The Investor Clairvoyant: Strategic Technology Vendor Management

So the title is a little dubious however when investors like Warren Buffet make record returns they seem to act like a clairvoyant. Namely they can anticipate the future. They are prioritising resources and steering investment into activities based on anticipated changes in the patterns of demand and supply. So how do they do this? Well it’s not magic it's a combination of two major competencies: the first is having the crow’s nest view of socio-economic change and the other is having the detailed understanding of how the organisations that they invest in are equipped to meet the shifting requirements of the market place. Now this should start to sound familiar. The Technology Vendor Management Office (VMO) leadership must exhibit the behaviour of the investor clairvoyant. The VMO should be located as close to the Technology crow’s nest as possible and act as the nexus to the equivalent executive positions in the strategic vendors.

Also recognise this, like all great investors the Technology VMO must recognise that there is no “outcome”. There is trajectory and there is flow but the destination in these technology climes is extremely variable. The investor prioritises his funds where they will create and derive value from an anticipated trajectory of a business. And in exactly the same manner the Technology VMO, with both the crow’s nest and operational insight needs to steer and prioritise resource towards generating the greatest value for the strategic vendor business relationship.

The CTO manages internal technical transformation, the CEO steers company wide performance, the CFO measures and reports financial benefits. The Technology VMO is the governing function that extrudes value from Strategic Vendor Operations that in turn propels the company forward and on course.

For more information please visit www.tsiconsulting.org