For successful IT engagements, identifying and mitigating risks with a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) is vital. An RBS, a hierarchical model of project risks, encourages comprehensive risk identification, effective response planning, improved risk communication, and ongoing risk monitoring. Creating an RBS, while requiring effort, is achievable with a structured approach. By categorizing risks as technical, management, organizational, and external, then regularly updating, an RBS can greatly reduce negative project outcomes.

The quality of your agency’s output doesn’t rest solely on their shoulders. The best client-agency outcomes are a collaborative effort — and the best clients actively create the conditions for their agencies to do their best work. Discover the checklist every marketing procurement lead and marketing director should measure themselves against.

Great agencies must deliver on two dimensions: the “magic” of creative excellence, innovation, and strategic insight — and the “logic” of efficient account management, financial transparency, and reliable delivery. Discover how marketing procurement leads and marketing directors can use this framework to evaluate agency performance across both dimensions and build more balanced, productive partnerships.

The 4D framework (Discover, Design, Develop, and Deliver) gives procurement teams and agency managers a structured way to evaluate agency performance at every stage of a campaign. Rather than waiting for the final deliverable to judge whether an engagement worked, this framework breaks the relationship into four phases, each with its own success criteria. The result is a clearer picture of where value was created and where things went off track.

Trust is not just an ideal in client-agency relationships — it’s the essential foundation that enables open feedback, productive evaluations, and genuine innovation. Discover how trust evolves in agency partnerships, why it’s a prerequisite for any evaluation program to succeed, and how marketing procurement leads can build the trust that makes agency relationships thrive.