Vendors Inventory and Attributes

The Vendors Inventory is one of 38 recognized Noun Types in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management taxonomy. The full taxonomy, its governance principles, and the Inventory of Inventories are documented in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.

The six most closely related Noun Types to Vendor, with their named relationships: (1) Application — an Application is supplied, licensed, or maintained by a Vendor; the Applications Inventory and Attributes is published. (2) Software Technology — a Software Technology is supplied or licensed by a Vendor; the Software Technologies Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. (3) Hardware Technology — a Hardware Technology is supplied or leased by a Vendor; the Hardware Technologies Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. (4) Contract and Agreement — one or more Contracts and Agreements govern every Vendor relationship; the Contracts and Agreements Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. (5) Integration — Integrations may connect systems supplied by a Vendor as source or target entities; the Integrations Inventory and Attributes is published. (6) Work — Work records reference Vendors engaged as delivery partners; the Work Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.

The Vendor Noun Type is not the same as a Partner, a Customer, or an internal Organization. Partners are governed by the Partners Inventory; Customers by the Customer Inventory; Internal Organizations by the Organizations Inventory. A Vendor is specifically a third-party organization from which the enterprise procures something under a commercial engagement. Some organizations may be both a Vendor and a Partner — in which case they appear in both inventories with separate records governing the different dimensions of the relationship.