Managing Vendors 2002: Are Your Vendors Delivering Real Value?

• 70% of IT execs say getting guaranteed response times is "extremely IMPORTANT."
• 69% say contracts are biased toward vendors
• 28% do not follow regular negotiating practices
• 53% measure vendors by the ROI of a product or service
• 71% heavily supervise and measure vendors

Here's the situation: CIOs crave reliability, but close to a fifth of IT executives are dissatisfied with the reliability of their vendors' products, and more than a third think vendors respond too slowly to requests. They want value for their money, yet a quarter feel they're not getting the ROI they want, and about three out of 10 are unhappy with the prices they pay. That's a pretty poor showing on the part of vendors, especially when times are so tough. Yet most of the 305 IT executives we surveyed for this month's research study claim they are content with their vendors. Clearly, CIOs are resigned to the status quo, even if it falls short of delivering maximum value. Still, IT organizations bear some of the responsibility. Many fail to use proven negotiating techniques when buying hardware, software or services, or to measure the value their vendors are bringing to their company.