Regardless of risk mitigation and exit strategies CIOs could put in place, process is merely a means to an end rather than the end itself. Vendor relationships are doomed to fail without the right people managing them.

"It's becoming less relevant about whether you're talking about the systems or the process or the people," Tame says. "Most organisations are just interested in the outcome."

McGregor says focus must be placed on the middle management layer; the people most likely to facilitate the day-to-day communication with vendors. Of course, that is likely to play on the eternal skills development problem -- do you teach or do you buy those capabilities?

It is an issue that must be considered on a company-bycompany and person-by-person basis. Although some in IT are capable of assuming more business-like responsibilities, it certainly doesn't apply across the fold, and can be an area of great difficulty to control without a CIO's knowledge of the team members involved.

Putting in proper lines of communication between vendor, client and management on both sides of the fence, too, is also of extreme importance, says McGregor, especially when it does come down to the inevitable tit-for-tat over contract disputes. "Quite often people don't know what it is they're fighting about," McGregor says.