Lesson 3: Vendor Promises vs. Delivery Reality – Navigating the Software Procurement Minefield

By Tom Jones, IT Project Manager

Welcome back to my 21-part series on lessons learned throughout my IT project management career. Today’s topic is one that every IT leader, project manager, and procurement officer will encounter at some point—vendor sales pitches vs. the reality of delivery.

If you’ve ever sat through a vendor demo, you know the drill:

• “This software is plug-and-play!”

• “We guarantee a smooth, hassle-free integration.”

• “Our AI-driven automation will revolutionize your workflows.”

And then, six months later, your project is over budget, behind schedule, and your ‘plug-and-play’ solution requires 12 months of customization.

In today’s lesson, I’ll share how I got burned by vendor overpromises, what I learned from it, and how you can protect your projects from vendor disappointment.

The Project That Taught Me to Read the Fine Print

In 2006, I was leading an enterprise-wide software migration for a large government agency. The RFP process was brutal—every vendor promised the world, and the executives were dazzled by flashy presentations.

We finally selected a vendor that claimed their platform was “100% compatible with our legacy systems” and would require “minimal configuration.”

Fast forward four months into the project:

• The ‘compatible’ system wasn’t actually compatible—it required a complete API overhaul.

• The ‘minimal configuration’ turned into a customization nightmare.

• The vendor’s ‘dedicated support team’ was a rotating cast of junior consultants.

By the time we got the system working, the project was 8 months behind schedule and 60% over budget.

How to Protect Your Project from Vendor Overpromises

Here are five hard-learned lessons to make sure vendors don’t derail your next big initiative.

🚨 1. Always Validate Vendor Claims with Real-World Testing

❌ What happens: Vendors make generic claims about compatibility, AI automation, or ‘seamless integration.’

✅ Fix it:

• Run a Proof of Concept (PoC) before signing a long-term contract.

• Demand a live demo in YOUR environment, not a pre-recorded one.

• Talk to real customers (not just vendor-provided references).

🚨 2. The Fine Print is Where Projects Go to Die

❌ What happens: Contracts have vague wording like “implementation will be completed in a reasonable timeframe.”

✅ Fix it:

• Specify clear SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

• Include financial penalties for missed deadlines.

• Ensure vendors define what ‘support’ really means—onshore? Offshore? 24/7?

🚨 3. Budget for Hidden Costs (Because There Will Be Some)

❌ What happens: The initial proposal never includes customization, training, or extended support.

✅ Fix it:

• Assume a 30-50% budget increase beyond initial estimates.

• Get full transparency on hidden costs: licensing fees, API integrations, training.

• Use ezRACI to document financial ownership and avoid budget surprises.

🚨 4. Watch Out for ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Consultants

❌ What happens: The sales team is impressive, but the actual delivery team consists of junior consultants with no experience.

✅ Fix it:

• Insist on named resources in the contract.

• Require vendor resumes before project kickoff.

• Escalate staffing issues immediately if the vendor starts swapping in unqualified people.

🚨 5. Demand a Vendor RACI Matrix

❌ What happens: No one knows who is responsible for what when problems arise.

✅ Fix it:

• Create a Vendor RACI Matrix (or better yet, use ezRACI to automate it!).

• Clarify who owns integration, security compliance, and long-term maintenance.

• Don’t assume your vendor will manage your risks—they won’t.

How ezRACI Helps You Manage Vendor Relationships

Vendor misalignment happens when responsibilities aren’t clearly defined. That’s why I use ezRACI to:

✅ Track vendor accountability: Assign roles using a RACI matrix so deliverables don’t fall through the cracks. ✅ Document change requests: Keep a history of vendor commitments and ensure scope creep is approved before execution. ✅ Improve project visibility: Create dashboards that show vendor performance in real-time.

When you can clearly track and enforce vendor commitments, your project stands a much better chance of staying on time and within budget.

Final Thoughts: Vendors Are Not Your Partners—They Are Your Suppliers

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned? A vendor’s job is to sell, not to ensure your project succeeds.

It’s your job as a project manager to: ✔️ Question every claim. ✔️ Negotiate every contract. ✔️ Hold vendors accountable from day one.

Next time, in Lesson 4: Change Management is Not Just Training, I’ll break down why most IT project failures have nothing to do with technology—and everything to do with people resisting change.

Disclaimer: This blog is written from the perspective of Tom Jones, a fictional IT Project Manager, and is intended for informational and educational purposes. While based on real-world project management principles, all anecdotes and characters in these posts are entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. The blog also references ezRACI, a project management tool designed to help teams succeed in project execution. However, these opinions are solely those of the fictional character and do not constitute an official endorsement.