Supplier-Independent Philosophy

The underlying philosophy shared by TEI Associates and its clients is…....we all believe it is vitally important to make knowledgeable technology decisions separate and independent from our technology suppliers. We know from experience that being “supplier-independent” is the best way to achieve a truly optimized corporate technology infrastructure, a platform that will support the company’s future growth as well as generate immediate technology cost-savings. Our strong belief is that suppliers must not be allowed to influence or participate in the process of determining what the company’s true technology needs are.

When a supplier provides any form of advice or “consulting services” as part of their working relationship with a company, this guidance will naturally be self-serving and often counter-productive to the company’s best interests. Therefore, we recommend companies take control of their own technology destiny by always developing their own technology requirements in-house, then presenting narrow specifications to qualified suppliers for quotations. To become this self-reliant, it is often necessary for a company to bring in independent, professional technology experts from the outside, like TEI Associates, to temporarily supplement the company’s existing IT staff in making all this happen.

TEI Associates’ technology solutions are heavily business-driven. We begin with the evaluation of the client company’s business-side before we analyze their current-use-of-technology and design an optimized technology infrastructure solution. Once we have this knowledge we are positioned to represent the company’s best interests in supplier negotiations. Our goal on your behalf is to achieve an optimized technology solution for the company, while generating cost-savings and favorable supplier contract terms in the process.