Are leaders underestimating the risk of vendor lock-in as they pursue consolidation? How do you strike the right balance to mitigate that risk?

Regarding the second part, I believe it's crucial to regularly review and reevaluate your vendors. This should be done annually or semi-annually, depending on your review timeframe. It's important to reassess whether the decision to work with a particular vendor still makes sense when your contract renewal is due, or even before that. Vendor assessment and tracking are key to this process. Furthermore, it's beneficial to have clauses in your contracts that offer protection and provide an exit strategy to avoid vendor lock-in.

From my experience, some of our C-level executives are easily swayed by every new vendor pitch they receive. It's important to remember that just because a product or service is new and shiny, it doesn't mean it's the right fit for our organization. We need to consider the business requirements and the organization's needs before we start looking into new vendors. In my role, I often find myself fighting vendor sprawl instead of encouraging consolidation. My job is to keep the reins tight on our C-level folks to prevent vendor sprawl and ensure we're consolidating into usable and risk-specific toolsets in our environment.

In my experience, the organizations I've been a part of have been quite aware of the risks associated with vendor lock-in. The CIOs I've interacted with understand the potential risk and are able to balance it against the objectives of the organization. As for striking the right balance, the key is to protect ourselves from any selection or non-selection of vendors.