Many IT directors employ gatekeeper secretaries, guard mobile phone numbers closely and refuse to set up voicemail in order to keep technology sales people at bay.

Yet the paradox is that retailers want as much communication as possible from suppliers once they have chosen to work with them.

At an event last week, I was surprised at the grilling one software vendor got from IT directors. They were keen to hear all about how its merger with a larger software company was panning out and what the future for the combined company and the industry as a whole looked like.

At the same time, IT directors want their account managers at technology vendors to get to know their businesses intimately.

At the NRF show in New York earlier this month, Ken Brame, the recently retired chief information officer at AutoZone (think Halfords, but with 4,000 stores in the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico) explained how his department had created value for shareholders by building strategic software development partnerships with several vendors.

In a joint project with SAS to implement planning and forecasting software, AutoZone’s staff focused on the data and business rules, while SAS focused on how to make the system work for AutoZone’s business. Clearly a good mutual understanding was essential in a situation such as this for the project to be a success.

The retailer was an early adopter of this system and Brame admitted that, although there is an upside to working with a software vendor early on in the lifecycle for one of its products, there are pitfalls to watch out for. He warned: “Make sure that the solution becomes part of its base solution in the future, so you don’t end up with a one-off version of its software.”

Despite some issues along the way, in particular redevelopment to get the system working the way it was planned, Brame declared the project a success. He cited the regular steering committee meetings, with project managers from both sides, as being important to the final result.

The value of talking to suppliers should never be underestimated. However, if they want retailers’ time then they must learn not to come to the table empty-handed.

As Brame concluded, he won’t work with software vendors that are only good at using PowerPoint to deliver “projectorware”.

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