Important Roles in the IT supplier management process

There are two important roles that have a major contribution to the IT supplier management process: Contract Manager and Supplier Manager. In practice, we often see that some individuals are informally assigned to these responsibilities, but ad-hoc approaches are usually taken, which introduce risks in the services delivered by suppliers.

Contract Manager normally acts at the operational and tactical level where Supplier Manager acts at the tactical to strategic levels.

Contract Manager

Main responsibilities are

-        to contribute in the requirement definition and contract establishment phase

-        to ensure services are transitioned into the current service architecture (technology systems, service levels, tools, roles & responsibilities, processes, governance structures etc.) seamlessly

-        to ensure knowledge about the contract and its services is transferred to the organization.

-        to carry out the operational follow-up of the contract for which the supplier is responsible, to regularly check the supplier’s compliance with contractual obligations, and to escalate any disruptions to the Supplier Manager or senior management.

Supplier Manager

The Supplier Manager is responsible for all contracts with that supplier. The Supplier Manager is  accountable for maintaining constructive supplier communication, supplier relationships and effectively managing supplier-related risks while ensuring  maximum value is obtained from the supplier while safeguarding the organization's interests. Supplier Manager also manages the contract review with stakeholders including the contract manager.

A Supplier Manager is assigned for every supplier.

In some cases the Supplier Manager may also act as a Contract Manager. In some cases there may be a need for separate Contract Manager(s).

You may  find this documentation set   useful..

https://www.itassessment.net/products/supplier-management-process

You may also want to assess your process using this self-assessment toolkit

https://www.itassessment.net/products/supplier-management-assessment