call request_review with a one-line summary.
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