Contract Management: Winning secrets to develop and manage IT contracts

No business operates in a vacuum. In-fact, the interdependencies between an organization and its many stakeholders like vendors, customers, employees and partners are the main governing factors for business success. While interdependencies are important to create opportunities, expand resources and fulfill certain requirements, there are also bound to be differences in opinions, individual expectations, etc. Hence, a mutual agreement on the terms of association, between the involved parties in a business, can minimize risks of each party and ensure equal benefits to each. In business, such an agreement is called a contract, which is legally binding upon the involved parties. For any contract to be legally enforceable it must contain a subject, consideration and two or more eligible parties. The “consideration” in a contract is the reason for having the agreement.

Although the primary objective of a legal contract is to establish a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved parties, the contract terms can vary widely depending on the consideration. The scope of this book is to provide a comprehensive understanding of IT procurement contracts. Almost all IT projects need to procure hardware, software or certain services and hence a solid understanding of IT procurement contract is crucial to the success of the IT projects.

The book outlines a range of governing principles, key issues and considerations relevant to development and management of contracts with specific emphasis on IT procurement contract. Finally, in the last chapter of this book, the author has provided a contract review checklist, which can be used as a reference or guide document for all contract types.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction and scope
1.1What is a procurement contract

Chapter 2: IT Procurement contract
2.1Standard elements of an IT procurement contract
2.2IT security – common contract issues
2.3IT security checklist

Chapter 3: 5 stags of a Contract's life
3.1Drafting a contract
3.2Negotiating a good deal
3.3Contract agreement
3.4Compliance and administration
3.5Renewal and optimization

Chapter 4: Developing a robust contract strategy
4.1Knowing the negotiable and non-negotiable requirements
4.2Identify resource requirements
4.3Identify potential risks and create a mitigation plan
4.4Ensure senior management is committed and involved
4.5Assign responsibilities
4.6Determine contract type
4.7Establish contract deliverables
4.8Create a communication strategy
4.9Create a performance monitoring and management plan
4.10Documentation

Chapter 5: Contract management
5.1What is contract management
5.2Contract management software
5.3Managing IT procurement contracts

Chapter 6: Contract risk management
6.1Elements of a contract risk framework
6.2Broad areas of potential IT contract security risk

Chapter 7: Contract closeout

Chapter 8: Effective contract monitoring
8.1Components of an effective contract monitoring system
8.2Consequences of inadequate and ineffective contract monitoring

Chapter 9: Contract review checklist
9.1Checklist of contract clauses specific to IT contracts