» Manage your vendor relationships. There's not a vendor rep out there who won't tell you he or she is in it for you. "Keep the customer satisfied." "We aim to please." "The customer is always right."
Baloney! The vendors are in it to make money, though the good ones understand the benefits of providing quality service and developing solid, long-term relationships with their clients.
Take the lead in setting project deadlines and SLA standards and holding providers accountable for timely delivery of quality services. Expect to pay going rates, but build in penalties for poor performance. Finally, sign on only with vendors you wouldn't want to leave, and be prepared to switch if a deal goes south. There's nothing evil about that.
Jonathan Feldman is director of information services for the city of Asheville, N.C., and a contributing editor to Network Computing. Previously, he was director of professional services at Entre Solutions, an infrastructure consulting company based in Savannah, Ga. Write to him at [email protected].
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