Case Study: How Merck Cut Costs And Improved Value By Investing In Vendor Management

Very few IT organizations have complete control over the corporatewide IT investments that are spent with external services providers. In Forrester's Forrsights Budget And Priorities Tracker Survey, Q2 2010, 44% of respondents agreed that business leaders are making investments in technology and services without IT's involvement. When Merck's senior IT management realized that this trend was happening within their organization, they decided to make a radical shift in the way they manage vendors. Instead of letting the vendors talk to virtually any stakeholder within the organization, they adopted rigid guidelines to control and strategically manage the external IT spend. The result? Savings of approximately 10% and the ability to define a long-term strategy that maximizes the value of internal and external resources.