How do you handle IT vendor changes?

What about core values and a violation of those? Isn’t that more important than price? Mutual respect is hard to establish and hard to preserve. As an IT vendor we strive for this with customers.

The first question to ask yourself is what is driving the change of IT Vendors. Most organizations change IT vendors due to two reasons: unsatisfactory performance and cost savings. When the reason is unsatisfactory performance, understanding how you can measure and ensure the new vendor can deliver the required performance thresholds at the price point is critical. If cost savings are the driving force, the organization is committed to compromising other IT service aspects to achieve the required objectives. Stakeholders should have the option to pay for a higher level of service if they require it These approaches ensure that changing IT vendors will not impact your most important internal revenue-generating stakeholders.

Start by evaluating the needs and objectives of your organisation when dealing with changes in IT vendors. Clearly state what you need from the new vendor in order for them to meet your goals. This guarantees a smooth transition and the best vendor choice.

Key IT (or other) vendor change is likely to occur sooner or later in a medium-large organization. Sound Vendor Relationship Management will help mitigate the inevitable disruption. This would encompass, not limitedly, expected and measured service level agreements, vendor performance assessment meetings, information exchange formats, cost/margin analysis, product and service catalogs. The established model will be an essential tool in structuring the set up with a new vendor, leading to improved commitments in areas that were not satisfactory, while ensuring continuity in good performance areas.

There are several contributions here I completely agree with. I would like to add that sometimes a change is due to corporate culture or personality. Personalities can play a big part in your success. Key vendors are partners in your business. In my opinion they should be treated as such and treat you the same in return. If the personalities do not complement each other, neither party will be successful.

The vendor scorecard published by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) shows suggested criteria for vendor management. The criteria list is used for measuring vendor performance after supplier onboarding. Consider these items in your vendor selection process.

Start by evaluating the unique IT demands and requirements of your organisation, making sure they are in line with the capabilities of the new vendor. Conduct a thorough assessment of possible providers, taking into account aspects like knowledge, cost, dependability, and client feedback. Using the evaluation as a guide, choose the provider who can best meet your IT requirements while causing the least amount of disruption to your business operations.

You need to create (or borrow) a scorecard that means something to you. I always want to talk to the engineers who answer phones. What best way is there to assess the experience your user will receive? Also, make sure you have an account manager assigned that will deliver regular SLA performance in a meeting format. Talking about improvements is nicer than cutting emails I think.

Discuss the process of selecting a new IT vendor. This may involve: -Market Research: Identifying potential vendors through market research and recommendations. -Request for Proposal (RFP): Creating an RFP with specific requirements. -Vendor Evaluation: Evaluating vendor proposals based on criteria such as cost, expertise, reputation, and references. -Vendor Interviews/Demonstrations: Conducting interviews or demonstrations to assess the vendor's capabilities. -Due Diligence: Ensuring the selected vendor aligns with your organization's values, security standards, and long-term goals.

Start by explaining the benefits and rationale for the switch in IT vendors to all relevant parties. Stakeholders should be involved in decision-making by providing feedback and resolving their concerns. Keep lines of communication open during the transition in order to handle any problems.

Effective and timely communication and liaison with both stakeholders and the user community during a change process is absolutely essential. Responsibility for internal project communications can be just with the client company - but it also makes sense for the new provider to have direct responsibility for some communications - building the relationship with their future users from the start. The core communications should lay out why the change is happening, the expected benefits, the impacts (any downtime or periods of degradation of service etc.) and be from a business leader or IT leader. It is also essential to ensure that the move to a new provider is correctly resourced from a service provider perspective and internally.

A part of discovery is knowing the size of the problem and who will be affected. There may be experiences that you can draw on, and it may be an idea to invite a stakeholder representative to the short-listed supplier presentations.

Explain how you plan to communicate the vendor change to relevant stakeholders, including employees, customers, and partners. -Internal Communication: Preparing internal teams for the transition. -External Communication: Communicating the change to customers or clients, ensuring transparency and minimal disruption.

An important point in managing the transition to a new vendor is getting them onboard to your company's processes. It is very difficult to hit the ground running, especially so if the vendor is supposed to contribute to/drive ongoing projects. Plan the transition phase, set clear deliverables and have let them know of your expectations.

It is essential to have technical leadership and representation on the client side - if it is a relatively small company, without deep IT experience and expertise, it makes sense to employ an appropriately skilled external resource for the duration of the migration. Planning and scoping user testing and sign off (having initial test pilots as and when needed) and full engagement from the client understanding the process, and agreeing to the schedule, working closely with the vendor, is essential to a smooth transition.

One of the most common oversights is to rely on a supplier's service delivery manager to deliver transition or migration. ALWAYS have your own Service delivery manager to support the transformation and monitor service delivery. I don't know many suppliers that will critique their own service delivery

The knowledge transfer session to the technical team from the vendor side is must and the technical team must have the relevant good experience to handle any unusual situation during and after the migration. The role back procedure must be well defined in the change management process for the continuation of the service.

Reviewing and maximising the new vendor relationship is essential when dealing with vendor changes for IT services. Start by carefully evaluating their competencies and matching them to the demands of your company. Maintain an open line of communication while keeping a close eye on performance to keep the partnership productive.

Regular reviews are the core of building and strengthening relationships. Reviews are not always criticizing in nature, they can be supportive and help the supplier to bridge gaps in information from the users.

Far too often I've seen companies insist on making a vendor change, when the problem is not necessarily (or exclusively) the vendor - unrealistic or changing expectations, uninformed or under-involved stakeholder dissatisfaction lead the team to believe the 'grass is greener' if only we could move to THAT other vendor... Of course, sometimes a change is necessary, but IT managers should be clear - with themselves and their stakeholders - on what the true root-cause issues are, and how a vendor change will address them, understanding there will likely be a dip in services as the transition takes place. I view vendor relationships as partnerships, and partnerships are only successful when both parties know and share their abilities & limits.

Sometimes change is inevitable. New or updated company policies, changes to the terms of engagement with the vendors, and government or regulator demands can all impact the decision to change a vendor. In all of this it is important to maintain seamless communication with both the outgoing and incoming vendors. For the outgoing vendor: clearly state the intention to change ahead of time. Ensure the off-boarding process is effectively project-managed and well documented. Close all open ends (e.g. clearing outstanding payments or providing a completion timeline). For incoming vendors: subject the selection process to a transparent and fair selection bid. Avoid making the eventual vendor choice a unilateral decision.

Properly evaluate the impact of the change to your company/organization. Having an IT vendor change can and will impact major layers of your company. Before deciding the change make sure the financial impact is assessed. If picking a better financial option is priority then calculate the migration loss to a new vendor. I’ve seen this often where an IT vendor is swiped for another with financial gain in scope only to realize one year into it that the financial gain is not there because the migration cost and following changes/outages cost the company more than the previous vendor. Also, when quitting your IT vendor make sure you leave one door open just in case you return. Relationships are not built in a day and should remain valued.