Choosing the right incident management tool is not just about feature matching, but also about providing efficient workflows, clarity around roles during incidents, and integrations that match operational realities. Defining clear success criteria from the start is critical to ensure strategic goals guide the final choice rather than features or interfaces alone. This approach helps avoid evaluation paralysis, ensures departmental alignment, and avoids discovering crucial gaps in functionality only after investing heavily in migration or training. A practical framework for defining clear success criteria involves auditing current functionality, prioritizing must-have versus nice-to-have capabilities, and defining precise evaluation tests or questions. Communicating transparently with vendors from day one also accelerates the evaluation process and adds meaningful context to vendor conversations. Ultimately, clarity matters now and later, as incident management decisions strongly influence long-term operational efficiency, team health, and organizational resilience.