When to evaluate your IT solution vendors

A lot of IT directors choose to review their vendors as part of their internal IT strategy review. However, it is also worth assessing them when you’ve got a particular objective in mind e.g. you want to reduce your IT costs, improve your workflows or enhance your security.

Now, while most of the vendor sourcing process should be focused on the actual evaluation of potential vendors; there are a series of tasks that you need to get right in order to make sure that you find the best supplier for your business.

  1. Establish what your budget is – what is your maximum and minimum budget? You need to be clear on how much you’re willing to spend (budget control)
  2. Develop a tender
  3. Get others to review your tender to ensure it will attract the right suppliers
  4. Assess the potential vendors – who is the better option when you’ve taken all of the above into account?
  5. Negotiate and assess the contract – is the deal they’re offering their best one, or can it be renegotiated?
  6. Ensure licensing compliance
  7. Managing the assets

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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