Following a successful event in Miami, I am now looking forward to Forrester’s Sourcing & Vendor Management (SVM) Forum EMEA in the UK next week (Herts, Nov 30-Dec 1). An invaluable component of our forums are always the industry expert presentations, and so I’m excited to be joined on stage on day one by Maureen McKinney, Director, Strategic Partner Management, Nike. Maureen will be speaking about how to drive more value from vendor relationships and deliver real value to the business. Ian Dalby, Director Of ICT, UK Ministry Of Justice, will address how different IT and SVM organizations are responding to SVM’s challenges related to connecting demand and supply capabilities within an organization. On day two, Olivier Lefaivre, Head of IT Sourcing and Vendor Management, AXA Group Information Systems, will explain how IT Sourcing and Vendor Management accelerated business transformation at AXA. Our second industry speaker on day two is Jim Nanton, Senior Vice President & CIO, Hanesbrands.

In preparation for the EMEA Forum, I spoke to Jim who, in his role of SVP/CIO at global apparel company Hanesbrands, is faced with a unique set of challenges, risks, and opportunities involved in deploying managed and contract services across multiple countries and cultures. Jim told me about how he believes that vendor management is a core competence in a "plan, build, run" organizational structure, and underlines the importance of selecting the right partners and the practices for managing effective relationships.

Consumerization, strategic partnerships, and the demand from the business for emerging technologies are quickly becoming the key drivers of the Sourcing & Vendor Management (SVM) agenda. In fact, without SVM making significant changes in how it does business, many SVM teams will become irrelevant. Consider the facts:

1. Consumerization: Our data suggests that 33% of the information workforce (those employees who use a computer to do their job), are self provisioning technologies and applications to get their work done. What it means: SVM is no longer needed to acquire technology and services for employees.
2. Strategic Partnerships: Our most progressive clients are increasingly working to move their vendor relationships to outcome-based strategic partnerships where the supplier is expected to delivery innovation and value creation instead of labor, technology or services. Much of this business is being negotiated between the vendors and the business directly without the help of SVM. What it means: SVM is no longer needed to connect suppliers to the business.
3. Emerging Technologies: The adoption of cloud, mobile, social and video technologies continue to outpace the overall IT market. Much of this adoption is taking place within the business without the help or knowledge of IT and SVM. What it means:  SVM is no longer needed to source new vendors.