← Executive · Practitioner
Lesson 1 of 412 min

Vendor evaluation & management

RFI (Request for Information)/RFP (Request for Proposal), TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), exit clauses. Concentration risk.

Organizational directory structure on a laptop screen
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels

Evaluate on capability fit, total cost of ownership (TCO, not sticker price), security posture, support quality, exit cost.

Negotiate exit clauses up front. Vendor lock-in is the most expensive thing you'll buy.

Watch concentration risk: too many critical services from one vendor = one outage takes everything.

Key takeaways

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