More and more managers’ roles are changing from one of selecting and managing employees, to one of selecting and managing vendor relationships. The organization’s employees are also coping with a change in their roles and the relationships with their internal clients. And, if these relationships are not effectively and continuously managed, organizations risk their reputation by missing deadlines, incurring higher-than-expected costs while receiving lower-than-expected quality, and lower staff morale.

Along with these changes comes the need to break down silos by improving coordination across organizational boundaries, to share best practices, and to optimize the cost commitments and service expectations with each vendor to maximize value. New oversight and governance structures need to be established specifically to manage this critical relationship. This means that effective process management is an essential component of managing vendor partnerships.

TAC is helping clients meet these new challenges with its Managing Vendor Partnerships offering. This two-day client-site workshop, delivered by TAC strategic partner Ouellette & Associates, provides a holistic approach that enables organizations to more effectively work with their service providers and their own staff to create long term value and increased ROI from each of their vendor relationships.

At this workshop you will learn how to:

• Move from contract management to relationship management with your vendors
• Transition from managing employees to managing the relationship
• Understand and differentiate between the goals and objectives of the organization and those of the vendor
• Leverage process management techniques to provide a foundation for managing vendor partnerships
• Utilize change management to transition employees to new roles
• Recognize a range of cultural differences between the organization and the vendor
• Gain additional value from your purchasing department
• Be proactive in shaping a positive relationship and in recognizing when the partnership is in trouble
• Establish appropriate governance structures
• Prepare for the end of the contract
• Improve vendor selection, contract development, and negotiation processes
• Create value for long-term competitive advantage

Target audience

All IT managers having to work with vendor partners