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A leading oil and gas company in the energy and petrochemical sector engaged Everest Group to help assess the performance of its existing service providers and improve its vendor relationships. The company was seeking a more objective understanding of how its current vendors compared with broader market standards and best practices. While internal stakeholders had concerns about vendor performance, they lacked the external data and fact base needed to validate those concerns and take informed action.

Everest Group supported the client through a custom vendor benchmarking engagement designed to provide an independent view of current vendor performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and equip the client with actionable insights for more effective negotiations. As a result, the company gained greater confidence in its decision-making, improved collaboration with its service providers, and was better positioned to negotiate outcomes that created value for both parties.

 

Client Challenge

Like many large enterprises managing complex supplier ecosystems, the client needed to determine whether its existing vendors were delivering services in line with market expectations. The company had growing concerns about the effectiveness of its current vendor relationships, but it did not have a clear, objective benchmark against which to evaluate performance. Without an external perspective, it was difficult to know whether service quality, commercial terms, and overall vendor management outcomes reflected market norms or whether meaningful gaps existed.

This uncertainty created both operational and commercial risk. If the company continued working with underperforming vendors without fully understanding the extent of the issue, it risked sustaining inefficient service delivery and limiting the value derived from those relationships. At the same time, entering vendor discussions without a strong fact base would have weakened the company’s ability to challenge assumptions, pursue performance improvements, or negotiate from a position of strength.

The organization needed more than a high-level market view. It required a detailed, evidence-based assessment of how its vendors were performing relative to industry best practices, along with clear guidance on how to use that insight in discussions with service providers. The company turned to Everest Group to provide the objectivity, market intelligence, and advisory support needed to validate internal concerns and guide next steps with confidence.

Everest Group Solution

Everest Group designed a custom vendor benchmarking engagement to give the client an objective, market-based view of its existing provider relationships. The focus was not simply on identifying whether issues existed, but on creating a structured foundation for fact-based decision-making and more effective vendor engagement.

The work began with a detailed benchmarking of the client’s current vendors against industry best practices. Everest Group assessed how the company’s existing vendor landscape compared with the market, helping the client understand where performance aligned with expectations and where there were potential areas for improvement. This outside-in perspective was particularly valuable because it moved the conversation beyond internal perceptions and enabled the client to ground decisions in independent analysis.

In parallel, Everest Group conducted an evaluation of current vendor performance to identify strengths, weaknesses, and potential negotiation levers. The assessment helped the client better understand not only how vendors were performing today, but also where collaboration models, expectations, or commercial arrangements could be improved. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all recommendation, Everest Group tailored its analysis to the client’s specific environment and vendor context.

Based on these findings, Everest Group provided practical insights to support more effective negotiations with service providers. This included helping the client frame discussions around objective benchmarks, prioritize the most important issues, and approach negotiations in a way that could strengthen outcomes while preserving productive vendor relationships. By combining benchmarking, performance analysis, and negotiation guidance, Everest Group enabled the client to approach its service providers with greater clarity, stronger evidence, and a more strategic path forward.

Results

The engagement gave the oil and gas company the objective data and expert guidance it needed to improve conversations with its existing service providers. With a clearer understanding of how vendor performance compared with industry practices, the client was able to move discussions from assumption-based concerns to fact-based dialogue. This improved the quality of engagement with vendors and created a stronger foundation for collaboration.

Just as importantly, the company was able to negotiate from a more informed and confident position. Everest Group’s benchmarking and analysis helped the client identify where changes were needed and how to pursue them constructively. As a result, the client achieved better negotiation outcomes that benefited both the company and its service providers, supporting a more balanced and effective vendor relationship going forward.

The broader impact extended beyond a single negotiation cycle. The client left the engagement with improved confidence in its decision-making and a more credible external benchmark for assessing vendor relationships over time.

“Through Everest Group’s support, we gained decision confidence and improved collaboration with our service providers,” said a procurement leader at the oil and gas company.

Why Everest Group?

The client selected Everest Group for its deep expertise in global location strategy and talent benchmarking. By combining rigorous market intelligence with tailored strategic guidance, Everest Group enabled the organization to redesign its locations portfolio with confidence. 

This engagement underscores Everest Group’s ability to help global enterprises translate complex location and workforce challenges into structured, data-backed decisions. Beyond optimizing the portfolio, the work strengthened the client’s overall GBS strategy, positioning it for sustainable growth, improved efficiency, and a resilient global talent model. 

 

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