Modern Middle Manager
Primarily my musings on the practical application of technology and management principles at a financial services company.
Vendor Management (redux)

Monday, June 21, 2004  

I was forwarded an e-mail from The Girlfriend that described the cutthroat software industry. Remember this well -- if you have a large project and you competitively bid it with a well-defined set of features, you can definitely achieve substantial savings.

In the last two months, two events stand out to me that reinforce the use of competitive bids. I have bid on an upgrade project for our Banking Services unit and reduced the initial price from $270K to $200K. The Banking department manager recently competitively bid out a positive-pay system and managed to reduce the initial price from $250K to $190K. That's $130K over three years in savings to the bottom line. While I don't encourage unethical behavior in bidding, never assume that a vendor has your best interests in mind. Make them sweat. And remember that you are working for the best interests of your stakeholders, no matter how nice your vendors seem.

posted by Henry Jenkins | 6/21/2004 09:49:00 PM

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