Learning The Ways of A Vendor

Bangalore: The essences of IT vendors have risen over the years and with it, the relationship shared between them and the CIOs has become nothing short of volatile. Today, vendors are imperative in the augmentation of an organization, especially in the IT sector. But the problem arises when the vendors begin to take undue advantage of their significance, reports Jon Winsett of Wall Street Journal.

Seemingly, CIOs are pitching their concern regarding the frequent change in pricing and licensing on the part of the vendors. The complex contract terms and hidden fees are also causing a headache for the CIOs.

AS IT is a non-transparent sector, the existence of discrepancies is inevitable. The vendors exploit this factor to their advantage and much to the annoyance of CIOs. As a result, many a times, CIOs end up paying much more than the requisite amount.  In order to regulate their spending, CIOs must heed to the following areas:
Be familiar with IT purchases system- Due to the presence of multiple stake holders, the transactions in IT are relatively complex. Vendors, for their own benefit, keep themselves aligned with the viable information out there for taking in the market scenario. CIOs must build a formidable network through which they can keep themselves informed of all the relative queries in order to build a database based upon which interaction can take place with the vendors in a profitable fashion.
Keeping pace with the vendors- The primary objective of vendors is to extract maximum revenue from their clients, by hook or by crook. For this, they seemingly devote long hours to chalk out a considerable plan to nip potential clients. CIOs must familiarize themselves with the work dynamics of vendors in order to counter each move made by the vendors so that the deal is apparently sealed with optimal use of organization’s resources.
Put a tab on maintenance and support costs- Vendors are scrupulous when it comes to maintenance and support costs as they are highly dependent on them. They make very attempt to extract the maximum out from their client by incorporating unfair and strict amendments in the agreements. CIOs should be vigilant in this regard and ensure that every aspect of the transaction is in writing rather than verbally agreed upon. They can even approach a third party who for any such concern which would require a fraction of the cost as demanded by the vendors for the same.
Inspection of wireless usage- CIOs must make it a point to analyze usage, users and rate plans, as well as audit carrier invoices for billing errors on a regular basis which can play a pivotal role in cutting wireless costs.
Acquire knowledge about new licensing models- Vendors craftily designs, with the advent in cloud and mobile computing, upgraded licensing models which might seem alien to most of the CIOs. This ignorance will eventually cost dear to the CIOs as well as the organizations they represent. As such, it is imperative on the part of the CIOs to enlighten themselves with the contemporary trends so as to avoid falling as a victim at the hands of the vendors.

As such, it has become prerequisite for CIOs to bring out their cardinal trait in dealing with vendors i.e. their cost cutting ability. They should make it a point to put in some amount of time and effort in comprehending the vendor management system. The difference it might make can apparently be in millions!