Sourcing
Category strategy built on real demand and real market intelligence — then executed properly.
- Category strategy & roadmap
- Market landscaping & due diligence
- RFI / RFQ / RFP design and execution
- Make-vs-buy and supplier consolidation
IT vendor management · Available for new engagements
Get more value from your technology suppliers.
Kris Maes Consulting is an independent practice for IT sourcing, procurement and vendor management. I work alongside CIOs and technology leaders to build category strategies, run RFx and negotiations, and put multi-vendor governance in place that actually holds — through transformation, restructuring and M&A.
- Life Sciences & Biotech /
- FMCG /
- Automotive /
- Logistics /
- Telecom /
- Professional Services
Why it matters
Most IT organisations don't have a supplier problem. They have a governance gap.
Spend is spread across dozens of contracts. Renewals arrive without warning. Performance is discussed anecdotally rather than measured. And when the organisation changes shape — a transformation, a carve-out, an acquisition — the vendor landscape is the first thing to come under strain.
My work is to close that gap: a clear scope and vendor tiering, defined roles and processes, KPIs that mean something, and a maturity path the organisation can actually walk. Practical, evidence-based, and built to run without me.
01
Clarity on spend
One consolidated view of contracts, renewals and commitments — the foundation for every decision that follows.
02
Leverage at the table
Benchmarked, fact-based negotiation positions, prepared jointly with Legal, Finance and Security.
03
Performance you can prove
SLAs, KPIs and scorecards with a governance cadence that survives contact with reality.
04
Resilience through change
Vendor landscapes that hold together through restructuring, M&A, divestiture and TSA execution.
Services
Three connected disciplines, one operating model
Sourcing, procurement and vendor management are usually run as separate activities. They work far better as a single lifecycle — from demand through contract, transition, performance and renewal.
Procurement
Negotiation and contracting that protects commercial value and the operational reality behind it.
- Commercial & contract negotiation
- Licensing, renewals and true-ups
- Procure-to-pay process design
- Risk, compliance (incl. GxP) and sustainability clauses
Vendor Management
The run discipline: onboarding, performance, risk and relationship, backed by data.
- Vendor onboarding & offboarding
- Performance management (SLA / KPI / scorecards)
- Vendor risk & spend reporting
- Relationship and QBR governance
The IT Vendor Management framework
Strategy & governance. Process. Data & technology.
A vendor management office only works when all three are in place. This is the model I use to assess where an organisation stands and to sequence what comes next.
Pillar 01
Strategy & Governance
- Defined scope and vendor tiering
- Charter: goals, purpose, mandate
- Roles, responsibilities and controls
- KPIs and a defined maturity journey
Pillar 02
Processes
- Demand & requirement management
- RFx, negotiation, procure-to-pay
- Contract management & renewal
- Onboarding, performance, risk, offboarding
Pillar 03
Data & Technology
- Contract repository and templates
- Spend data, vendor portal, ERP/PO
- Performance and risk dashboards
- 360° reporting on trends and actions
Track record
Built in the room, not on a slide
Five years embedded on a CIO leadership team as External Head of IT Sourcing, Procurement & Vendor Management in Biotech, owning the full IT vendor portfolio through restructuring, M&A and divestiture. Before that, senior IT vendor manager in FMCG, leading the sourcing track of a €200M+ enterprise transformation.
Today: vendor governance lead in Automotive, plus independent CIO advisory.
“Start from the business need, develop the vendor strategy, communicate it throughout the organisation — and then drive the change that makes it real.”
- Category strategy
- RFI / RFP / RFQ
- Contract negotiation
- Multi-vendor & SI governance
- SLA & KPI frameworks
- OPEX / CAPEX steering
- Outsourcing & transition
- M&A, carve-out & TSA
- Software asset management
- ITIL & COBIT
Where do you want to start?
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether a vendor baseline, a category review or a negotiation is the right first move.