Sourcing Pros: Don't Forget About Your Friends In Enterprise Architecture

When focusing on the cost-cutting elements of your sourcing strategy, vendor consolidation is likely top of mind. However, simply eliminating service providers or product vendors based on low spend or limited relationships can pose serious risks for the rest of your organization. While you may have a system of supplier tiering in place already, it's important to take into account that some providers you might identify as less strategic may actually have an integral part in your organization's future architectural strategy. To focus your attention more effectively when reevaluating your vendor relationships, loop in your enterprise architecture (EA) professional to help you understand your organization's technology road map.