How to Manage Vendors the Agile Way

Traditional vendor management assumes you can specify everything up front, which only works when requirements are stable, and rigid contracts turn every change into a slow, adversarial change order. This course shows how to replace fixed-scope contracts with collaborative partnerships that specify outcomes rather than outputs, from vendor selection through governance and eventual transition.

Who this course is for

• Project managers who oversee external vendors or contractors
• PMs involved in vendor selection and contract negotiation for work with evolving requirements
• Anyone coordinating several vendors or managing a relationship that is underperforming

What you'll be able to do

• Select vendors on demonstrated capability through a paid proof of concept rather than proposal quality
• Integrate vendor teams into your ceremonies and write a shared definition of done
• Structure contracts as time and materials with a not-to-exceed ceiling, delivered in deliverable increments, with a parking lot for scope changes
• Govern with outcome-focused SLAs, graduated escalation tiers, and a tiered communication cadence
• Address performance failures directly, use cure notices professionally, coordinate multiple vendors, and plan transitions from the start

Complete the video and knowledge check to earn up to 2.0 PDUs, credited from your recorded learning time.