ENTERPRISE IT
S
trategic vendor management (SVM)
is a critical tool in technology procu-
rement and partnership building.
At a time when the number and
nature of technology partners is exploding,
it has never been more important to structure
insights and measure returns on individual
or co-dependent technology vendors.
There has been a seismic change in the
way technology vendors operate, and in
how they are assessed by customers. The rise
of easier implementations and multi-vendor
strategies has increased complexity and
competition. No longer do companies
commit to lengthy contracts with a single
vendor, and the benefits of strategies such
as multi cloud – security, reliability,compliance and avoidance of vendor
lock-in – are becoming corporate gospel.
And the shift to multi-vendor strategies
as added complexity to SVM, which must
now delineate where responsibility
lies in the event of security breaches
or operational failure.“ NO LONGER DO
COMPANIES COMMIT TO
LENGTHY CONTRACTS WITH
A SINGLE VENDOR, AND THE
BENEFITS OF STRATEGIES
SUCH AS MULTI CLOUD
ARE BECOMING
CORPORATE GOSPEL”STRATEGIC
VENDOR
MANAGEMENT GETS
WRITTEN BY: PADDY SMITH
With an increasing number of vendors,
sometimes replicating services, strategic
vendor management (SVM) is becoming more
complicated. Yet its core values remain the
basis of this important business function82 March 2021