Of all of the good client/vendor relations I’ve seen, there seems to be one fundamental trait that each good relationship has had in common – the client knowing exactly what it wants in the short and long term. But how often do we usually run into clients that know EXACTLY what they want? Most of the time, especially in the information security field, clients understand that they must be compliant, but they don’t necessarily understand how to get there.
So many times the I’ve seen the vendor/client relationship fail because both sides were not on the same page at the onset of partnership. Almost universally, this has been the result of the client not having a clear and concise picture of what its business requirements are or what the ultimate goals of the partnership entail.
In some regards, one might expect the vendor to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever the client wants, however, in the world of contracting, of course, this is not always the case. It is sometimes extremely difficult to assign words within a contract to provide clients and vendors the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements. Having a heart-to-heart meeting of the minds during the contracting stages of the partnership can help to ensure that both sides understand the intentions and expectations of the other side.
If a client knows exactly what it wants, negotiating the deal can typically be executed rather seamlessly. However, if the client is unsure of what is needed or desired, or if it lacks long-term foresight, the vendor should have a clear understanding of this fact up front, and a social contract (Google it) of some sort should be established.
Working through and establishing sound requirements based on the business needs of the client ultimately lends itself to successes for the vendor – and consequently the client as well. Overall, the fundamental principle that propagates success is that of being open and honest up front so that both parties understand the intentions and ultimate goals of the agreement.
Vendors will continue to offer services and solutions to facilitate the day-to-day operations of businesses and organizations utilizing information technology. It is important, however, that these vendors and the clients that seek their services understand the fundamental requirements of the agreement they are entering into. It is crucial to the success of the relationship and to the outcome of the contract that both the client and the vendor are on the same page from the beginning. If a client is unclear of exactly what it wants and choose to rely on the vendor to tell it what it needs, that needs to be understood via a social contract. Social contracts will go a long way in securing client/vendor relations; they help to ensure that both sides of the contract understand exactly what it is being agreed to and ultimately provide sound footing for moving forward through the successful execution of the partnership/relationship.
