Turn to Your MSP for Vendor Management

With a managed service provider (MSP), your business expects tech support, infrastructure monitoring, and maintenance. Did you know vendor management is another service you can entrust to these IT experts?

You have vendors – lots of them – probably more so now that your work environment has gone hybrid. Yet managing all your vendors can be challenging. Different departments may even have their own vendor relationships. Without vendor management, there’s no one bridging the siloes. No one ensures cost savings while improving efficiency and productivity.

What is vendor management?

Vendor management centralizes the oversight of different vendors. If each department contracts on its own, you can’t take advantage of economies of scale, and you may also suffer from inefficiencies and inconsistencies. Each vendor may have different processes, services, and price points, yet no one is managing vendor partnerships to see how they impact your bottom line.

Turn to your MSP for expert analysis and oversight of vendors. An MSP can:

• tackle contract transactions;
• implement the changes;
• seek data integration;
• avoid possible compliance implications;
• find greater efficiencies;
• save you money by identifying duplication or finding more competitive bids;
• increase the visibility of vendor sourcing, management, and payment.

What does MSP vendor management include?

Say you want a new Web host. You’ll spend time identifying vendors, researching possibilities, and deciding who gets your business. Then something goes wrong. Now, you need to get in touch with that vendor to troubleshoot. Plus, you’ll always need to manage that relationship and keep up with payments.

Now, multiply that effort by the many different vendors you have. You likely have antivirus solutions, broadband internet, disaster recovery, and off-site backup vendors, as well as partners providing email security, hardware maintenance, telecommunications, and Web hosting. Different offices or departments might even contract with separate vendors for these services.

Your MSP can provide added value by streamlining your vendor management. A technology- and vendor-neutral MSP can look for the best solutions for your business goals. The MSP’s goal is to find the right alignment with your objectives. That’s where they add the most value to you as a customer.

An MSP may use vendor management software to track and measure. This supports more informed decision-making. Plus, it can automate processes such as expense management, requisitioning, payments, and reporting.

Positively impact your bottom line

Drawing on experience with a variety of vendors, the MSP can simplify your supply chain. The MSP may be able to leverage preferred relationships to negotiate better rates.

Plus, their experts are up to date on the ins and outs of supporting those vendor offerings. Say there is an issue with email security. There could be a faster resolution if the vendor talks to an informed tech professional; that’s easier than a harried accountant who doesn’t know an SPF from a DKIM or a DMARC (and shouldn’t need to).

Let our experts handle your vendor management to centralize and simplify these relationships. Work with the best people and the right technology, and enjoy a better return on investment. Contact us today to book an appointment.