Managing the Supplier

The procurement of system and services, the selection of a supplier and the implementation of the software and service is only the start. We must then manage the suppler on a day-to-day basis. Many of the skills required in the management of information systems focus not on technology but on the relationship with the supplier. This means considering aspects of suppler management. ITIL is one approach. IT addresses best practice in service management, and part of it addresses how we manage suppliers.

Tasks

Question 1. Investigate the ITIL best practice for supplier management. Present the main steps ITIL suggests for supplier management. What is good supplier management? How do you measure performance and what are the critical success factors? Critically appraise ITIL supplier management. How might it be improved?

Question 2. Contracts and Service Level Agreements. What should be in a contract with a supplier? How will the contract differ from the ITT and the SLA?Define an SLA. How do we get a balance between becoming pedantic and obsessed with the contract so we are constantly bickering aboutwhether something is in the contract or not and talking in wishy-washy terms about partnerships and relationships which are not underpinned by concrete commitments toa contract?

Question 3. Find a working example / case study of an SLA and critically appraise it What management structures, roles and responsibilities, meetings etc. would you set up to manage the SLA and ensure suppliers are delivering to it and develop and change the SLA?How do you develop an SLA?