What is vendor sourcing?

As a business, it would be naïve to think that the choices you make don’t influence your successes. Even your resource choices have the power to affect your efficiency, costs and security.

For this reason, you need to approach vendor sourcing with an open yet critical mind, as only by striking up a productive partnership with a quality vendor can you attain your big-picture goals. Going solo simply won’t cut it.

What is vendor sourcing?

For those of you not in the know, vendor sourcing is essentially the process of identifying, evaluating and selecting the best suppliers who can help you to meet your business goals long term.

By cross-examining the costs, capabilities, support and compliance of multiple potential vendors; you can determine who is the better fit for your business. At the same time, these evaluations will ensure that you pick a vendor who will deliver value, as well as will give you a competitive advantage.

For instance, can they open new doors for your business? Can they improve efficiencies and trim your timeline? You’ve got to ask the right questions in order to get the best solutions.

More importantly, with the right suppliers at your side, you can build strong, lasting and mutually beneficial relationships, where you can enjoy a better quality of service and support at the most cost-efficient price.

REMEMBER: vendor management goes beyond identifying, evaluating and selecting a supplier. It is about establishing a partnership that is built on trust, communication and cooperation.

In fact, you’ll quickly find that the best partnerships take work and careful planning. It is a two way street, where both sides – yourself included – are responsible for putting time into making the relationship solid.

How does vendor sourcing differ from procurement?

Vendor sourcing is just one part of a bigger process. For instance, once you have chosen which suppliers/vendors you want to use; you need to engage with them.

This is where procurement comes into play…

  • Vendor sourcing – launches the partnership, aims to evaluate your long term goals, requires lots of internal input, and focusses on investigating/analysing the capabilities of vendors.
  • Procurement – Is where you put this research to work as it covers your entire relationship/partnership (from your initial search all the way to completion i.e. implementing partners, drawing up contracts and purchases). It focuses on specific needs and acquiring goods, and usually only requires the assistance of a small group of people.

Now it is possible for businesses to complete vendor sourcing internally. However, many prefer the reassurance of outsourcing this process to IT consultants who can use their wider breadth of industry knowledge to ensure you get the best deals.

The only problem with this, is that some consultants take commissions when they successfully sell a product to a client. This means, there is a possibility that they won’t always advise you on the best vendor for your business, but will choose one who will give them the biggest commission.

At Economit, we are 100% independent and impartial, and take no commissions from the suppliers we recommend. As a result, you can feel confident in the recommendations that we make, as we’ll only suggest them for the right reasons. In fact, we make a point of understanding your business objectives and market first, to ensure that we select the right product or service.

For assistance with vendor sourcing, contact our team today.

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