In any relationship with a third-party vendor, contracting is just the  beginning. After initiating the partnership, your primary concern shifts from what promises must be made to how well those promises have been kept. That’s where Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and vendor  performance management comes in.

Every vendor engagement is a work in progress. To manage that progress,  you need an efficient vendor performance management process to track  vendor SLAs, document, monitor activity, record observations, and review overall status at a glance.

The line of business closest to the vendor must track key questions such  as:

• Have milestones been met?
• Has quality matched expectations?
• Is vendor compliance clear and consistent?
• Are deliveries fulfilled adequately?
• Have costs been controlled in line with agreements?
• Has anything changed to threaten the vendor’s business viability or
  stability?