What do you do if your vendor collaboration is hindered by a lack of technology?

1 Assess your vendor's technology capabilities

Before you start working with a vendor, you need to understand their current technology landscape and how it aligns with your own. You can conduct a vendor assessment that covers aspects such as hardware, software, platforms, tools, integrations, security, compliance, and support. This will help you identify any gaps or mismatches that may affect your collaboration and set clear expectations and requirements for both parties.

2 Choose a common collaboration platform

One of the easiest ways to improve your vendor collaboration is to use a common platform that allows you to share information, communicate, and coordinate tasks. This can be a cloud-based solution that offers features such as file sharing, chat, video conferencing, project management, and feedback. You should choose a platform that is user-friendly, secure, scalable, and compatible with your existing systems and processes. You should also provide adequate training and support for your vendor team to use the platform effectively.

3 Establish data standards and protocols

Another key aspect of vendor collaboration is data exchange. You need to ensure that your vendor can access, process, and deliver the data you need in a timely and accurate manner. To do this, you need to establish data standards and protocols that define the format, quality, frequency, and method of data transfer. You should also implement data validation and verification procedures to ensure the data integrity and reliability. Additionally, you should protect your data from unauthorized access or misuse by using encryption, authentication, and authorization techniques.

5 Evaluate and improve your vendor collaboration

Finally, you should regularly evaluate and improve your vendor collaboration by measuring the outcomes and feedback. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to track and assess your vendor's quality, timeliness, cost, and satisfaction. You should also solicit and provide constructive feedback to your vendor on their strengths and weaknesses, and identify areas for improvement. You should also celebrate and reward your vendor's achievements and contributions, and foster a culture of trust and mutual respect.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?