Vendor Dependency

The condition in which an organization’s operational continuity is contingent on the continued performance of a specific vendor to a degree that makes the vendor relationship difficult or impossible to exit without material business disruption.

Vendor dependency develops through four stages: 

• Commodity Usage (exit is easy)
• Preferred Vendor (exit is inconvenient)
• Strategic Dependency (exit is disruptive)
• Operational Capture (exit threatens business continuity)