IT portfolio checklist: When is it time to change technology providers. The time comes for every company to take stock of its technology portfolio. A comment from Tim Bandos, Chief Information Security Officer, Digital Guardian.
For example, the company has grown not only in size but also in business maturity, and one or more of its technology providers did not have the capacity or resources to keep up with these changes. The following is a checklist that companies can use to check whether their technology provider is still a good fit for them.
Lack of innovation by the technology provider
If the IT provider is no longer up-to-date with the latest technology, it may be time to switch. Perhaps the company has gotten too used to legacy technology, and its drawbacks may seem like minor annoyances; however, it may indicate a bigger problem or a missed opportunity to use a new alternative technology to lower costs or increase customer value.
The IT vendor should be proactive in keeping the company up to date with the latest technologies and solutions, especially if they can add to the company's economy and productivity. Does the provider have a CISO? Does he use secure APIs? Does he use DevOps? Has he moved to the cloud for more speed and flexibility? If companies answer no to any of these questions, they should ask their provider: Why not?
Changes at the IT provider through takeover
If an IT provider has recently been acquired, restructuring is the order of the day. Organizations should therefore monitor whether the acquisition has affected the vendor's leadership, technology, and budget. In some cases, takeover stifles innovation and the acquiring company does little more than maintain the product in question. Acquisitions can also lead to a reduction in support resources instead of investing in new functions that ensure the security of the software. Outdated technologies can put sensitive data of a company's employees and customers at risk. Therefore, it should be ensured that every vendor a company works with follows appropriate best practices.
New business needs
If an IT vendor cannot keep up with a company's growth or business maturity, and does not perform regular audits to ensure company policies and procedures are being met, it can create blind spots in coverage. The provider's IT services should always be tailored to the company: Perhaps the company has decided to become agile in order to deliver products faster and to be able to react better to changes. Unless the IT vendor is agile as well, or is preventing the company from implementing this culture shift, it may need a vendor that better meets these requirements.
Compliance with regulations
Tim Bandos, Chief Information Security Officer at Digital Guardian
Governance, risk management and compliance requirements as well as state and global legal regulations require companies to have the appropriate technical security precautions in place. To keep up with evolving regulations, especially those that will take effect in the near future, organizations require a high level of planning and collaboration with their IT providers. In order to master the risk landscape, it must be ensured that all critical assets can be viewed transparently in order to identify sensitive data as well as the company guidelines to which they are subject and whether they are compliant with them. The technology provider should understand the changing regulations and offer guidance on how companies can meet these requirements if they are not already.
Vendor lock-in
Forcing a company to become dependent on an IT provider or product can become a major problem. At some point it comes to the point where the costs and difficulties associated with switching seem almost insurmountable. If the vendor puts pressure on the company and takes advantage of the high cost of switching to constantly raise prices for licenses, subscriptions, or support, the problem needs to be addressed. Excessive dependency on one provider and fear of the consequences of switching are clear warning signs that it is time for an alternative.
Bad customer service and lack of transparency
A seemingly endless number of support tickets or a chaotic support workflow where it is difficult to get status updates can also indicate that it is time to switch provider. After all, technology should enable business operations instead of hindering them.
The transparency of the provider is also crucial. A lack of communication with known product problems, bugs, product management roadmaps and planned maintenance appointments often leads to downtime and lost revenue for the company. For some vendors, maintaining relationships through a customer success program is a strategic imperative. Because these programs offer added value to both parties and are often the reason why companies extend their contract with the provider.
A change of technology provider takes time and should therefore be planned in good time. If a vendor no longer meets the company's requirements and some of the warning signs mentioned above sound familiar, companies should start looking for a suitable alternative early on in order to take full advantage of their technology investments.
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