Not what you want to hear
Yesterday, I took part in a conference call with one of our vendors. Our relationship has gone sour lately, and I was hoping this would be an opportunity for everyone to see things from the other side and start working better together. For most part, the discussions were very frank — a euphemism for saying that everyone was telling each other how it is.
That’s fair enough. While I believe that our vendors are business partners and we must work with them productively, our interests will not always align. This inevitably will result in frustration from time to time on both sides.
However, yesterday looked like it might be the beginning of the end. Multiple times, a high ranking representative on the other end referred to us “untrustworthy.”
I’ve heard similar accusations leveled at the company, but rather than get into a pissing contest over who is right, I think the more important issue is what happens when business partners don’t trust each other. Things are hard enough when everyone tries their best and presumes good intentions. As soon as you view your partner with suspicion, hedge your bets, and do the minimum to avoid being screwed yourself, you have a one way ticket to failure. That strategy is poison, and rarely leads to a good outcome. The discipline of game theory is practically dedicated to describing why this is the case.
The reality is that this vendor plays a key role in our operations, but we are a huge customer. Our relationship is somewhat like a couple navigating a major river in a canoe. If both people don’t work together, they wind up in the drink. It’s a dangerous situation, but probably survivable even if it’s pretty miserable in the short term.
However, there is a point when you have to ask yourself if you’re on the right path. I’ve stuck up for this company many times when I hear people razzing them. I think most people don’t appreciate how tough their position is.
On the other hand, this company has changed with time. Their outstanding strength has always been to provide powerful tools that let you do things they didn’t think up first. Now they seem more interested in keeping things locked up in proprietary structures that make it difficult to work in practical environments.
Nowadays, information comes from many sources and institutions need products from different vendors to work well together. Even Google doesn’t have the ability to do everything well, so they keep their focus on search. A small company that has far fewer resources will not be able to provide everything libraries need in a black box.
Whatever the case, I see storm clouds on the horizon. If things don’t get better soon, it will be a wild ride. Either we’ll be in a partnership that works much better, or we can find out what we’re really capable of when a long term partner pulls out. I’m looking forward to whatever happens.