Dealing with vendors resistant to your IT strategy changes. How do you get them on board?

In my experience, scheduling meetings to discuss their concerns openly helps. Vendors may fear increased costs, changes in processes, or potential risks to their business. Understanding these concerns allows you to address them directly.

There a several things in play that must be better understood especially the rationale of a IT strategy change and the drivers of that change before addressing any vendor resistance. In general, a face to face review of the rationale for change and impacts to the business and contracts needs to happen, sooner rather than later. At the end, you may agree to disagree but need to have the conversation.

Recognizing vendor concerns is the first step towards resolving resistance to changes in IT strategy. Have frank discussions to find out what is causing them to be resistant. Fears about an increase in workload, modifications to procedures, or effects on current agreements are a few examples of these. Hold surveys or meetings to get in-depth input and practice active listening. Respect their worries and give credibility to what they've experienced. By taking into account their point of view, you may successfully address particular problems and modify your strategy to reduce resistance. This strategy makes it easier to establish trust and promotes a collaborative environment, which facilitates the more seamless implementation of changes.

Talk value and what it means for you and the industry. In my experience, vendors become partners the moment you have a mutual understanding of challenges. Most often, your vendors are successful if you are. Develop a roadmap together to address the challenge, be it to improve operations, efficiency, introduce new features, or create savings. To deal with resistance, involve them early and proactively propose an approach to demonstrate quick wins to (re)build trust and momentum.

Choosing a vendor that is easy to work with is key. In today's world, the new-gen talent would like to be an integral part of a smaller machine rather than just another engineer of a bigger machine. And these talents are open to change & innovation, whereas the bigger organisations are mostly focused on risk aversion and maximisation of the profits.

Highlight how the changes can lead to long-term efficiency, improved collaboration, and potential new business opportunities. I’ve found that demonstrating concrete benefits, such as cost savings or enhanced service delivery, can make vendors more receptive.

Keep in mind that sometimes the IT strategy change does not benefit the vendor in question and the resistance is real. The business may have already decided to move on and engage another vendor or partner for reasons such as cost reduction, strategic fit and quality of service.

Offer training sessions, detailed guides, and dedicated support teams to assist them. When we introduced a new system, we set up a helpdesk specifically for vendor queries, which significantly eased their transition and built their confidence in the new strategy.

If you are committed to this vendor impacted by your IT strategy change, it makes sense to do what is necessary to assist them in being successful because they will in turn make you successful. Scope and timelines should be fully vetted and aligned by leadership.

Ensure that the strategy changes align with the vendors’ objectives and goals. Show how the changes can support their business growth and align with their strategic goals. In my previous roles, aligning our IT strategy with vendor goals helped create a win-win situation, making them more willing to cooperate.

The majority of good results in projects occur due more to strong relationships than any other single element, in my opinion. Get to know the people you work with! Listen with empathy. Respond with kindness. You will be amazed at the willingness of others to join your path to success!

90% of any project = communication. While treating people how you would like to be treated gets them to listen ..... That's the secret. Done

The vendors also want the projects to be a success. Two most important things to do is to listen to their apprehensions and also have a open channel of communication with them. This helps is finding common ground.