Although most companies understand the need for a more strategic vendor management office (VMO), many of these companies don't know where to organize their vendor management activities. Because managing and executing the activities of a full sourcing life cycle span many different roles and stakeholders, the key question is who will govern all of these activities most effectively, especially when various parts of the organization are already executing most of them. Given vendor management's rising importance to IT strategy, the most successful companies start with a deep understanding of their company's IT archetype and put the vendor management responsibilities where the power is.