How do we manage multiple vendors on one project?
Supplier interface ambiguityDefine interfaces, shared milestones, responsibilities, and joint verification before integration becomes urgent. Each vendor's local completion may still leave the overall service unusable.
What to do now
- Map supplier deliverables and interfaces
- Assign integrated coordination ownership
- Agree shared readiness and test points
- Resolve cross-vendor issues from evidence
When to escalate
Escalate when
No supplier accepts responsibility for a critical interface.
Who decides
The authorized procurement or commercial owner
Example
Hosting and application vendors agree a joint test and a clear boundary for incident diagnosis.
Mistake to avoid
Assuming the largest vendor automatically owns all integration.
Prevent a repeat
Compare supplier evidence with agreed obligations; refer contract interpretation and remedies to qualified owners.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Vendors
- Documents
- Tasks
- Approvals
Keep supplier commitments and evidence linked to the project, assign follow-up work, and route commercial decisions to authorized owners. See the platform
Related cases
- The vendor refuses to share progress evidence. What should we do?Unverifiable supplier delivery
- How do we evaluate vendor performance fairly?Inconsistent supplier assessment
- Our vendor uses waterfall, but our internal team uses agile. What should we agree?Supplier-method interface
- Can one project use different methods in different workstreams?Tailored delivery coordination