Open communication is essential to minimizing problems. Creating a mutually beneficial situation is also vital to the success of your partnership and will require that both parties have a vested interest in a successful outcome. Once you have come to a point where you and the vendor understand each other, being able to compromise will keep both the vendor and your team agile and able to craft solutions to any problems that might arise.

If you determine that a partner is not capable of delivering what they promised in your agreement, you will need to act swiftly. It's a hard call every time, but you have to make the assessment of whether a particular company is worth the time, and be willing to walk away if your goals cannot be met. It is important to have a contingency plan no matter how confident you are in the partner. This will mitigate any problems should you need to end the relationship.

Brace, Bonfante and Datt are all members of the CIO Executive Council, a global peer advisory service and professional association of more than 500 CIOs, founded by CIO's publisher. To learn more, visit .