The aim of supplier management is to control suppliers in order to ensure a smooth delivery of high quality services.

As a general rule there are a number of suppliers involved. These are often also subdivided into main suppliers and subcontract suppliers. It is therefore necessary to clearly define whether the service provider is to negotiate directly with all suppliers or whether a main supplier is to take over the responsibility for the subcontract suppliers.

The supplier management process must ensure that the supplier understands its obligations to the service provider. The requirements must therefore be clearly defined and agreed. It is also necessary to ensure that all changes to these agreements are monitored by the change management process.

In order to avoid conflicts we recommend that records be created of all official business transactions between all the parties. The services of the supplier must be continually monitored and an appropriate response taken as required.

For comparison see the Supplier Management Process according ITIL V3.