Vendor Management Automation Examples

CE-01: Contract Expiry Early Warning (120 Days)

Notify contract owners and vendor managers when contracts enter the renewal planning window.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Contract" AND Status = "Active"
AND "End Date" >= now() AND "End Date" <= now(120d)

Email Template:

Escalation Schedule:

CE-02: Auto-Renewal Alert

Flag contracts with auto-renewal clauses requiring proactive non-renewal notice if not renewing.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Contract" AND Status = "Active" AND "Auto-Renew" = "Yes"
AND "End Date" >= now() AND "End Date" <= now(90d)

Email Template:

CE-03: Contract Expiration Processing

Update contract status when contracts reach their end date without renewal.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Contract" AND Status IN ("Active", "Expiring Soon") AND "End Date" < now()

Actions:

1. Update Status to "Expired"
2. Query related SLAs and update Status to "Expired"
3. Send expiration notification
4. Create post-expiration review task

SB-01: SLA Performance Due Reminder

Remind service delivery teams to record SLA performance data at the end of each measurement period.

AQL Query (Monthly SLAs):

objectType = "SLA" AND Status = "Active" AND "Measurement Period" = "Monthly"

Logic:

Run on first 5 business days of each month. Check if SLA Performance exists for previous month. If missing, send reminder.

Email Template:

SB-02: SLA Breach Notification

Alert stakeholders when SLA targets are missed to enable credit claims and vendor accountability.

Trigger:

Object created (SLA Performance object type) with condition: Target Met = "No"

Email Template:

SB-03: SLA Breach Trending Alert

Identify vendors with repeated SLA breaches indicating systemic issues.

AQL Query:

objectType = "SLA Performance" AND "Target Met" = "No" AND Created > now(-90d)

Logic:

1. Group breaches by Vendor
2. Count breaches per vendor
3. Alert if vendor has 3+ breaches in 90 days

Actions:

• Schedule vendor performance review meeting
• Request formal root cause analysis
• Add to Vendor Governance Committee agenda

RA-01: Risk Assessment Due Scheduling

Schedule and notify TPRM analysts when vendor risk assessments are approaching their review date.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Risk Assessment" AND Status = "Approved"
AND "Next Review Date" >= now() AND "Next Review Date" <= now(30d)
AND Vendor.Status = "Active"

Assessment Frequency by Risk Level:

RA-02: Risk Assessment Overdue Escalation

Escalate when risk assessments become overdue, indicating compliance gap.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Risk Assessment" AND Status = "Approved"
AND "Next Review Date" < now()
AND Vendor.Status = "Active"

Escalation Matrix:

RA-03: Risk Factor Mitigation Tracking

Track open risk factors and ensure mitigations are completed on time.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Risk Factor" AND Status = "Open"
AND "Target Mitigation Date" <= now(14d)

Escalation for Past-Due Mitigations:

• 7 days past due: Notify TPRM Manager
• 14 days past due: Escalate to Business Owner
• 30 days past due: Vendor Governance Committee review

RA-04: New Vendor Risk Assessment Trigger

Automatically initiate risk assessment workflow when new vendors are registered.

Trigger:

Object created (Vendor object type) with condition: Status = "Under Review"

Assessment Tier Logic:

PR-01: Quarterly Performance Review Scheduling

Schedule quarterly performance reviews for Critical and High importance vendors.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Vendor" AND Status = "Active"
AND "Strategic Importance" IN ("Critical", "High")

Email Template:

PR-02: Stakeholder Feedback Collection

Gather performance feedback from multiple stakeholders before finalizing vendor reviews.

Trigger:

Object created (Performance Review) with Status = "Draft"

Stakeholders to Survey:

• Contract Owner
• Business Owner
• Technical Lead (from Product/Service records)
• Recent Issue reporters

Feedback Dimensions:

• Quality Score (1-5): Quality of products/services
• Responsiveness Score (1-5): Response to requests and issues
• Value Score (1-5): Value delivered vs. cost

PR-03: Poor Performance Escalation

Escalate when vendors receive poor performance ratings requiring intervention.

Trigger:

Object updated (Performance Review) with Status = "Final" AND Overall Score IN ("Needs Improvement", "Unacceptable")

Actions by Score:

SM-01: Budget Variance Alert

Alert when vendor spend exceeds budgeted amounts or contract values.

Logic:

1. For each Active vendor: Sum Spend records for current year
2. Compare to Contract Total Value (annualized)
3. Calculate variance and alert based on threshold

Variance Thresholds:

SM-02: Spend Categorization Reminder

Ensure spend records are properly categorized for accurate reporting.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Spend" AND Category is EMPTY AND Created > now(-14d)

Available Categories:

Software, Hardware, Services, Support, Training, Other

SM-03: Annual Spend Summary

Generate annual vendor spend summary for planning and consolidation analysis.

Report Contents:

• Total Vendor Spend and Year-over-Year Change
• Top 10 Vendors by Spend
• Spend by Category breakdown
• Consolidation opportunities (multiple vendors in same category)
• Recommendations for contract optimization

IM-01: Critical Issue Escalation

Immediately escalate critical vendor issues to appropriate stakeholders.

Trigger:

Object created (Issue object type) with condition: Priority = "Critical"

Notification Recipients:

• Vendor Manager
• Contract Owner
• Business Owner
• If Security Incident: CISO

Immediate Actions:

1. Contact vendor via emergency escalation path
2. Document all communications
3. Assess business continuity impact
4. Activate workarounds if available
5. Update status every 2 hours until resolved

IM-02: Issue Resolution SLA Tracking

Monitor issue resolution times and escalate when targets are exceeded.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Issue" AND Status IN ("Open", "In Progress")

Expected Resolution by Priority:

VL-01: New Vendor Onboarding Checklist

Create and track onboarding checklist when new vendors are approved.

Trigger:

Object updated (Vendor) with Status changed from "Under Review" to "Active"

Onboarding Checklist:

• Risk Assessment approved and documented
• Contract executed and registered
• Primary and backup contacts recorded
• Products/Services registered
• SLAs documented (if applicable)
• Monitoring configured
• Initial spend forecast entered
• Business owner assigned
• Stakeholders notified
• First performance review scheduled

VL-02: Inactive Vendor Identification

Identify vendors with no recent activity for potential cleanup or re-engagement.

AQL Query:

objectType = "Vendor" AND Status = "Active"

Activity Checks (12 months):

• Any Spend records
• Any Issues logged
• Any active Contracts
• Any SLA Performance records

Actions:

• Vendor relationship ended - update Status to Inactive
• Vendor relationship continues - update records
• Vendor relationship paused - document reason and review date

VL-03: Vendor Offboarding Trigger

Initiate offboarding workflow when vendor is marked for deactivation.

Trigger:

Object updated (Vendor) with Status changed to "Inactive" OR "Blocked"

Offboarding Checklist:

• Terminate or expire all contracts
• Retire all products/services
• Resolve or transfer open issues
• Process final invoices
• Revoke vendor system access
• Retrieve company data from vendor
• Archive vendor documentation
• Update contacts to Inactive