Supplier Relationship management

[arnoldmram]

Hi,

I have been trying to make some documents on Supplier Relationship managment. Was reviewing some procedures written for Service Level Management. I have found that these two processes are more or less one in another or rather mirrored processes. Then where is the cutting line or the distinction line between the Supplier Relationship managment and the Service level management. Am I wrong?

Any inputs?

[blamblam]

I'm working through this one at the moment as well but I wouldn't put Supplier Relationship Management and SLM together. They are related but they're not one and the same.

I am hoping that SRM is covered in the new Business set of ITIL books due out soon. But for now SLM is concerned with the setting and measurement of service targets while SRM is about the managing the relationship between the organisation and it's suppliers.

Within my organsiation we have a business unit called the Relationship Management Unit (RMU) - surprise!! - that is reponsible for negotiating contracts, SLAs, overseeing projects. They have a strategic and tactical function, though they remain an important escalation point, operationally.

SRM process speaks to these functions.

[arnoldmram]

Thank you for the input.

Could we then say that SRM and Customer Relationship management are mirrors of each other? SLM is probably a subset of Customer Relationship management as is OLA or Underpinning contract for a SRM - is this a correct statement?