When your boss wants you to make a bad decision

Anonymous

October 28,2023 at 12:48PM UTC

Welcome to Fairygodboss!

We’re the largest online career community helping women achieve their career goals. Gain access to articles, jobs, events, and a supportive network of women and allies. Membership is free, always.

When your boss wants you to make a bad decision

My manager is CFO, and wants me to not renew the contract of an outstanding vendor who has supported us very well over the last three years. They have not given us a major price increase in 3 years, but this year the price is going up ($18k/year) 40 percent due to added security features and more users on our side. Other finance people tell me that we can absorb it, but we need to trim costs in other places next year. I am very upset that I am also responsible for an organization-wide transformation project, daily software and hardware support for almost 100 users, data reviews for two systems, reporting, and now I am supposed to start and complete an RFP process while losing the main support vendor I have. How do I politely tell my boss this is not possible without putting the organization's technology at risk?

Why women love us:

Daily articles on career topics
Jobs at companies dedicated to hiring more women
Advice and support from an authentic community
Events that help you level up in your career
Free membership, always

7 comments

Share your insight

Join an authentic community that helps women support each other at work. Share your professional experience or ask for advice — you can even post anonymously.

7 Comments

Join the conversation

AnonymousOctober 28,2023 at 1:20PM UTC
Go through the RFP process, include the current vendor. Once all the proposals come back, your boss may see why your vendor is still the best choice. If other vendors provide same level of service but are a bit cheaper, you can use that information to negotiate with your vendor. RFPs are a good business practice. You may find a better vendor or validate and prove your current vendor is truly the best.
Sandy EarlOctober 28,2023 at 8:11PM UTC
Not to nitpick here but your boss is asking you to *implement* a bad decision that they have already made. I don’t think that you have anything to lose here by pointing out the pitfalls of this decision- either the boss hasn’t thought it through or they have. If the former you’re doing them a huge favor, and if they have you’re documenting the beginning of a problem before it gets out of hand.
AnonymousOctober 29,2023 at 12:14PM UTC
I’m just gonna add my two cents that I wouldn’t call that nitpicking — it’s a good point. Because when the fall out comes from this, any ownership of that decision needs to be with the boss, and as far away from the poster as possible.
Sue Gordon- retired Career CoachOctober 29,2023 at 9:05PM UTC
Use exactly those words: "I understand the challenge of the price increase. I've spoken to x, y and z and they've shared this financial data (demonstrate) that shows we can absorb this. Based on these things (enumerate) it is not possible to switch vendors now without putting the organization's technology at risk".
If he insists, confirm his position in writing -- with a summation of your recommendation as well. So, if it all goes bad you can protect yourself. Do the written confirmation as politely as possible so as to not anger your boss.
Perhaps you can suggest that you conduct an RFP after the organization-wide transformation, thus giving the organization short-term stability while keeping an open mind to the possibility of a new vendor in the future-- and your vendor will have a head's up that this may no longer be a sure thing and perhaps they'll have another look at their pricing. Good luck.
AnonymousOctober 30,2023 at 11:41AM UTC
Your current vendor should also be able to bid for the RFP, that's a normal practice. Not clear why you're upset, this is a regular part of the business and your current vendor is still in place during this time. You can give your opinion but I don't even see how this is putting the cpy at risk, during the RFP business is usual with current vendor. Maybe you're overwhelmed, for a company that is almost 100 users may not have project managers, so that's why it falls over to you. ALSO, I can practically guarantee this is going to be at minimum 6 months for the RFP, and then there's the timeframe for integration and testing. You will want to see if you can have current vendor and new chosen vendor (if not the same) to be running at the same time to allow real time testing. This is a huge project but shouldn't be an at risk concern. If your contract is up with current vendor ask for an extension, meaning them working for you without a newly signed contract, AND invite them to submit their RFP.
Liz MilneNovember 1,2023 at 2:19AM UTC
Point out that finding a replacement vendor will cost you even more than your current supplier's increase - assuming that's the case?
Vivian HwaNovember 6,2023 at 1:17PM UTC
Make your case with good support and just drop the issue after. Do it in writing or a memo or presentation. Cover your butt if they do switch, make sure expectations are set so they know you have a learning/training curve. It's not your call unfortunately...