Vendor Management or Partner Management: What ’ s the difference?

1. Vendor Management or Partner Management: What’s the difference? Greg Harp, LoudCloud Systems Ann Kovalchick, UC Merced

2. Ann Kovalchick Assoc. Vice Chancellor and CIO, UC Merced Over 20 years of experience in higher education related to IT adoption, support and implementation. Public, private, large and small institutions. Academic and enterprise-wide implementations. Back-office, desk-top, mobile and cloud applications. Legacy, start-up, local and international vendor partnerships.

3. Greg Harp Chief Marketing Officer-LoudCloud Systems Over 15 years of forming partnerships between for profit and not-for-profit entities. The Gallup Organization Compass Knowledge Group Embanet Compass Academic Partnerships

4. Partner • Indicates that there is mutual desire to invest in each other while taking shared risk and reward. Price considerations become less important although not non-existent.

5. Vendor • Indicates a more traditional relationship of trading products or services. Price is a larger factor, while investment in each other would be rare and decisions are made based on a price quality trade off. .

6. A word on terminology • Service/Product Provider – the Vendor or the Partner • Client Institution: the Customer, or sum of all institutional stakeholders

7. Good or Better • This is not about whether all vendors should be partners or all partners vendors. Rather it is a discussion of when a vendor or partner relationship is a better fit.

8. The Approach: First impressions matter ACME Tech Tech Mart X Vendor or Partner? X Vendor or Partner?

9. Principle for Partner or Vendor Relationship Decisions • Complexity of the Issue • Strategic Importance • Internal Expertise Level • Sustainability (Political Culture) • Trust must be possible.

10. Complexity of the Issue • The level of complexity is directly related to the need for a partner or vendor relationship. The more complex the higher the need for a true partner, the lower the complexity the less need there is for a partner.

11. Strategic Importance • The level of strategic importance is directly related to the need for a partner or vendor relationship. The more strategically vital the higher the need for a partner.

12. Internal Expertise level • If internal expertise is readily accessible and close to the level of available partner, then a vendor relationship is more desirable. If expertise is expensive, or the environment does not allow for the adequate management or care of the expertise then a partnership is advisable.

13. Sustainability (Political Culture) • A partnerships requires time to mature and to create mutual benefit. You must be in or create an environment where it can last 5-10 years.

14. Trust must be possible • Trust at high levels is critical to the success of a partnership.

15. CASE STUDY 1: Managing Relationships • Background • Two Products • A. known industry leader • B. emerging challenger

16. CASE STUDY 1: Managing Relationships • Thank you again for an insightful steering committee on Monday. We really appreciated your openness to sharing your thoughts and feedback with us. We are committed to creating a successful long-term partnership and collaboration with you… • Per our conversation, we would like to provide you with answers to your questions. Please excuse the long email, we wanted to be as comprehensive as possible! • …Again, we are excited to embark on this partnership with you! Please feel free to reach out to me or Henry with any questions or thoughts. And please reach out to Patricia for further clarification on the pricing.

17. CASE STUDY 1: Managing relationships • Complexity • Strategic Importance • Sustainability • Internal Expertise level • Trust

18. CASE STUDY 2: Building a better network • Background • Current Provider • New Network initiative = large investment • Future Provider .

19. CASE STUDY 2: Building a better network MAY: Ann and Team – Thank you for your time on Wednesday.  We learned quite a lot based on the conversation and have a better appreciation of your challenges as it pertains to your infrastructure and other IT related initiatives.  In addition, while we may not have liked the response to our question about your selection of VENDOR A for your next building, we did appreciate the candid conversation and understand where we “fell downon the job” so to speak and look forward to the opportunity to be a better partner going forward.  As it pertains to our discussion around asset tracking/asset management, I have attached a few case studies/videos from one of our fantastic application partners; BigSystems based in Northern California.  The solution consists of the BigSystems Management software application, Vendor B Solutions Mobile Computers, and Third Party Printers.  These stories and videos should give you a real world example as to why we are being acquired by Third Party.  On a side note, we would be happy to work with BigSystemto provide a free pilot of a few assets so that you can see in your environment how the solution really works.  Please let me know who we should engage to move this conversation forward.

20. CASE STUDY 2: Building a better network NOV: Ann – I know it has been some time since we have communicated but I wanted to reach out and introduce you to the person that will be managing the relationship with you and your team going forward and that person is NEW PERSON.  …to meet with you at your earliest convenience to ensure things are moving along smoothly and find out if there is anything you need from us. On a side note, the team has been communicating with Someone at UCM on a product credit and we would like to discuss our proposal around that in more detail with you. .  I hope things are going well with your key initiatives (I know you had a few) but if there is anything we can do to assist, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

21. CASE STUDY 2: Building a better network • Complexity • Strategic Importance • Sustainability • Internal Expertise level • Trust