Establish and Document the Application's Vendor Information — Where Applicable

This chapter explains how to establish and document information about the vendors involved with an Application, where any are involved.

When Vendor Information Applies

Vendor information applies whenever a vendor creates, hosts, operates, supports, or provides components or services for the Application, for example when its Sourcing Type is Vendor or Composite, when its Hosting Model is SaaS or Hosted, or when vendors provide significant components, development, or support. Where no vendor is involved, the vendor section of the Application Documentation is marked as not applicable.

Establish the Vendor Information

For each vendor involved with the Application, establish:

• The vendor’s name, and its role with respect to the Application, such as product provider, host, developer, or support provider.

• The vendor’s primary contact, and that contact’s details.

• The enterprise’s internal relationship manager for the vendor, where one exists.

• The contracts, licenses, and service level agreements that govern the relationship, with their key dates.

• How to obtain vendor support, and what support the enterprise is entitled to.

• The vendor’s Release and upgrade cadence, and how the enterprise is notified of changes.

• Any other information the enterprise requires, such as security assessments of the vendor or its continuity commitments.

Document and Share the Vendor Information

Record the vendor information in the conditional vendor section of the Application Documentation, linked to the vendor’s record in the enterprise’s vendor inventory, and record in the Application Record any vendor attributes it requires. Review it with every Release and whenever contracts or contacts change.

Best Practice: Establish and Document the Application’s Vendor Information Where Applicable

It is a best practice to both establish and document the solution for an Application’s vendor relationships, wherever vendors are involved: record each vendor’s role, contacts, contracts, support entitlements, and Release cadence, and link to the enterprise’s vendor records.

Benefits: Documented vendor information lets support teams engage the vendor immediately during incidents, and lets owners manage renewals, upgrades, and vendor risk proactively. Linking to enterprise vendor records reveals how dependent the enterprise is on each vendor across all its Applications.

Connections to Related IF4IT Practices and Inventories

The Vendors Inventory and Attributes describes how vendors are recorded. The Application Portfolio Management (APM) Best Practices addresses maintaining a complete inventory of all application vendors and license agreements and assessing vendor health and viability.