Vendor Observatory
1. Background
Why a Beltug Vendor Observatory?
Long-term vendor dependency is on the rise, highlighting the growing need for organisations to navigate the evolving challenges in vendor management within the digital landscape. From shifting licence metrics to the impact of mergers and acquisitions, staying informed on these changes is crucial but increasingly difficult.
The Vendor Observatory aims to address this by serving as a dedicated knowledge hub. It provides valuable insights, expert guidance and a platform for exchanging experiences, all focused on helping organisations manage vendor relationships effectively.
Participants to the Vendor Observatory meetings are required to adhere to this charter.
2. Scope and mission
The Vendor Observatory aims to empower organisations by sharing actionable insights, trends and factual data on software vendor behaviour, fostering transparency, informed decision-making, and best practices in vendor management. Conclusions, best practices and insights may be communicated to the general Beltug community via the usual Beltug activities.
3. Who may take part in the Vendor Observatory?
Participation in the Vendor Observatory is open to Beltug members from the user side only. The Corporate Premium membership includes participation in all Vendor Observatory sessions. (Members can check their membership plan on the ‘My Account’ page of the Beltug website, after login.)
The target audience includes a broad range of ICT decision-makers involved in vendor relations, such as CIOs and vendor managers. The initiative is not specifically aimed at experts.
There will be no fixed audience: members may participate based on their interest in the meeting agenda.
Participants are expected to actively share their expertise to foster a collaborative environment. While the initiative is not explicitly targeted at licensing specialists or vendor managers focusing on the software category, their participation is nonetheless highly welcome.
This Vendor Observatory is in no way a platform for commercial purposes. It is not open for law firms, ICT service providers or consultants.
4. Participation
All members are encouraged to share their experiences, suggest relevant topics, and provide feedback. Active engagement is crucial to the success of the Vendor Observatory.
We will ask participants to display their names, and turn on their cameras while speaking or introducing themselves, to foster trust and open information sharing.
5. Confidentiality
Between the participants
Meetings follow the Chatham House Rule: participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. However, the conclusions of the conversations can be used to share knowledge and best practices with the Beltug community. Names of companies and participants will not be disclosed in the conclusions.
To ensure trust and confidentiality among members, no AI bots or tools that record, transcribe or summarise conversations may be used in the Vendor Observatory meetings. Beltug may use AI, but only to write the meeting conclusions and only after receiving the consent of all participants. The transcript will be deleted once the conclusions are finalised.
Responsibility of the participants
It is important to note that the sharing of information is on the participants’ own responsibility: If participants wish to share certain information about vendors during the meetings, they should do so (i) on their own responsibility and (ii) in line with the confidentiality provisions included in the agreement with the vendor. The Beltug Vendor Observatory is not a platform to discuss prices.
Role of knowledge partner
Most meetings will be dedicated to a specific vendor. Beltug will work with a knowledge partner to develop the content of the meetings. Knowledge partners that are involved have signed an NDA with Beltug.
6. Potential conflicts of interest
Maintaining ethical conduct and transparency in the Vendor Observatory is paramount. If a potential conflict of interest arises during discussions, the concerned member will proactively inform Beltug.
This proactive disclosure ensures open communication and helps identify any situations where personal or professional interests may influence decision-making.
Through this approach, the Vendor Observatory will reinforce its commitment to the highest ethical standards and foster an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. It will ensure that Beltug’s positions are based on collective expertise and are in the best interests of the broader community. Transparency in addressing potential conflicts of interest enhances the credibility of the Vendor Observatory’s contributions and strengthens its impact on vendor-related initiatives.