Vendor Management

The challenge

• Through outsourcing and cloud-based IT, your company becomes more dependent on vendors. A transaction-based approach is insufficient to guarantee continued value automatically.
• IT must manage these vendors continuously. Otherwise, performance levels may drop and may even fail to deliver essential services. And you are accountable.

Our advice

Insight

• Not all vendors are equal to your organization. Focus on the most significant vendors to your organization and where the significant value lies.
• Vendor management is a continuing commitment. It starts with contracting, through renewals, through closure. It would be best to build repeatable and iterative processes that flourish over time for your company to have a successful vendor management office (VMO).

Impact and results 

• Classify your vendors with quantifiable and standardized rankings. Then prioritize your approach.
• First, focus on your strategic vendors. You can then, over time, work your way through the remaining classifications.
• Ensure that you have standardized processes to transition vendors, maintaining communications, and monitoring performance.
• Create clear escalation procedures when you see underperformance. These need to go both ways; the vendor may need inputs from your company to function. Think about contingency plans.
• Document your custom, best-practice approach and methodology for managing your vendors.

The roadmap

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

Get started

Our concise executive brief shows you why you should standardize vendor management in your company. We'll show you our methodology and the ways we can help you in completing this.

• Manage Your Vendors Before They Manage You – Executive Brief (ppt)

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• Manage Your Vendors Before They Manage You – Phases 1-3 (ppt)

Prioritize vendors

• Manage Your Vendors Before They Manage You – Phase 1: Prioritize Vendors (ppt)
• Vendor Inventory and Prioritization Tool (xls)

Classify vendors

Use our C.O.S.T. quadrant.

• Manage Your Vendors Before They Manage You – Phase 2: Classify Vendors (ppt)
• Vendor Classification Tool (xls)

Document vendors

• Manage Your Vendors Before They Manage You – Phase 3: Document Vendors (ppt)
• Vendor Information Sheet (xls)
• Vendor Scorecard (xls)
• Vendor Feedback Card (xls)
• Controlled Vendor Communications Letter (doc)
• Vendor Management Program Plan (doc)
• Vendor Executive Report Summary Template (doc)
• Vendor Transition Handbook (ppt)
• Vendor Management Team Meeting Agenda Template (doc)
• Vendor Review Meeting Agenda Template (doc)