Architectural and Environmental Constraints of Vendor Support - Essay Example

Architectural and Environmental Constraints of Vendor Support Introduction: Partnering for collective business gains and co branding in a shared market space is the rising trend. Vendor support, outsourcing of work and contractual employment are the three key employment options that are growing in terms of proportion and popularity in the job market. However the long term stability and success totally depends on the flexibility, agility, scalability and adaptability of Vendors.Factors influencing vendor selection:Few of the key factors that should influence vendor selection for short and long term projects in a hiring organisation (Parent Organisation) are:1.

Alignment of parent organisation’s policies with vendor organisation policies.2. Reach of vendor services (Geographical)3. Future business development plans of vendor organisation should be in line with Parent Organisation4. Thorough understanding and agreement on common service level agreements and service level objects (SLAs and SLOs)5. Auditing and Controlling Procedures should be mutually exclusive in order to avoid fraudulent evaluation6. The long term plan of Parent Organisation with a work are outsourced to a vendor or delegated to a separate workforce within the organisation should facilitate the cohabitation and sustenance of both partnering organisation.

(Halse, 2003)To summarize, successful outsourcing begins with a clear-cut understanding of why it is required at all, and a clear understanding of when outsourcing is, and when it is not, a smart business practice. (Dominguez 2006)Evaluation of Vendor Selection on Enterprise Networks:The choice of a vendor should be done on the basis of several factors as discussed above. It should also take into account the nature of the parent and vendor business. Vendor selection, if done improperly may lead to failure in enterprise networks.

Several factors may be behind the crumpling down of a third party venture:1. Not having an exhaustive discussion of all possibilities and probabilities of services2. Not discussing the scope of service expected from the vendor3. Not discussing the recruitment process and standards of vendor organisation4. Inadequate understanding of the policies of the vendor organisation5. Incomprehensive understanding of competencies of vendor organisationSystem Compatibility:Vendor’s systems should be compatible and operable on Parent organisation’s systems.

Back up plans or business continuity plans should be in place to prevent disruption in enterprise networks (e.g.: process of paper ticketing if the SMTP network fails between vendor network and parent organisation network). (Halse, 2003)Training Requirements:Both in house staff and vendor staff needs to be trained on inter-organisation software having dependencies on one another. It is of utmost importance to have testing and training tea in the parent organisation to have seamless service delivery and troubleshooting even after the end of primary contract.

Vendor Selection Example: Defining and laying down the contract is just the beginning of an offsourcer’s vendor relationship. All such relationships, be it long or short term, require work on multiple levels if they are to mature and develop into something fruitful and profitable. (Morstead, 2004) Let us look into the example below on these lines:A remote VPN access hardware manufacturer organisation may have multiple partnering parent organisations that use its hardware and support services.

But vendor selection is not done based on the parameters of:1. Business Plans2. Policies and Procedures3. Service Level Agreements4. Scheduling and CostsConsequences:This may lead to the business venture caving in because of misunderstandings. Consequences may be poor service or product delivery by the vendor organisation, wrong or improper service delivery. It may lead to vendor delivering work with wrong specification, costs and timelines not being adhered. This ultimately leads to wastage of money, and scrapping of business deals.

References:1. Halse, G. A. (2003). Novel Approached to the monitoring of computer networks. Retrieved From: http://eprints.ru.ac.za/12/3/section.1.3.html2. T., McElligott. (2008 Apr 28. )Billing and OSS World. Network Management Requirements in the age of Big Data.Retrieved From: http://www.billingworld.com/articles/2008/04/the-challenge-of-managing-multivendor-networks.aspx3. Kopparapu C. (2008 Feb 9). Multivendor Strategy. Retrieved From: http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/NetworkingPlus/108020902.asp4. Morstead S, Blount Greg. (2004). Offshore Ready: Strategies to Plan and Profit From Offshore IT-enabled ServicesRetrieved From: http://skillport.books24x7.com5.

Dominguez, L. R. (2006). The Manager's Step-by-Step Guide to Outsourcing.Retrieved From: http://skillport.books24x7.com6. Click R. L. (2005). Business Process Outsourcing: The Competitive AdvantageRetrieved From: http://skillport.books24x7.com7. Berry, J. (2006). Off shoring Opportunities: Strategies and Tactics for Global CompetitivenessRetrieved From: http://skillport.books24x7.com8. Hill, G. M., (2010).The Complete Project Management Methodology and ToolkitRetrieved From: http://skillport.books24x7.com