Jump Start Your Vendor Management Initiative
Gain fast, measurable results within the first 100 days.
- IT leaders are challenged in starting a centralized vendor management office or initiative by lack of funding for FTEs, failed or false starts, and the absence of proven ROI.
- IT leaders lack the knowledge or don’t have the time available to identify short-term gains that provide the foundation for long-term strategy and sustainable success of a vendor management initiative (VMI).
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Obtain quick wins and visible results. Invest your vendor management efforts where they can deliver the best return; focus on the vendors most important to your business. Classify and prioritize your vendors to separate the wheat from the chaff.
- Vendor management must be an IT strategy. Solid vendor management is an imperative – IT organizations must develop capabilities to ensure that services are delivered by vendors according to service level objectives and that risks are mitigated according to the organization's risk tolerance.
- Visibility into your IT vendor community. Understand how much you spend with each vendor and rank their criticality and risk to focus on the vendors you should be concentrating on for innovative solutions.
- Effectively manage cost and increase net profits. Maximize the return on investment of your vendors by tracking, capturing, and reporting value created. Capture and report business value created from your vendor management initiative by reporting improvements or savings in money, performance, time, and reducing risk.
- Choosing the right vendors isn’t enough. Procuring valuable products and services can yield immediate visible benefits. But it’s the relationship with the vendor that ensures that benefits are sustained over the long run.
Impact and Result
- Identify quick VMI wins with an executable “first 100 days” project plan.
- Take a proactive approach to managing your vendors to help negotiate collaborative relationships where everyone’s best interests are accommodated.
- Standardize your processes for transitioning in new vendors, maintaining communications, and monitoring a vendor’s performance.
- Identify your actual strategic vendors to concentrate your initial vendor management activities.
- Clarify what is in scope and out of scope of your VMI.
- Identify areas of improvement for assessing vendor risk.
Jump Start Your Vendor Management Initiative
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should jump start a vendor management initiative, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.
1. Define your vendor management initiative
Define your vendor management initiative.
2. Evaluate your current vendor management initiatives
Evaluate the current state of your vendor management initiatives.
3. Create a VMI framework
Create a VMI foundation and 100- day VMI project plan.
4. Activate your VMI to capture short-term gains
Activate your vendor management initiative to achieve short-term wins.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
9.2/10
Overall Impact
$49,845
Average $ Saved
30
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Association of American Medical Colleges
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
50
State Of Alabama
Workshop
8/10
$123K
120
Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
University of Ottawa
Guided Implementation
9/10
$10,000
10
Caribbean Public Health Agency
Guided Implementation
9/10
$1,859
5
Lee County Clerk of Courts
Workshop
9/10
N/A
N/A
Satellite Healthcare
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Tenneco
Workshop
10/10
$50,000
50
University of Exeter
Guided Implementation
9/10
$162K
10
Mission Australia
Guided Implementation
7/10
$12,063
2
AM General LLC
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Guided Implementation
10/10
$6,146
2
Bandwidth.com, Inc.
Workshop
10/10
$30,989
29
Bermuda Monetary Authority
Workshop
9/10
N/A
N/A
Public Utility District 2 Grant County
Workshop
10/10
$127K
23
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Workshop
10/10
$29,923
20
Onsite Workshop: Jump Start Your Vendor Management Initiative
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Define
The Purpose
Define your vendor management initiative.
Key Benefits Achieved
Your vendor management initiative is defined and scoped.
Activities
Outputs
Review top 10 VMI goals.
Draft VMI mission and charter.
- VMI Mission Statement and Goals
Determine VMI scope.
- VMI Scope
Establish a baseline headwinds and tailwinds.
- VMI Baseline Assessment
Establish responsibilities (RACI).
- Completed RACI Chart
Module 2: Evaluate
The Purpose
Evaluate your current vendor management initiatives.
Key Benefits Achieved
Understand the maturity level of your organization’s vendor management initiative.
Activities
Outputs
Conduct VMI maturity assessment.
- VMI Assessment and Gap Analysis
Identify attributes of a valuable vendor.
Build vendor classification process.
- Configured Vendor Classification Tool
Review and configure classification tool.
Review vendor preferencing model.
Module 3: Create
The Purpose
Create a foundation and framework for your vendor management initiative.
Key Benefits Achieved
Establish key tools and templates for your vendor management initiative.
Activities
Outputs
Identify VMI “quick wins.”
- List of VMI Quick Wins
Draft “first 100 days” plan.
- Draft First 100-Day Plan
Create business review agenda.
- Business Review Agenda
Build vendor scorecard and feedback form.
- Vendor Scorecard & Feedback Form
Establish organizational structure.
- Executive Vendor Brief
Review sample job descriptions.
- Sample Job Descriptions
Determine vendor risk.
- Vendor Risk Assessment Tool
Module 4: Activate
The Purpose
Activate your vendor management initiative.
Key Benefits Achieved
Track and report vendor management initiatives activities as they align with short- and long-term VMI roadmap.
Activities
Outputs
Review VMI ROI calculation and reporting tools.
- ROI Tools and Templates
Review “First 100 Days” plan and finalize.
- Finalized “First 100 Days” Plan
Explore operational templates.
- Potential Operational Templates
Draft high-level strategic roadmap for the VMI’s first three years.
- High-Level Strategic Roadmap for the VMI’s First Three Years
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Try Our Guided Implementations
Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 11 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation #1 - Define your vendor management initiative
- Call #1 - Review VMI goals, mission, and charter.
- Call #2 - Discuss VMI scope.
- Call #3 - Review RACI chart.
Guided Implementation #2 - Evaluate your current vendor management initiatives
- Call #1 - Review Info-Tech VMI Maturity Assessment Tool.
- Call #2 - Review Info-Tech classification system.
Guided Implementation #3 - Create a VMI framework
- Call #1 - Review quick wins and draft “first 100 days” plan
- Call #2 - Discuss business review agenda and scorecards.
- Call #3 - Discuss organizational structure and review vendor risk assessment.
Guided Implementation #4 - Activate your VMI to capture short-term gains
- Call #1 - Review final “first 100 days” plan.
- Call #2 - Discuss capturing and tracking ROI tools.
- Call #3 - Review operational tools and three-year strategy plan.