Consolidating Vendors? Make Sure EA's Voice Is Heard On Strategic Products And Services

When CIOs and CFOs launch vendor consolidation initiatives to cut costs and simplify their environments, they turn to their sourcing and vendor management teams to lead the charge. But enterprise architects must play an active role, identifying the enterprise's strategic technology components and analyzing the impact from any proposed changes to the vendor landscape. Architects must provide consolidation scenarios that address the functionality issues from swapping out technology components and reconcile any product interdependencies. Architects must also characterize organizational readiness to execute the consolidation plan by addressing support and training issues for both IT staff and business technology users. Enterprise architects should work closely with sourcing and vendor management not only to consolidate today but also to ensure more-effective vendor selection and governance going forward.