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Management Toolkit

Some do's and don'ts for vendor selection

Karen Ann Kidd Tech Republic

Published: 11 Sep 2003 17:30 BST

(4) Problem-solving skills
"Anyone can do a good job if everything goes smoothly all the time," Kondrach said. "What you want to know is how these people will take care of problems when they crop up."

Kondrach likened this skill to going on safari "looking for big game" and hiring the most qualified guide. "Anyone can go into the jungle with a rifle," he said. "How many can come back alive and bring the game with them?"

Determining how well a vendor will solve problems on your project isn’t easy. After all, any vendor will tell you it has excellent problem-solving skills. Kondrach suggests a few questions to ask prospective vendors that will help you determine how well they really deal with problems:

"What are some problems you’ve seen in similar projects in the past?"
""How did you deal with those problems?"
""Did you finish that project on time?"
""Did you finish that project on budget?"

(5) Staying power
"Think about the Yugo," Kondrach said, the much maligned discount automobile from the former Yugoslavia that was last imported to the United States in 1992. While many people bought the Yugo when it was first introduced, it now is almost impossible to get service for the vehicle. A better idea for these car buyers would have been to buy a vehicle from an established dealer, Kondrach said.

Applying the same principle to an IT vendor can be tough because the industry is still relatively young. Kondrach recommends looking for vendors who’ve been around a few years and score high in other ways as well.

However, even a vendor who’s been around a few years may show signs of slipping, Kondrach warned. Avoid anyone "full of tech babble" who offers a plan "jotted down on a napkin," even if the strategy seems sound, he said. "These IT battles aren’t won just because someone has a good strategy," Kondrach said. "They’re won because someone was able to deliver on that strategy."