Next week, Gartner is expected to present its rationale for adopting a multivendor strategy for enterprise networking.\

At Gartner’s Symposium/ITxpo conference in Orlando, distinguished analyst Mark Fabbi will review the consultancy’s Vendor Influence Curve, a graph that attempts to chart the most beneficial approach to vendor relationships for enterprises in order to better align IT and business objectives. The chart reviews five steps in the vendor/enterprise mating dance, from just buying commodity products based on price alone, through choosing the best vendor based on the specific requirements of a key initiative, to adopting a single vendor as a “trusted advisor” — an approach Cisco strongly advocates.

Fabbi’s presentation, a draft of which was obtained this week by Network World, will also review the operational disadvantages of single-vendor relationships, the danger of lock-in via proprietary technology, and the effect paying a premium on products has on IT staffing and total cost of ownership break-even points.

Click to see: Gartner's Vendor Influence Curve

Fabbi’s presentation concludes that enterprises would be best served by competitively bidding projects instead of adopting the “trusted advisor” approach with a single vendor.

Fabbi could not be reached for comment.