Course Description:

This Vendor Management course is designed to provide managers working knowledge of the key elements of excellence in vendor management including sourcing, using vendors to build a business case, communicating priorities, the competitive vendor landscape, contracts and negotiating, collaboration and partnership with key vendors, vendor risk assessment, vendor performance issues, transparency and other best practices

This class is a component of the IT Management and Leadership Professional Certification. (ITMLE^©)

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of the Vendor Management course, students will be able to:

• Understand the value of various types of vendors to the organization
• Make informed decisions related to all aspects of vendor management
• Judge risk, reward and operational elements of vendor management
• Effectively plan for vendor contingencies to protect the organization
• Select the best IT vendors to partner with 

Audience:

• IT professionals who wish to work toward a formal certification
• IT individual contributors with career goals in supervising/management/senior leadership
• IT team leads or soon-to-be team leads
• IT supervisors or soon-to-be supervisors
• Newer IT managers or soon-to-be managers
• Experienced IT managers desiring a reputation for superior “technical people” management skills and to build their “brand”

Prerequisites:

• none 

Duration:

   ½ day, full day and customized full-day formats available. 

Course Topics:

I.              Providers and Strategic Partners

a.    Vendor types

b.    Approved vendor lists

c.    Approved product lists

II.            Key Vendor Considerations

a.    Technical

b.    Operational

c.    Financial

d.    and many more …

III.           Vendor Management Life Cycle

a.    Business case definition

b.    Business requirements definition

c.    Service Level Agreement (SLA) definition

d.    and more …

IV.          Vendor Oversight

a.    Vendor audits

b.    Risk assessment and mitigation

c.    Industry specific compliance considerations

d.    and more …

V.           Outsourcing and Cloud Considerations

a.    Data movement and governance

b.    Change control processes